Exclusive GAME# 25: KNICKS @ BLAZERS - DECEMBER 10, 2019 - Quote Book

[SlyPokerDog]

Postgame Notes – December 10, 2019

Portland 115, New York 87

Game No. 25, Home Game No. 11



TEAM

• Portland’s 28-point win marked the team’s largest margin of victory of the season, and was the Trail Blazers second win by 20+ points.

• The Trail Blazers shot 17-41 (41.5%) from 3-PT range, while New York was 7-38 (18.4%). Portland’s 17 3-PM tied its second highest total of the season.

• Portland increased its win-streak against New York to six games.

• Portland outrebounded New York 58-47, with both teams recording 11 offensive boards. Portland’s 58 rebounds was its highest total in a non-overtime game this season (61, Nov. 10 vs. ATL).

• Portland dished out 20 assists, while New York recorded 16.

• The Trail Blazers outscored the Knicks on the fast break, 14-13.


PLAYER
• Damian Lillard led Portland with 31 points (9-15 FG, 8-12 3-PT, 5-5 FT), to go with two rebounds and six assists in just 29 minutes. It was his seventh game with 30+ points, making him the 10th player to record seven or more 30 point games this season. His eight three-pointers matched his season high.

• Hassan Whiteside scored 17 points (7-11 FG, 3-3 FT) to go with 15 rebounds, and five blocks. He is the fourth player in the NBA this season to record at least 15 points, 15 rebounds and five blocks in a single game.

• Anfernee Simons scored 16 points on 5-of-9 shooting (4-7 3-PT, 2-2 FT) to go along with five rebounds and three assists in 29 minutes off the bench. His four 3PM and five rebounds were both season highs.

• CJ McCollum recorded 13 points (5-14 FG, 1-8 3-PT, 2-2 FT), four rebounds, and three assists in 31 minutes.

• Carmelo Anthony had 16 points on 5-of-13 shooting (3-4 3-PT, 3-6 FT), four rebounds and two steals. It was his ninth game in double-figures this season.

• Mario Hezonja finished with five points (3-11 FG, 3-6 3-PT), and 10 rebounds over 23 minutes. It was his second game of the season with double-digit rebounds.

• Nassir Little had six points (2-5 FG, 2-2 FT), two rebounds and four assists in 11 minutes off the bench. His four assists were a career-high.

• Julius Randle led the Knicks with 15 points (6-11 FG, 1-4 3-PT, 2-3 FT), seven rebounds, and three assists in 26 minutes.

• Mitchell Robinson added 14 points (5-8 FG, 4-7 FT), to go with five rebounds and one block in 14 minutes off the bench. It was his ninth game in double-figures this season.

 

[SlyPokerDog]

HEAD COACH TERRY STOTTS


Thoughts on tonight’s game?


Those kinds of games go good. I liked our demeanor on the outset. I thought Damian (Lillard) had a nice rhythm to his shots, I thought he did a nice job of managing the game. First half we set a lot of good screens, didn’t have a lot of assists but set a lot of good screens creating good scoring opportunities. (We) did a nice job against their offensive rebounding. It was a game we needed to get.


What was the report with Hassan (Whiteside) and Skal (Labissiere) together on the floor?


Neither one of them had any fouls at the time so foul trouble wasn’t an issue. New York had a big lineup with a lot of offensive rebounders with (Julius) Randle at the four along with (Mitchell) Robinson. I thought the game went with that opportunity to look at.


You went to the Anfernee (Simons), Dame (Damian Lillard), and CJ (McCollum) lineup early. Are you trying different things more?


I thought I’d like to look at that but with a game like tonight they but Dame on (Marcus) Morris, which is a tough matchup. I think a lot of times that lineup depends on who they have on the other side. It’s been effective for us in spots just like it has been in the past with Seth Curry or Shabazz (Napier). Its something that we’ll continue to look at.


You went zone (defense) for a couple possessions. It seemed like tonight was maybe a night to experiment, was that because you’re up thirty (points)?


