Nov. 28, 2014 Final Score: POR 99, MEM 112 - Quote Book

[FONT=&quot]HEAD COACH TERRY STOTTS[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]“A disappointing loss. I loved the start that we got off to, but Memphis is a good team. They played well. I think we could have defended better. In the second half, we had a lot of good looks – a lot of good looks in the paint, a lot of good looks at threes – didn’t make a lot of the shots that we expect to make. Give them some credit, obviously, but it’s a disappointing loss, but two good teams.”[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]On defense:[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]“We’ll watch the film, but I thought in general the transition defense in the first half – they’re not really an offensive transition team per se, but they are efficient when they get out there. We gave up too many of those in the first half. I thought the ball got to the paint a little bit too much and that’s their strength. Both Gasol and Randolph are good in the paint. But we can shore up the penetration a little bit on the pick and roll. I thought they made shots. We had a lot of momentum shots that could have swung the tide a little bit, but again, you always get a different perspective when you watch the film the next day.”[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]Thoughts on Memphis defense:[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]“The same that it’s always been. You have to give them credit. We shot 40 percent, so certainly give them some credit, but I did tthink that we had some shots both in the paint and perimeter and from the three, that again, that’s what we do. We take threes when they’re there and some of them didn’t go. I thought LA and Chris got into the lane and had some shots in the paint. Give them credit for it, but I thought we missed some shots too.”[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]Is Memphis more physical than average team?[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]“They’re aggressive. Gasol and Randolph are physical in the paint. I think their perimeter players can get into you, but I wouldn’t say that tonight’s game was any more physical than some of the other games we’ve played.”[/FONT]

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[FONT=&quot]WESLEY MATTHEWS[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]On Memphis defense:[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]“It was good when we allowed it to be. Credit them, they don’t have the record they have as a fluke. They’re a very good team, but we were able to still get shots. We didn’t knock down as many shots as we would have liked, as we are capable of, but when we allowed them to be a very good defensive team, they were, but when we moved the ball we were able to get what we wanted.”[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]What do you mean ‘allowed’?
“When the ball stayed on one side of the court, because when they load up, they’re big, they’re active. They’ve been a top ten, five defensive team for however many years. When we got them moving around with our movement, we were able to get good looks.”[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]On difficulties offensively when guys aren’t making threes:[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]“It’s tough. It’s tough especially when it’s such a big weapon for us. We got good looks though. It’s not like we shot forced ones. It’s not like we shot difficult ones. You could put us in the gym right now and we could make those left handed. Some nights are like that, but we have to be able to rely on our defense. In that nine game stretch, our offense wasn’t perfect. We were still missing shots then but our defense was on point, and it wasn’t tonight.”[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]“Basketball is such a rhythm game and they got it going offensively. That’s mostly our fault. We were allowing stuff that they’re not typically known for. They were getting transition points. They’re not typically a transition team, so when you fall into points like that, you get a rhythm offensively and they did. That fuels the defensive end and then when we’re not making shots, that just continues to give them confidence.”[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]On takeaways of this game:[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]“It’s one game. It’s one game and we just won nine straight. It’s one game, we just can’t let this set us back and it’s the end of the world. They outplayed us. We’ll learn from it, we’ll be better, we’ll make our shots, and we’ll be better defensively. We’ve been great defensively all year. We got beat tonight. The beauty about the NBA, in 48 hours, you’ve got another game.”[/FONT]

 

[FONT=&quot]HEAD COACH DAVE JOERGER[/FONT]

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[FONT=&quot]On his defense after a slow start:[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]“We got a lot more aggressive. I knew there was going to be a feeling out period to this game. Unfortunately it didn’t take [the Blazers] long to figure it out. They came out and made a lot of shots early. We knew that our defense was decent…our guys stayed with it…We weathered the storm and then we just kept grinding. We gave up a couple easy baskets at the end of the game, but outside of those five, six minutes, we were pretty good, defensively.”[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]On Marc Gasol in the second half:[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]“We found some ways to attack them in different ways. He was aggressive and he didn’t settle, but then that set up him picking and popping, and him picking and popping set up Mike Conley getting to the basket.”[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]On he liked about his bench in the first half:[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]“They defended, and by defending and then rebounding, they got some easy baskets in transition, then they got some confidence and felt good about things. Then you let them stay out there and feel it and enjoy it. I’m really happy for them.”[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]On the playing the Blazers:[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]“They’re really good, and we like coming up here. We like playing them. It’s just good competition. It’s a great atmosphere, and guys are very professional to each other.”[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]MARC GASOL[/FONT]

