Exclusive GAME# 33: BLAZERS @ LAKERS - DECEMBER 23, 2017 - Quote Book

[SlyPokerDog]

Los Angeles Lakers vs. Portland Trail Blazers
Regular Season Game #31, STAPLES Center

December 23, 2017

Trail Blazers Head Coach Terry Stotts

(On the game)

“I was really proud of our team, especially the guys off the bench. Zach [Collins], Ed [Davis], Pat [Connnaughton], they all did an outstanding job. Obviously Shabazz [Napier] had a terrific game. CJ [McCollum] struggled but made some big plays late, and Mo [Maurice] Harkless [played well]. The four guys off the bench really made a great contribution, and I was really happy for Mo. He hasn’t been playing much and came through with a lot of big plays.”

(On Zach Collins’s play)

“Zach played a really good game at both ends. Guarding a guy like Kuzma who moves around on the perimeter, he didn’t give him any looks. I don’t know if he fouled him on that three, but I thought he did a nice job, not just one-on-one, but having to chase a perimeter three-point shooter around.”

(On taking the lead in the game)

“I felt like we just were going back and forth, six- and eight-point differential, and we weren’t able to get over the hump. I just thought, like in a lot of games, we’re able to string together a couple of plays to even the score. Obviously Shabazz [Napier] at the end of the quarter made some momentum plays – the three that he had, [and] the steal – so I just felt like we were just hanging around and couldn’t string together a couple of plays [at first].”

(On Maurice Harkless’s play)

“Mo was in this position two years ago with Gerald Henderson, and he was out of the rotation, [but] he’s a pro and he knows that he has to be ready. I’ve addressed that when we have a healthy roster. When everyone is able to play, guys have to understand that the minutes are tight for some people, and he stayed ready.”

 

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Trail Blazers F Maurice Harkless

(On his play)

“I just stay ready. Without Dame [Damian Lillard] tonight, we had to figure out another way to get some more scoring and help our team win. My teammates were finding me, and I was just taking advantage of opportunities.”

(On scoring 13 points in the fourth quarter)

“It was time to win. I had to do whatever I could to win, and tonight it was to score. We just had to figure out a way to get something going, and I had an advantage a lot of times in the post. Like I said, my teammates did a great job finding me when I had an advantage and when I was open, so all I have to do is knock down shots.”

(On getting the win)

“The energy is a lot different than if we would’ve lost, obviously. To get this win, especially with the way we’ve been struggling, and not having Damian [Lillard] going into this break, I think it’s pretty good for us to have these two days off to decompress and come back ready to go.”

 

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Trail Blazers C Zach Collins

(On the win)

“We needed it really bad, and we didn’t give up. We were down for a lot of that game, and we kind of had to fight our way back into it. Once we saw something that kind of worked, we just kept sticking to it and kept making different reads out of different plays. Obviously Mo [Maurice Harkless] stepped up huge for us, and Shabazz [Napier] as well, so I think as a unit we kept playing together, kept moving the ball, and kept getting stops.”

(On guarding Kyle Kuzma)

“It’s tough. Obviously he’s explosive, he can shoot. When you have a guy like that, you have to close out, but you have to make sure he doesn’t go by you. Obviously he’s a good player, he’s had a great season so far…”

(On his increased playing time)

“It’s good. I just try to stay ready. At the beginning of the season when I wasn’t playing a lot, I still tried to get my work in. The coaching staff was great about giving me confidence in practice and giving me a lot of reps in practice…so I felt ready for it.”

 

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Lakers Head Coach Luke Walton

(On what contributed to the loss)

“There’s a lot of reasons that went into it and we could’ve won. We didn’t win, but we definitely could’ve won. Little things hurt us again—missed free throws and turnovers—same story with that stuff. The challenge going into tonight was mentally ‘let’s bring it again after a draining game that we had in Oakland last night.’ I feel like they [the Trail Blazers] were ready to give us that game and we were not ready or willing to take it, at least do the things that are required to win NBA basketball games. When you leave it up like that, anything can happen.”

