Exclusive GAME# 52: BLAZERS @ RAPTORS - FEBRUARY 2, 2018 - Official NBA Quote Book

[SlyPokerDog]

TORONTO RAPTORS

POST-GAME NOTES

FINAL SCORE: TORONTO RAPTORS 130, PORTLAND TRAIL BLAZERS 105

DATE: FEBRUARY 2, 2018 ATTENDANCE: 19,800 (Sellout)

Tonight, marked Toronto’s 161st consecutive sellout (including playoffs) dating back to Nov. 11, 2014 – the longest streak in franchise history.


KEY RUN

Leading 37-18 after one quarter, the Raptors opened the second on a 12-2 run to stretch the lead to 29 points (their largest of the night) with 9:26 remaining … Toronto led 74-52 at the half ... The Raptors shot 50 per cent from the field (25-for-50) from the field, including .579 (11-for-19) from three-point range, in the first half.

KEY STAT

The Raptors made a season-high 19 three-point field goals - two shy of the franchise record … Toronto shot .475 (19-for-40) from beyond the arc … DeMar DeRozan tied a career high with six treys … The Raptors improved to 27-7 this season when they make at least 10 three-point field goals … Portland shot .333 (7-for-21) from three-point range.

RAPTORS NOTES:

• With the win, Toronto improves to 35-16 on the season and an NBA-best 20-4 at home ... The Raptors have now won three of their last four games (Jan. 28 - Feb. 2), including three straight at home … Toronto continues its season-long four-game homestand (Feb. 2-8) Sunday afternoon against Memphis.
• The Raptors swept the season-series (2-0) with Portland for the third consecutive season (2015-18).
• Toronto’s 35 victories through 51 games played is tied for the most in franchise history (Last: 2015-16).
• The Raptors out rebounded Portland 42-36, including 17-4 on the offensive glass … Toronto had a 26-7 advantage in second-chance points.
• Toronto finished with six turnovers, one shy of its season-low.
• The Raptors scored more than 120 points for the 16th time – second most in the NBA behind only Golden State (23) … Toronto scored 120 points 13 times last season.
• DeMar DeRozan led all scorers with 35 points (11-22 FG, 6-10 3PT, 7-8 FT) … DeRozan matched a career high with six made three-pointers … Toronto improved to 12-1 this season when he scores 30-or-more points … DeRozan has scored at least 20 points in each of his last 11 games against the Trail Blazers.
• Jonas Valanciunas scored 18 points (7-15 FG, 2-4 3PT, 2-2 FT) … Valanciunas has now reached double digits in scoring in a season-long six straight games (Jan. 24 – Feb. 2); averaging 18.3 points during this stretch.
• The Raptors had six double-figure scorers – DeRozan (35), Valanciunas (18), Fred VanVleet (16), Kyle Lowry (15), Pascal Siakam (13) and Norman Powell (11) … Lowry added four rebounds and a team-high five assists.
• CJ Miles (right knee soreness) missed his third consecutive game (Jan. 30 – Feb. 2)

TRAIL BLAZERS NOTES:

• With the loss, Portland falls to 29-23 on the year and 14-13 on the road ... The defeat ends the Trail Blazers’ four-game win streak (Jan. 24-31) … Portland continues a three-game road trip (Feb. 2-5) Sunday at Boston.
• Damian Lillard recorded his sixth double-double of the season with 32 points (11-18 FG, 3-7 3PT, 7-8 FT) and 10 assists … Lillard became the fastest player in Trail Blazers history to reach 10,000 points and passed Jim Paxson (10,003) for sixth on the team’s all-time scoring list.
• The Trail Blazers had three players reach double-digit scoring – Lillard (32), CJ McCollum (21) and Jusuf Nurkic (20) … Nurkic scored 20+ points for the 10th time this season

 

[SlyPokerDog]

RAPTORS QUOTES


DWANE CASEY (HEAD COACH)


On being able to answer everything Portland threw at them…

Defensively I think we dug in at the right time. (Damian) Lillard and (CJ) McCollum are two of the most dynamic guards along with our guys in the league, so you know they’re not going to stay cold all night, so we knew that was coming and we just had to tighten up some things and make sure we dug in defensively.


On the bench’s play tonight…

They bounced back, huge bounce back. I was really proud the way they bounced back. Again, we need them, we need their energy, their focus, their attention to detail, their execution, because it’s contagious. You know, again, they’re young guys, there’s going to be nights where they just can’t get it going and they didn’t last night, but tonight they did a great job.


On the starters not playing a minute in the fourth quarter…

It’s really important, especially with the early game Sunday, it gives them some time to bounce back from the back-to-back. We have Boston coming in too, so we have a string of games here, so as much rest as we can get is important. I’m concerned about the early start on Sunday, you know we’ve got to get jump started and that’s the key concern.