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[FONT=&quot]On weathering the storm and then getting the win:[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]“We finally got some stops and they did a really good job at forcing us to take our jumpers. Even though we couldn’t get them going late in the first I felt we did a good job of staying close. We were down 2 in the first but then we got our rhythm and the second unit came in and they executed and shared the ball and more importantly they played pretty good defense.”[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]On himself in the second half:[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]“Well I made a couple of jumpers and then they forced one too many jumpers out of me. They forced me to step out in the first half and[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]I missed a couple of them and I felt like I had to chuck a few, so then I waited for my time and I reaped benefit from it.”[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]On his and Mike Conley’s relationship:[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]“We’ve pretty much seen any kind of defense that you can throw at us, so we have pretty much countered for everything, even if we make the shot or not. I made a couple jumpers and then you have to totally change your scheme and play a different way.”[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]MIKE CONLEY[/FONT]

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[FONT=&quot]On the game after the first quarter:[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]“I thought that they came out with a lot of energy and they played very well, they get their rhythm like that but once we calmed it down a bit and got back to our style, our pace, it helped us settle things and take control.”[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]On his and Marc Gasol relationship:[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]“We’ve known each other for a long time and know how each other plays and he so unselfish, it’s fun to play with him. I know where he wants the ball and he knows where I want the ball and we don’t even have to speak, we just look at each other a certain way and that means a back cut or a give and go or whatever it is. It’s a fun relationship.”[/FONT]

 

[FONT=&quot]• [/FONT][FONT=&quot]With the win, Memphis improves to 10-0 against the Western Conference this season. Portland's winning streak is halted at nine games,just two wins short of its longest winning streak in 2013-14 (11).[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]• [/FONT][FONT=&quot]The Trail Blazers nine-game winning streak remains the longest streak in the NBA this season and is the 10th longest winning streak in franchise history.[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]• [/FONT][FONT=&quot]The Trail Blazers made six of their first seven shots to start the game. All five Portland starters made the first shot they attempted,and all five had at least one field goal in the first 3:23. Memphis made three of its first 11field goals.[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]• [/FONT][FONT=&quot]Portland started the game on a 15-6 run in the first 6:15.[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]• [/FONT][FONT=&quot]Wesley Matthews [/FONT][FONT=&quot]made 7 of his 12 3-pointers against Memphis and now has four games with five or more 3-pointers this season. That is tied with Stephen Curry for most in the NBA. Matthews made at least six 3-pointers in back-to-back games for the first time in his career. Matthews finished just one 3-pointer shy of a career high,and an NBA high in 2014-15.[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]• [/FONT][FONT=&quot]Wesley Matthews [/FONT][FONT=&quot]finished the game with 26 points,marking the second consecutive game that Matthews has led Portland in scoring.[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]• [/FONT][FONT=&quot]LaMarcus Aldridge [/FONT][FONT=&quot]finished with 19 points and 10 rebounds,notching his team high sixth double-double of the season.[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]• [/FONT][FONT=&quot]Chris Kaman [/FONT][FONT=&quot]tied his season-high with 16 points and added a season-high 11 rebounds,registering his second double-double of the season. Kaman has now led the bench in scoring in 13 of the 16 games that Portland has played this season.[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]• [/FONT][FONT=&quot]The Trail Blazers dished out 22 assists against the Grizzlies. Portland has notched at least 20 assists in all 16 games this season.[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]• [/FONT][FONT=&quot]Portland committed just eight turnovers against Memphis,marking the second consecutive game that the Trail Blazers finished with less than 10 turnovers. Those eight turnovers tie a season-low for the Trail Blazers, who committed just eight against Charlotte on Wednesday. Portland had at least 10 turnovers in all of its previous 14 games.[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]• [/FONT][FONT=&quot]This is the first time Portland has had back-to-back games with eight or fewer turnovers since Jan. 4-5, 2011.[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]• In [/FONT][FONT=&quot]the past 10 quarters,Portland has committed just 19 turnovers.[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]• [/FONT][FONT=&quot]Former Trail Blazer Zach Randolph scored 14 points and hauled in 13 rebounds, notching his 415th double-double of his career. That ranks sixth most among active NBA players.[/FONT]