Exclusive GAME# 58: PISTONS @ BLAZERS - FEBRUARY 23, 2020 - Quote Book

[SlyPokerDog]

Postgame Notes – February 23, 2020

Portland 107, Detroit 104

Game No. 58, Home Game No. 28



TEAM

• Portland was 41-of-84 (48.8%) from the field, while Detroit shot 37-of-86 (43.0%). It was the 28th time this season that Portland has had an equal or better FG% than the opponent.

• The Trail Blazers starting lineup outscored Detroit’s starters, 97-34.

• The Trail Blazers dished out 20 assists to Detroit’s 18. It was Portland’s fifth consecutive game recording at least 20 assists.

• Portland outscored Detroit 15-13 in second chance points, while the Pistons outscored the Trail Blazers in fast break points, 21-20.

• Portland improved to 5-3 in games decided by three points or less.


PLAYER
• CJ McCollum led Portland with a season-high 41 points (15-30 FG, 6-11 3-PT, 5-8 FT), nine rebounds and a career-high 12 assists in 43 minutes. It was his sixth career 40+ point game, the eighth double-double of his career, and the first time he has recorded a double-double in consecutive games.

• Carmelo Anthony scored a season-high 32 points (11-16 FG, 5-9 3-PT, 5-6 FT), to go with four rebounds and one assist in 37 minutes. It was his 272nd career game with 30+ points, good for the 19th-most in NBA history and fourth most among active players (L. James, K. Durant, J. Harden).

• Hassan Whiteside finished with 16 points on 8-of-14 shooting, 17 rebounds, three assists and four blocks in 38 minutes. It was his 43rd double-double of the season, tied for the fourth-most in the NBA.

• Gary Trent Jr. finished with six points (3-8 FG), two rebounds, two assists and three steals. It was his fifth time this season recording at least three steals.

• Anfernee Simons had six points (2-8 FG, 2-5 3-PT) and one assist in 18 points off the bench.

• Wenyen Gabriel finished with four points (1-2 FG, 2-2 FT) and a career-high four rebounds in 13 minutes.

• Christian Wood led Detroit with 26 points (9-15 FG, 2-4 3-PT, 6-7 FT), nine rebounds, one assist and two blocks in 31 minutes. His 26 points tied the third-highest scoring total of his career.

• Brandon Knight added a season-high 15 points (4-8 FG, 3-7 3-PT, 4-4 FT), two rebounds and three assists in 20 minutes off the bench

 

[SlyPokerDog]

HEAD COACH TERRY STOTTS

On overall thoughts about the game…

“That was a heck of a game. The way we started was fun to watch, at both ends. I thought defensively we were reactive. CJ (McCollum) was terrific all night, but the first quarter in particular he was outstanding, Melo (Carmelo Anthony) got us off to a great start, first quarter was awesome. Obviously we struggled in the second quarter, primarily defensively, kind of set the tone, but further look at what we did to win the game, and fourth quarter defense was outstanding. Trevor (Ariza) did a really good job on (Derrick) Rose, Hassan (Whiteside) came up with big blocks, Gary Trent (Jr.) made some tight plays, it was just really good. Melo and CJ had it going offensively, so to come back when things weren’t going our way speaks a lot about our team.”

On CJ McCollum’s performance…

“He was outstanding. CJ was outstanding, you look at his assists, the way he managed the game, obviously he scored the ball, but you take what he’s done in the last two games with Dame (Damian Lillard) out and it’s been pretty impressive, back to back double digit assists, he’s scoring well, but obviously it’s one of the better games he’s played in.”

On what adjustments the Pistons made between the first and second quarter…

“Well their defense played really well. Their length with (John) Henson and (Christian) Wood really impacted the game, (Langston) Galloway came in and played well, (Brandon) Knight came in and made three threes in the second quarter, their bench came in and really impacted the game, at both ends. Their length defensively, and their perimeter players.”