DEMAR DEROZAN (35 points)


On playing with energy on the second night of a back-to-back…

When you come off a loss like that, you can’t wait to get back on the court and redeem yourself and that’s what tonight was. We were coming back home, in our comfort zone, on our own floor, and we just tried to let that energy that we didn’t have last night out.


On the team hitting their three-point shots…

We have so many more options, not just for myself but for my teammates. So many more driving lanes, so many options open up, and we just try to exploit every one of them.


On the efficient offence tonight...

We moved the ball, we took what they gave us and we were aggressive. We didn’t really force much and we got shots that we wanted, so it was a combination of all those things. We played well too and we came out with a win.



FRED VANVLEET (16 points, five rebounds)


On what was more surprising, DeMar DeRozan attempting 10 three-point shots or Jonas Valanciunas attempting four...

For sure DeMar, easily. We’ve seen JV shoot them last year, he thought about it a lot. You could tell he was on the verge of doing it, so for him to only get four is pretty modest. DeMar is so set in his ways to be one of the best mid-range guys that the league has seen in a long time so for him to be able to shoot 10 times from three is a big jump from last year for sure.


On the bounce back win after a tough loss...

It’s big and if you want to be a good team in this league you can’t lose two in a row and especially you don’t want to drop two back to backs. It happens from time to time but we want to go in the right direction. Dropping a tough one last night on the road and just to come back home and get back to right. I thought we did a good job coming out from the jump, of setting the tone and trying to bounce back and play more of a complete game than yesterday.

 

[SlyPokerDog]

VISITING TEAM QUOTES


TERRY STOTTS (HEAD COACH)


On Damian Lillard…

Before I talk about the game I’d like to acknowledge what Damian Lillard has accomplished in his time at Portland, 10,000 points and 2,500 assists in six years. The group of names: LeBron (James), Michael (Jordan), (Larry) Bird, (Nate) Archibald, (Pete) Maravich, (Dave) Bing, (Oscar) Robertson, it’s quite a list. All Hall of Famers, except for LeBron, I think he has a chance to get in too. I just need to acknowledge what he has done so far in six years and what he’s been for the team, for the franchise and I don’t want anybody to take that for granted.


On the game…

They played really well and we didn’t play very well. They shot the three very well, offensive rebounds, some of it was our doing but I thought the Raptors played very well and we didn’t have many answers for them. Every time we made a little dent, cut it to 13 or so, they hit three three’s in a row and it’s back up to 20. It was a tough game but the Raptors played very well.


On what made the Raptors so tough to guard…

DeMar DeRozan is a great offensive player and he can get to the rim, he gets to the free throw line. You don’t expect him to shoot the three as much or as well as he did it. Other guys made their shots. The three-point shot is a great equalizer. We outscored them in the paint, outscored them from the free throw line but the three-point line was a huge factor tonight.



DAMIAN LILLARD (32 points, 10 assists)


On the game…

We dug ourselves in a hole early and you know against a team as good as them, probably the best team in the East right now, them and Boston neck and neck, you can’t do that especially on the road. We put ourselves in a tough position, gave up too many second and third opportunities to a team at that level, they are going to hurt you. We just have a lot of trouble with that sometimes.


Why does Toronto give you so much trouble?

I’m not sure. We have bad starts against them and dig ourselves a hole and we fight back. In this league you dig a hole and fight back even sometimes when you cut a lead to single digits maybe, it’s hard to get over that hump because you had to work so hard to get back into the game. Each time that we did that we had a breakdown because we used so much energy and effort to even come within striking distance and they are too good of a team.


On 10,000 points…

It’s another accomplishment and I always attribute those things to the amount of work that I put in it and how much time I put into my game, how committed I am to being a better player each year. But also, coach Stotts giving me the opportunity to play free, make mistakes and having that faith and trust in me. I think that has as much to do with it as my effort, just coming in and playing for a coach that is on your side. Gives you the opportunity to play free, be aggressive and be who you are. A lot of people deserve some of the credit for it, but it is something that I am really happy about, now I just have to keep on moving up.



CJ MCCOLLUM (21 points)


What went wrong at the start of the game?

They played really good basketball, they moved the ball and they made three-pointers. Defensively they got into us, they got offensive rebounds when they missed. We didn’t play very good basketball ourselves but it’s a credit to them the way they came out.


With DeMar DeRozan improving his three-point shooting, how does that change defending Toronto’s backcourt?

It adds another dimension to their offence obviously. He was more mid-range oriented in the past and getting to the rim drawing fouls and he was an All- Star without a three-point shot. Now with that shot he is that much more effective and that makes him better as far as trying to guard pick-and-rolls understanding that he can stop and shoot. Understanding that in transition he is running to the line now instead of just running for layups, he can stop and hit a three too.