(On the impact of the Lakers’ 8-0 run in the third quarter)

“It was huge and that was one of my talking points…each game takes on their own life and there’s momentum. This is real in basketball, where one play affects the next play and one pass within that play affects how the shooter makes or misses. We went up eight [points], we got the stop with AC [Alex Caruso] making a great defensive play in the post, and right at that moment [Maurice] Harkless outworked all of our guys. We had three guys in the paint, and he just went down, took it, and laid it back up. Instead of us getting a paint stop, where we can get out and run, maybe push it to 10 late in the third, and go into the fourth with a 10-, 12-point lead, they put it back in, cut it to six, got a couple of stops, and it was an even ball game. So just like that, with one play, you know it shifts momentum to their side and they take a lead in the fourth and now we’re trying to scrap and crawl our way back into it because we weren’t willing to get dirty and grab a loose ball.”

(On how he decided who to select for the final play)

“Normally the guys that have been in the game. Each one of them can make shots. KCP [Kentavious Caldwell-Pope], although struggling with his shot the last two games—has some years of making big game-winning shots. He hit a big time shot up in Portland for us. We want at least one big in to set solid screens and then you got shooters spaced around. We got a really clean look and I think KCP makes that most nights. That’s all you can ask for, it just didn’t drop down for us tonight.”

(On how Brandon Ingram’s absence affected the rotation)

“It affected a lot because we’ve been playing Brandon [Ingram] at multiple positions. He’s been playing back-up forward, three…we use him to handle to get Zo [Lonzo Ball] off the ball a little bit. Going in I told the guys, ‘look we have to be ready, we have to be prepared, we have to be professionals. We’re going to have different lineups tonight and different people are going to get chances to play.’ A lot of these guys played 35 to 40 minutes last night, we’re going to be tired and it’s our job to be ready and I didn’t think we did a good job of that. I thought guys on our bench were pouting. I thought that there was too much feeling sorry for ourselves as opposed to being professionals and the main thing that we do is always about our team and about what’s best for the team, how do we win as a team. Our guys have been great at that all year long so I just didn’t think we were very in character tonight. Maybe it was fatigue from this tough stretch we went through, but we just didn’t seem to be ourselves.”

 

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LAKERS PLAYERS POST GAME QUOTES

Los Angeles Lakers vs. Portland Trail Blazers
Regular Season Game #31, STAPLES Center

December 23, 2017

Lakers G Lonzo Ball

(On second-quarter shoulder injury)

“I am not really sure what happened. I just felt it pop. I am just going to get some ice on it but I’ll be ready to go for Christmas.”

(On what helped the Trail Blazers win)

“We just let them hang around too long. We had opportunities to blow the game out and we never took those opportunities. That is what happens when you go blow to blow like that.”

(On common factor between close games)

“We just have to make plays. But I think it is more the stuff leading up to the last part. We keep missing free throws and we keep having too many turnovers that is the two common denominators every time.”

(On controlling Shabazz Napier and CJ McCollum)

“Two explosive guards. Both can score off of the dribble. They don’t really get tired, they are always going. So it takes a lot of energy.”



Lakers F Kyle Kuzma

(On poor shooting percentage)

“It was just one of those nights. I couldn’t throw a rock in the ocean tonight. It could be fatigue but at the same time there is no excuse.”

(On where the game got away from them)

“The fourth quarter. We were up eight and then just the little details we didn’t follow through with and they made us pay for them.”

(On Josh Hart’s play)

“He did pretty well. He did a good job of playing defense and attacking the rim pretty well, even rebounding for us.”

(On common theme with close game losses)

“Just hit free throws. Every game we have lost has been close. We hit free throws, we win. Tonight we shot [60 percent] again.”


Lakers G Josh Hart

(What Portland did to win)
“You gotta give them credit because they made some good plays. They just beat us to the ball. They had a little bit more grit than us.”

(On noticing low energy)

“A little bit. When you feel that you just try to get it going however you can but I feel like there was a little bit of that.”

(On views of starting games)

“I just view it as an opportunity. I just go out there and try to do anything that I can to help the team win. Whether that is being aggressive, defense, rebounding, anything”

(On play now versus play in training camp)

“I am confident - offensively, defensively. I am feeling good and confidence is growing every game.”

 

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