We weren’t up thirty when we played the zone in the first half, it was just something to look at and something to change things up. We haven’t practiced, we just put it out there.


Is that (zone) about this matchup or more about where you are in the season to try new things?


Probably both. New York has struggled from the perimeter. I was worried about if we did our offensive rebounding, we ended up giving up a wide-open shot anyway. The way things are going, we are trying different things, different lineups. (I) talked to the assistants (coaches) earlier today about what can we look at. We are trying to find different things.


Next game is a big game in Denver, can you talk about that one?


They’re the same team that we played in the playoffs; we are not the same team, so it’ll be different. They are a good team. They are the same team that took us to game seven and they are at their place so it will be a challenge.

 

[SlyPokerDog]

DAMIAN LILLARD

Coach said it felt good to get a win like that, did you feel that way?

“Yeah, any time you have that type of win and the way that we did it, I think we should feel good about it – especially in a game we felt like we should have won.”


Was it good to see a good performance from start to finish?

“I said to Brooke earlier, that it was, like I said, a team that we felt like we should beat on our home floor. But I thought our approach and how we came out not looking at it like it was going to be an easy game or nothing like that, we respected our opponent. We did the right things defensively. We executed our defensive scouting report. And offensively, we executed as well as we have in a while, maybe this whole season. We went over a lot of plays, second group we went over a lot of plays, and I think everybody came into the game tonight with the right mentality. Everybody was focused and sharp. I think it showed in our performance. We did what we were supposed to do.”


You talked at practice about putting it on yourself in terms of getting out faster starts, was that the case tonight?

“I wouldn’t say I put it on myself, I just think when things go well, I’m the person that people give a lot of credit to and when it doesn’t go well, I’m the first person that they’re going to look at. So I think setting the tone with my actions and the message that we have in our huddles and before games and stuff like that, it obviously needed to be more uptight and sharper where this season, like I’ve never been an uptight person, I’m just like relaxed and I think when we came in today, it was just a level of like focus. A little bit more seriousness, like we understood that this was a really important game for us. When I spoke on it yesterday, that’s what I meant – we need to be more focused, we need to understand what we need to do to give ourselves a real chance. Like I said, tonight I thought we came out as a group and did that.”


Coach tried some different combinations tonight; do you expect to see more? Do you want to see more wrinkles?

“I mean, why not? With Skal and Whiteside out there, Skal moves pretty well and they had non-shooting bigs tonight and I think it worked because of those two reasons. But we’ve struggled to rebound the ball, so having two of those guys out there, if it can work, why not? Me, CJ and Ant, our minutes this year together have been positive for the team, so why not? He was just rolling it out there and seeing how it would go.”


With where you’re at, you have to try different stuff?

“I mean, we’ve struggled to start the season so right now, why be afraid to try different things if what we’ve been doing this whole time has been giving us issues anyway? You’ve got to be willing to step outside of you comfort zone and do things – but as long as coach is doing that with faith that it has a chance and when he puts in those positions, we do it with confidence and like we believe in what we’re doing, I feel like it’s going to have a chance to work. That’s all that counts.”

 

[SlyPokerDog]

CARMELO ANTHONY


“How much did you need to get a win like that tonight?”

“We just needed a win. It didn’t matter how we was gonna get it, or what happened, we just needed a win and this one was a good one especially with a two-game road trip coming up. Hopefully this spirit leads us in the right direction.”

“Does the Denver game seem more important with them ahead of you in the standings?”

“It’s definitely an important game, being in the same conference, knowing what we’re trying to accomplish. You know those guys are coming in with a loss tonight, so I’m sure they’ll be ready in front of their home crowd. This will be a good one for us to go get on the road.”

“Dame (Damian Lillard) talked last game about playing with more sense of urgency, did you feel that tonight?”

“Yeah yeah, we was locked in since this morning shootaround, we was locked in. Dame came on and led us tonight, Hassan (Whiteside) played great, but I thought overall defensively is what got us going, we was talking, we was acting, a lot of energy on the defensive end, and then Dame came on and made shots the way that he did.”

