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Monday, January 19, 2015 Final Score: POR 98, SAC 94
HEAD COACH TERRY STOTTS
“It was a pretty gutsy win. To win a game like that, our defense in the second half was tremendous. The energy was great. Obviously, Thomas and Will came in and gave us the energy that we needed. Thomas did a really good job on Cousins in the second half. He competed defensively as far as contesting his post ups and catches and created a lot of steals. We won it with our energy. We didn’t shoot the ball particularly well and obviously LaMarcus being out affected the game, but I think it was a credit to everybody that played that they contributed to the win.”
On using small lineup late in the game:
“With LA out, we’re undersized anyway. I thought Will’s energy and Thomas’s energy would have a chance to change the game. The fact that T-Rob guarded Cousins as well as he did, obviously I kept him on the court because of that. I anticipated going back with Chris, but T-Rob deserved to be out there. Will brought some energy. We needed a spark and he gave it to us.”
On aggressiveness of defense:
“I wanted to be smart with our pressure. I didn’t want to gamble, but being more aggressive – I thought we had good length, we had good athleticism. We were kind of forced to play a smaller lineup with all our big guys being out. They kind of matched up with us. But I give credit to the guys that were in there, when you have Williams, Thompson and Gay out there, they’re still a pretty long, athletic team so we did a good job rebounding the ball and created some offense with our defense.”
On no turnovers in fourth quarter while forcing 8 from Kings:
“We’ve had games like that on the other end, but for us, it was a different style of game for us. With the guys who were playing and being relatively undersized, we had to create some things and kind of change what we were doing. I thought Wes did a very good job on Gay for the second half. He was bodying him up, contesting his shots and he kept him away from the rim. That was very important for us.”
WESLEY MATTHEWS
On win:
“There’s no question, that was a gut check win, a must win. It didn’t get any easier. I kept looking at the end of the bench and I thought LA had gone to the bathroom and I was waiting for him to come back. Guys stepped up. T-Rob came in and played big, Will changed the game, D-Wright, Meyers and Vic came in and made plays for us. It was a gutty performance for everybody.”
On small lineup used late in the game:
“That was a get the win by any means. We had never played that lineup before. I don’t know how much that lineup will ever be together, but it was necessary at the time and it got us a win.”
On playing and winning with guys out:
“Last year we were blessed and frankly lucky. You rarely go through a season where all starters are healthy… It’s been everything but that this season. We’re continuing to fight, continuing to pull together, continuing to trust each other and finding ways to win. Tonight was evidence of that and it was a big time win for us.”
DAMIAN LILLARD
On level of concern with Aldridge’s injury:
“It’s a huge concern of ours, obviously with him being our best player. But like I’ve said, it’s not like we can not go out there and not play the next game, so guys just have to be ready to step up.”
On getting to the rim late in the game:
“I still would raise up and shoot the three if I needed to, but tonight I took what they gave me. I knew Jason Thompson was showing really hard on pick and rolls and there’d be an opportunity for me to split. So that’s what I did. When I split, the defense was kind of off balance I guess and I was able to get to the rim. The time before that it was just an offensive rebound. I know Wes is one of the better shooters in the league so if he misses, I know it’s not going to be a bad miss and I just crashed on that one.”
On Cousins fouling out of the game:
“That was huge. We weren’t trying to get him to foul out, but in my opinion, he’s probably one of the best bigs in the league, top two, top three bigs in the league and it would have been a handful down the stretch to stop him. That’s why I thought T-Rob was so huge for us because he fought him down there. That’s a big guy, a physical guy, and he fought him and made things hard for him. When he fouled out, it was him trying to fight through T-Rob fighting with him and it turned into an offensive foul and he’s out of the game and now that’s a problem we don’t have to worry about.”