On Carmelo Anthony’s performance…

“Terrific. He got a little hot, made some big shots, it was good to see him shooting threes as well as he did, but very efficient, he had a really good rhythm offensively.”

On Wenyen Gabriel’s performance…

“Wenyen plays with a lot of energy. It was good, you noticed him out there. He was running up and down, he’s in the mix under the basket, made a couple good energy plays, just getting to the free throw line, was because he earned those two free throws, got a rebound, he couldn’t get it but he tipped it and we ended up getting it, so I thought his activity was really good.”

Is Caleb Swanigan hurt…

“No.”

On having four bench players on the court at once more often…

“I doubt it, I mean CJ (McCollum) played the whole second half. So I don’t like doing that, but it was just one of those games where it was vital he stayed in the game. So no I don’t plan on doing that, obviously the rotation changed the second half.”

On if there’s a possibility of keeping two starters on the court at all times…

“Well if I can play them the whole second half I can do that.”

 

[SlyPokerDog]

HEAD COACH DWANE CASEY


Thoughts on tonight’s game

“I thought we played hard. I thought our guys competed. We didn’t get out to a great start and we didn’t play smart in the first quarter. I’ve got to do a better job of getting the right group in, the right combinations in those situations. I thought we competed and got back, I thought the second unit came back and got us into the game. Brandon Knight played well, John Henson came in and changed the game, and I thought Christian Wood came in and changed the game. Those guys did a heck of a job being competitive. We learned a lot about our guys, we learned under pressure what guys can and can’t do. I did like our fight and our competitive level. Especially in the second quarter, as well as the third and fourth.”


Is shuffling your starters a takeaway from tonight

“Always, I’ve said that before we started all this stuff. Guys who are playing well will play. The guys that are coming in and competing, I thought those guys came in and did an excellent job. Put Langston Galloway in that group.”


How do you keep your team calm during adversity

“It’s two games in a row that our start has been atrocious. We’re too calm, I want to see someone get upset, get mad, and break the ball. Nobody is upset except for me over there. Again, I thought the second group that came in competed. CJ McCollum is one of the top scorers in this league and I thought he side shaked a little too much and got in a little too easy into our paint. We need to recognize on the weakside who’s rotating where. I thought our defensive rotations on the backside were bad. I got to do a better job of teaching that as a coach. From a coaching standpoint, make sure we totally understand our rotations. Those “my bad’s” kill you inside.”


On Christian Wood’s improvement

“Yes, he’s growing right before our eyes. I love his progression on where he is. He’s not a finished product, Christian has got to get stronger this summer. He’s got to get in the weight room and make sure he gets stronger. Not so much as bulky but get his core strength together so he can take some bumps and hits. He’s getting bumped and hit now, and he’s still scoring, so imagine how much better he can be once he does get his core stronger and his upper body stronger.”


On three straight turnovers in the fourth quarter

“We may have got sped up, I don’t know bad decisions. Derrick (Rose) was probably a little tight or whatever it was down the stretch. We had some bad turnovers down the stretch. They turned up their defense and had their best defensive group in there. You got to play with force and play with confidence in those situations. Again, some untimely turnovers in that situation.”


On Brandon Knight’s performance

“He really showed tonight what he hadn’t shown in some of the other games. I thought he played with a lot of confidence and played with a little swagger. I thought John Henson came in and played some good minutes. John was a plus 19 or plus 21 in his minutes Some positive things from those guys. John’s a smart player, he’s one of our smart players. He’s just beginning to feel what he can do. Defensively, he can block shots and he understands angles. He’s a very experienced and smart player.”

 

[SlyPokerDog]

DERRICK ROSE


On the last plays of the game

Just playing my game, and I felt like I'm trying to catch a rhythm, and those are normally shots that I would normally get and release to get a shot actually going towards the rims, but it just didn't work.