“How critical is it for this team to find their defensive identity going into a couple of tough games?”

“We just working, that’s all we can do is work, work, work, continue getting better, try to create some havoc on the defensive end. We have to establish something; every night is not gonna be an offensive night for us so we gotta establish something. Tonight we did that.”

“How did you feel about your offensive execution tonight?”

“We did a better job, a much, much better job just playing with pace and in the offensive end executing plays, getting guys to the right spot, communicating in the offensive end, just playing with a different pace and a different force.”

“How impressive is Damian Lillard’s loyalty and drive now that you see up close as his teammate?”

“It’s impressive, very impressive, I’ve been in that seat where you were very loyal, you have these goals to be in one location forever. He’s the guy who wants to be here, he said it, he wants to have his jersey retired here I this arena. There’s not a lot of guys who, in today’s sports and in any sport, has that level of loyalty.”

“Has anything about Damian Lillard surprised you?”

“I mean just his demeaner and his approach to the game. You see it from afar but then being up close and personal and getting to understand him as a person you understand why he’s like that.”

 

[SlyPokerDog]

INTERIM HEAD COACH MIKE MILLER

On Dame

He made shots. There were maybe a few of them we could have done something. He made a lot of shots, he generated a lot of offense. I thought part of that too, the fact that we were not making shots and he was, it kind of spiraled us a little bit, in a direction we really didn’t want to go in. We were working to get out of it, to get back, it wasn’t going to be one pass and a shot that was going to go in that wasn’t going in. We fought through that to try and get back, move a little bit and create some shots that way. It’s a difficult thing when someone is making shots and they’re stretching the game to stay patient offensively.

On working through a shooting slump

It’s difficult, because you may have in the 82 game schedule some nights where it won’t go in, and we found ourselves in that. We just kept trying to attack the paint, spray it back out, drive a closeout, just try to make an extra pass and that’s a hard thing to do. Particularly when they’re scoring and stretching the game a little bit in the second quarter.

On getting ready for the second half of their back to back

I think we are thankful that we have this game tomorrow to get a chance to get right back out, and let’s get a chance to play. We’ll travel, we’ll get there and try to put things back together in terms of get back on the court, play the game, and let the game come to you. Just do all of the things that the guys know to do.

On what to tell the team after this loss

I think one of the hardest things to do is when another team is going, particularly when (Damian) Lillard is hitting threes and creating offense, to come back down the floor and try to move it, move it, and play in it. Your instinct is to quick strike back, and we went and maybe hit a quick strike and missed a few, then it can spiral a little bit and we got in that. Even when we had some possessions, shots that I’m confident we make, we didn’t make. It was just one of those nights, we were going to have to fight through it and find our way. I don’t think it had anything to do with our effort, I think we kind of got away from things a little bit and it was hard to get back in that groove.

On if the players had their heads down after this

I think it’s hard for any team when that happens, that’s maybe the biggest challenge for any team is when someone is going good, you try to answer, and you miss a few of those shots. It’s easy to get in that, I think everyone has to deal with that, I don’t think we are the only ones.

 

[SlyPokerDog]

DAMYEAN DOTSON


On defending Damian (Lillard)

“He’s an all-star. He’s the one you base your defense around and try to stop him. We just have to switch up a few coverages but he made some tough shots tonight.”


On trying to match Portland’s 3-point shooting with a quick shot on offense

“I feel like in the second half we kind of rushed it. I felt like we could have stayed with it and moved it a little bit more. When you go down, you want to try and hurry up to get back so you just have to stay with it and play together. I feel like they made some quick shots which made us take some quick ones.”


What is the game plan for tomorrow night vs the Warriors?

“We just have to focus on us and play together to try to get a win on the road. We’ll look at the film tomorrow, maybe tonight to get ready for Golden State. We really got to focus on us and figure out what we got to do to get a W.”