Exclusive GAME# 71: KNICKS @ BLAZERS - MARCH 23, 2017 - Quote Book

[SlyPokerDog]

HEAD COACH TERRY STOTTS
“I thought we played a really good first half on both ends of the floor. I thought it was just a really solid half. I was disappointed with the fact that New York cut it to whatever they cut it to, ten. Some of that is obviously New York playing better but I thought they outworked us. We got loose with the ball, some of our decision making wasn’t what it needed to be. They made a run, but we finished strong so that was a positive.”


On balance and contributions from a lot of guys:

“Yeah, overall we did a lot of good things individually. Nurk did a nice job even with foul trouble. I thought the way Dame started off the game the first quarter really set the tone for the first half. It’s good to get a win. There were positives obviously when you win by 15, but it would have been nice to have taken care of business a bit better in the second half.”


On Turner looking more comfortable coming back from injury:

“Evan looked much more comfortable out there. I think the new protection that he has on his hand allows him to feel the ball a lot better. A big difference for him in this game compared to the first three games.”

 

[SlyPokerDog]

DAMIAN LILLARD

On game:

“I mean, I thought we had a really good first half. It’s a game of spurts. We didn’t have the urgency that we would have liked to have had in that third quarter. They went on a little bit of a run. But I mean, they’re NBA players. They play at this level for a reason. Confidence is everything. They saw a few shots go in, they put a little stretch together but I thought we still did a good job keeping it in double digits, executing and keeping our poise and separating ourselves and getting a good win.”


On mindset coming in playing a team with players sitting out:

“I know how these games can go. You can come out and take for granted, understanding that D. Rose and Carmelo, guys like that not playing that you might think, alright this is going to be an easy win. I remember, I think it was my third year towards the end of the year, we played Utah and everybody sat out and they came in here and beat us. I think Trevor Booker came in and had a huge game, we lose the game. I just wanted to come out and have an aggressive mindset regardless of who was on the floor. It’s not about who they put on the floor, it’s about what we need to get done. That’s all that was on my mind.”


Is that how you’re approaching this last stretch, that it’s just about you guys?

“Yeah, because it is. If it’s a team that’s not playing for anything or a team that’s out of the race, they’re going to come in and compete or however they decide they want to play, but we’re playing for something. We’ve got to worry about the kind of basketball we’ve got to play and how our minds need to be so we can get the win.”

 

[SlyPokerDog]

HEAD COACH JEFF HORNACEK

On what kept them from making a comeback:

“[Damian] Lillard’s three and [CJ] McCollum’s three right there. I think you’re right about the second half, we told our guys to play much better defense. The first half was easy, I think they shot 58 or 59 percent and then we came out in the second half, I think what happened is that they started trusting each other. A lot of talk at half was, ‘I was afraid to go because I didn’t know if someone was going to drop down on my guy.’ First of all you can’t have that problem, you have to be able to trust other guys there and they did that in the second half helping each other out and they were much better.”


On what he saw in his players in the second half:

“Just playing hard, getting after it. Sometimes you’re going to make mistakes as a young player but if you just play hard sometimes those are hidden. I thought offensively they made some plays in terms of finding the open guys. A couple times I thought in the first half we weren’t throwing the ball into our bigs when they had a size mismatch, a couple times we had Billy [Willy Hernangomez] down on [Al-Farouq] Aminu and we couldn’t get him the ball. That should be an easy bucket or a thought so they did do a better job in the second half getting the ball into guys when they had the advantage.”


On the challenge of defending the tandem of Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum:

“Well they’re very good and coming off those screens and as a defender, you’re trying to fight through that pick and they can just pull up and shoot it. The bigs have to be up, I thought we were better in the second half of the bigs and getting up but it still happened to us a few times where they were back. For those two guys, that’s what they want. They want you behind, the rear-view challenge on those guys has no effect on them so they just shoot the ball in. When games get close for these guys and Lillard can pull up from anywhere and make threes, that’s a heck of a weapon.”

 

[SlyPokerDog]

KRISTAPS PORZINGIS


On missing key players tonight:

I think the attention is more on me. With them, they draw a lot of attention, and that way it opens things up for everybody else. Even today, I had a lot of good looks, open threes, good looks. I’m disappointed that I missed them all. I missed a lot of good shots, and that would have changed the whole game for us.


How hard is it to find a rhythm when you had a start like tonight?

Yeah. Obviously, with them on the court, they draw a lot of attention and open things up on the court. Even without them being out there tonight, I felt like I had a lot of good looks. I had more plays drawn for me. That way, I was able to come off screens and get good looks, and guys were trying to find me. I just… I couldn’t make a three. Zero for five. If I had hit three of those, that would have changed the whole game. So I’m kind of disappointed in my shooting tonight.

 

[SlyPokerDog]

MINDAUGAS KUZMINSKAS


How did it feel to get extended minutes tonight?

It’s a really good feeling to be on the court and to play. It’s a really bad thing to know we didn’t really come up at the beginning of the game. Later on, we tried to come back to the game, and we almost did but it wasn’t enough. That should be a lesson for us rookies that you come to the court and from the first minute we have to do better. For myself, I’m happy I have to have this opportunity to play this game, and usually I don’t like to talk about my performance when other people are talking about you.


Did it feel good to hit those threes and what adjustments did you fix throughout the game?

Well, I think I started the season pretty good shooting, but then my percentage got low. I think it’s more psychology when you start missing your shots because you start thinking about that. I was working on that everyday hoping they would come back. Talking about us – I think it’s just effort because we were fighting for the balls. The first half they were shooting too open shots – over 50%. The second half we let them score only 42 something points. So I think defense is the key.

 

[SlyPokerDog]

Postgame Notes - March 23, 2017
Portland 110, New York 95
Game #71 • Home Game #33

TEAM

• The Trail Blazers are 9-3 in March, the 3rd-best record in the NBA this month (SAS/MIL, 10-3).

• The Trail Blazers outscored the Knicks in the paint, 48-38, and outrebound the Knicks, 50-40.

• Portland’s bench outscored the Knicks bench, 34-33

• The Trail Blazers led the Knicks, 67-46 at halftime. The 21-point halftime lead tied the largest halftime lead of the season (70-49 vs. Washington, Mar. 11).


PLAYER

• Damian Lillard (30 points, 9-17 FG, 4-7 3-PT) has scored 25+ points in eight consecutive games, extending the longest streak of his career and putting him in a tie for third place with CJ McCollum (12/26/16 - 1/13/17) and Geoff Petrie for the third longest streak in franchise history (11-Petrie; 9-Drexler).

• Damian Lillard (30 points) has scored 20+ points in 10 straight games, the second longest streak of his career (15, Feb. 4-Mar. 8, 2016).

• CJ McCollum (20 points, 9-17 FG, 2-5 3-PT) has scored 20+ in four of the last five games.

• Jusuf Nurkic (16 points, 10 rebounds) has tallied three consecutive double-doubles for the first time in his career. It is his seventh double-double as a Trail Blazer, and his 11th of the season.

• Jusuf Nurkic (16 points) has scored in double figures in five straight games, matching his longest streak of the season (twice, most recent Feb. 28-Mar. 9).

• Noah Vonleh matchd his career-high in rebounds with 12 (two other times, both with Charlotte).

• Allen Crabbe (11 points, 3-3 3-PT) has made a 3-pointer in 13 consecutive games, two games shy of the longest streak of his career (15, Nov. 13-Dec. 11, 2015).

 

[SlyPokerDog]

 

[Dougnsalem]

It still blows my away that we got Nurkic, with how good he is.... Great highlights there. Awesome passes to Hark!