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HEAD COACH TERRY STOTTS
“I’m really proud in back to back games to win our division and have back to back 50-win seasons. It’s something to be very proud of, which we are, but we’re not done. We’ve got to continue to get better and prepare for the playoffs, but this was a good night for the Trail Blazers.”
On contributions from Kaman and the bench:
“Chris was terrific. Our whole bench was terrific, the first half in particular, but Chris – I’m not one for superlatives, but it might have been his best game. It could have been, he had a lot of good games early in the season, but I thought he passed the ball well, he took advantage of a post matchup that was advantageous for us, rebounded the ball, made a great play on a lob toward the end to Davis. So he did a nice job at both ends.”
On fourth quarter
“Our fourth quarter defense was very good. Nic did a really good job on Evans and as I said, Chris and LA did a nice tag-team as far as whether they had two bigs in or whether Ryan Anderson was at the four. We did a better job of controlling penetration. When you get stops and you’re able to get the ball out, it makes your offense better. Obviously, Damian made a lot of good plays at the end at the offensive end. Usually when you do things like that, it’s a combination of offense and defense.”
On McCollum’s contributions/play last night and tonight:
“Obviously last night in LA, he had an outstanding offensive game. He’s playing in flow, I thought he had an excellent floor game, not just his scoring but he’s making good reads on his penetration and his passing. We need that scoring off the bench. The first half tonight, getting 10, he kind of picked up where he left off. With Wes and Dorrell gone, we need his scoring punch when he comes in and it looks like he’s kind of latched on to that responsibility.”
On outrebounding Pelicans 51-35:
“Rebounding is important, particularly defensive rebounding for us. They get second chance points, they have a big front line. I think our offensive rebounding has been not as good as it probably can be. With Robin being out for 23 games, he’s obviously been our best offensive rebounder and we’ve missed that. He got his hands on a lot of ball on the offensive end and that was important. It didn’t seem like we were able to convert on a lot of our offensive rebounds, but it’s the effort that matters on that.”
DAMIAN LILLARD
What was key to finishing game after losing lead?
“We just tightened things up. We started to defend a lot better and play more physical. We executed really well.”
On getting aggressive offensively late in the game:
“At the end of the third, I had a lot of good looks and the ball felt good coming out of my hand. I finally made one, then I came out and went over to the bench, I could tell what kind of game it was turning into with them being right there, having a chance to get in the playoffs tonight. In my head, I made the decision to come in and be aggressive for the rest of the game and I was able to hit some shots. Nico hit some shots, but I think the biggest thing was us defending and getting out and running.”
On getting 50 wins for second straight year:
“It’s going in the right direction. A lot of the elite teams are consistently going over 50 wins and I think it’s great for us to have back to back seasons with that.”
Thoughts on bench heading to the playoffs compared with last year:
“I think we’re more comfortable with our bench, I guess you could say. Last year, we liked what we had but we didn’t know it would get this good. We’ve had a lot of guys that have had to step in because of injury this year that we didn’t have to deal with last year, so they’re more comfortable, more confident and jumping out there any time they’re called on and being able to produce. I think that’s going to be huge for us.”
“I’m really proud in back to back games to win our division and have back to back 50-win seasons. It’s something to be very proud of, which we are, but we’re not done. We’ve got to continue to get better and prepare for the playoffs, but this was a good night for the Trail Blazers.”
On contributions from Kaman and the bench:
“Chris was terrific. Our whole bench was terrific, the first half in particular, but Chris – I’m not one for superlatives, but it might have been his best game. It could have been, he had a lot of good games early in the season, but I thought he passed the ball well, he took advantage of a post matchup that was advantageous for us, rebounded the ball, made a great play on a lob toward the end to Davis. So he did a nice job at both ends.”
On fourth quarter
“Our fourth quarter defense was very good. Nic did a really good job on Evans and as I said, Chris and LA did a nice tag-team as far as whether they had two bigs in or whether Ryan Anderson was at the four. We did a better job of controlling penetration. When you get stops and you’re able to get the ball out, it makes your offense better. Obviously, Damian made a lot of good plays at the end at the offensive end. Usually when you do things like that, it’s a combination of offense and defense.”
On McCollum’s contributions/play last night and tonight:
“Obviously last night in LA, he had an outstanding offensive game. He’s playing in flow, I thought he had an excellent floor game, not just his scoring but he’s making good reads on his penetration and his passing. We need that scoring off the bench. The first half tonight, getting 10, he kind of picked up where he left off. With Wes and Dorrell gone, we need his scoring punch when he comes in and it looks like he’s kind of latched on to that responsibility.”
On outrebounding Pelicans 51-35:
“Rebounding is important, particularly defensive rebounding for us. They get second chance points, they have a big front line. I think our offensive rebounding has been not as good as it probably can be. With Robin being out for 23 games, he’s obviously been our best offensive rebounder and we’ve missed that. He got his hands on a lot of ball on the offensive end and that was important. It didn’t seem like we were able to convert on a lot of our offensive rebounds, but it’s the effort that matters on that.”
DAMIAN LILLARD
What was key to finishing game after losing lead?
“We just tightened things up. We started to defend a lot better and play more physical. We executed really well.”
On getting aggressive offensively late in the game:
“At the end of the third, I had a lot of good looks and the ball felt good coming out of my hand. I finally made one, then I came out and went over to the bench, I could tell what kind of game it was turning into with them being right there, having a chance to get in the playoffs tonight. In my head, I made the decision to come in and be aggressive for the rest of the game and I was able to hit some shots. Nico hit some shots, but I think the biggest thing was us defending and getting out and running.”
On getting 50 wins for second straight year:
“It’s going in the right direction. A lot of the elite teams are consistently going over 50 wins and I think it’s great for us to have back to back seasons with that.”
Thoughts on bench heading to the playoffs compared with last year:
“I think we’re more comfortable with our bench, I guess you could say. Last year, we liked what we had but we didn’t know it would get this good. We’ve had a lot of guys that have had to step in because of injury this year that we didn’t have to deal with last year, so they’re more comfortable, more confident and jumping out there any time they’re called on and being able to produce. I think that’s going to be huge for us.”