On playing against Hassan Whiteside

It's hard but at the same time you have to make him do his job. One of my best jobs is going to the rim and tonight he was able to get his hand on the ball.



On the thought process after being down big early

Just trying to sustain that energy that the second group played with. Tonight wasn't the night, towards the end we let CJ (McCollum) get a couple good looks and Carmelo (Anthony). But defensively it felt like communication wasn't there towards the end.



On Christian Woods’ improvement this season

C. Wood has been great, it's all about opportunity, especially being down this many men, we're just seeing how young players are going to play and you double your chance to be around them. It's giving us the opportunity to really grow our hand to include them. Showing that he has to be able to play through his mistakes, and just learn from them.



On Carmelo Anthony's opportunity to play with the Trail Blazers

It means a lot, especially since I used to play with him. For him to have that opportunity to come out here and still hoop, show that he still has that fire. We lit him up tonight and he wanted to be aggressive. His game is mid-range, we didn't really contest all of his shots, but when he's a great player like that you have to sometimes run some people at him or make it difficult and tonight we had a hard time doing that.

 

[hoopsjock]

HEAD COACH TERRY STOTTS

On overall thoughts about the game…

“That was a heck of a game. The way we started was fun to watch, at both ends. I thought defensively we were reactive. CJ (McCollum) was terrific all night, but the first quarter in particular he was outstanding, Melo (Carmelo Anthony) got us off to a great start, first quarter was awesome. Obviously we struggled in the second quarter, primarily defensively, kind of set the tone, but further look at what we did to win the game, and fourth quarter defense was outstanding. Trevor (Ariza) did a really good job on (Derrick) Rose, Hassan (Whiteside) came up with big blocks, Gary Trent (Jr.) made some tight plays, it was just really good. Melo and CJ had it going offensively, so to come back when things weren’t going our way speaks a lot about our team.”

On CJ McCollum’s performance…

“He was outstanding. CJ was outstanding, you look at his assists, the way he managed the game, obviously he scored the ball, but you take what he’s done in the last two games with Dame (Damian Lillard) out and it’s been pretty impressive, back to back double digit assists, he’s scoring well, but obviously it’s one of the better games he’s played in.”

On what adjustments the Pistons made between the first and second quarter…

“Well their defense played really well. Their length with (John) Henson and (Christian) Wood really impacted the game, (Langston) Galloway came in and played well, (Brandon) Knight came in and made three threes in the second quarter, their bench came in and really impacted the game, at both ends. Their length defensively, and their perimeter players.”

On Carmelo Anthony’s performance…

“Terrific. He got a little hot, made some big shots, it was good to see him shooting threes as well as he did, but very efficient, he had a really good rhythm offensively.”

On Wenyen Gabriel’s performance…

“Wenyen plays with a lot of energy. It was good, you noticed him out there. He was running up and down, he’s in the mix under the basket, made a couple good energy plays, just getting to the free throw line, was because he earned those two free throws, got a rebound, he couldn’t get it but he tipped it and we ended up getting it, so I thought his activity was really good.”

Is Caleb Swanigan hurt…

“No.”

On having four bench players on the court at once more often…

“I doubt it, I mean CJ (McCollum) played the whole second half. So I don’t like doing that, but it was just one of those games where it was vital he stayed in the game. So no I don’t plan on doing that, obviously the rotation changed the second half.”

On if there’s a possibility of keeping two starters on the court at all times…

“Well if I can play them the whole second half I can do that.”

LMAO, why does Stotts sound like they just won a playoff series?

 

[KSF-ERIC]

The biggest statement of this thread was "No" when asked if Swanigan was hurt. I guess it was a DNP-CD and Stotts has developed more trust in Gabriel. At least for the matchup anyway.

 

[KSF-ERIC]

LMAO, why does Stotts sound like they just won a playoff series?

I'm glad he's hyped about a win. With all our injuries and CJ and Melo both stepping up with their best game of the season must have made him proud. Bring on Boston.