Exclusive GAME# 73: NETS @ BLAZERS - MARCH 25, 2019 - Quote Book

[SlyPokerDog]

TEAM

• The Trail Blazers have clinched a spot in the 2019 NBA Playoffs, marking the sixth straight postseason appearance for the Trail Blazers and the 35th trip to the playoffs in franchise history. It is the second-longest playoff streak in Trail Blazers history (21, 1983-2003).

• The Trail Blazers won their fourth consecutive game and fifth straight outing at Moda Center.

• Portland improved to 4-2 in overtime contests this season. It was the Trail Blazers first double overtime game of the season.

• Portland scored a season-high 148 points. It was the team’s highest-scoring game since scoring 148 points at Boston on March 15, 1992 and equalled the sixth-highest scoring game in team history (156, Feb. 1, 1986).

• The Trail Blazers had a season-high 35 assists while committing just five turnovers. The Nets finished with 25 assists and 16 turnovers.

• Portland’s bench scored a season-high 66 points, outscoring the Brooklyn reserves, who
finished with 59 points.

PLAYER

• Damian Lillard notched his third double-double in the last four games, finishing with 31 points (10-30 FG, 4-16 3-PT, 7-8 FT), six rebounds, 12 assists and one steal. He now has more games of 30-plus points and 10-plus assists than any player in franchise history (20).

• Jusuf Nurkic had a season-high 32 points (13-24 FG, 6-8 FT) to go with 16 rebounds, five assists, two steals and four blocks. His 13 field goals were a career high. Nurkic joins Bill Walton as the only two players in franchise history to record a game with at least 32 points, 16 rebounds, five assists and four blocks.

• Seth Curry led the Trail Blazers reserves with 20 points on 6-of-13 shooting (3-7 3-PT, 5-6 FT) to go with two rebounds, one assist and two steals. It was Curry’s fourth straight game in double figures and the fourth time he has scored 20-plus points this season.

• Rodney Hood recorded 18 points (8-16 FG, 1-5 3-PT, 1-2 FT), two rebounds and three assists. He has scored in double figures in four of the last six outings.

• Enes Kanter had 12 points (4-8 FG, 2-3 3-PT, 2-2 FT), 10 rebounds and three assists in 21 minutes off the bench. It was his second double-double in the last three games. His two three-pointers matched his career high (11/12/14, Utah at Atlanta).

• Maurice Harkless logged 13 points (5-13 FG, 2-5 3-PT, 1-2 FT), eight rebounds, three assists and two steals. He has scored in double figures in five straight games.

• Zach Collins had 12 points (4-7 FG, 2-4 3-PT, 2-4 FT), four rebounds and two assists to round out the seven Portland players who scored in double figures.

• D’Angelo Russell led Brooklyn with 39 points (16-34 FG, 3-14 3-PT, 4-8 FT), nine rebounds, eight assists and one steal. It was the third time in the last four games that he scored 30-plus points.

 

[SlyPokerDog]

HEAD COACH TERRY STOTTS
“As far as Jusuf goes, he’s at a local area hospital, other than that I don’t have a lot to say.”


What are your emotions seeing something like that?

“It’s devastating.”


How would you describe the locker room right now?

“Quiet.”


This takes away from clinching a playoff spot?

“We weren’t celebrating.”


Did you see the play live?

“I saw a replay of it.”


What do you say to your team after something like that?

“Nothing right now. I mean, said a prayer for him and that was about it.”

 

[SlyPokerDog]

DAMIAN LILLARD

Describe your emotions right now:

“It’s tough. I just felt bad for him. Nurk is such a great dude, you know? You hate to see him have to go through something like that, having his best season in the NBA. We’re going down a crucial stretch in the season, trying to obviously secure our playoff spot, find our position and then have a postseason, so seeing something like that happen to him personally. You never want to see that for your friend or your teammate, and then especially as a player, you don’t want to see anyone have to go through that and it’s also going to be hard on our team. CJ’s already out, now him having a tough injury, so every way you look at it, it was a blow. It felt like it after the game.”


In the moment when you see the injury and the aftermath, what’s going through your mind?

“It made me sick to my stomach. I just saw, I think he tried to tip it in, he crashed the glass and I saw him hit the ground and he rolled over real quick and I thought maybe he got hit in the face or something again. As I was walking over there, I saw everybody else turn around real quick and walk away and then I look and I saw his leg and you just hate to see that happen to him. I was playing in the game in Vegas when a similar thing happened to Paul George, that’s exactly what it looked like to me. I saw it and it’s unfortunate man, you never want to see that to anybody, let alone your friend and teammate.”


How hard is it to get back in compete mode?

“Honestly, I think it’s natural for us, after something like that, you say alright, we’re going to finish the job and get it done. Because first of all, he wouldn’t want us to say alright, let’s feel sorry for ourselves and feel sorry for Nurk and not care as much. So we’re going to finish the job, try to get the game, but I think after the game, that’s when it kicks in. I don’t know what else to say.”


Does the injury remind you of how fleeting, how fragile this whole thing is?

“Yeah, it’s all fragile. Everything about it is. Other than the friendships that you have, because regardless, same team, different team, during career, post career, you’re going to be friends with guys, but every little thing about the game and about the NBA season and the NBA career, it’s fragile. You can be on a team one day, gone the next. You can be healthy one day, injured the next. Have a job one day, fired the next. It’s a lot of things about the game that’s fragile and that’s one of them, it’s one of the more unfortunate ones.”

 

[SlyPokerDog]

HEAD COACH KENNY ATKINSON


On tonight’s game:

“Yeah, you know, disappointed. I thought we had, you know, especially in regulation we had a chance to close it out. We missed a bunch of free throws, we made some mental mistakes, too. I’m disappointed because I thought we competed and gave ourselves a chance. But I do think games like this, we’re going to play more of these games as we close out the season. You know, tightening up our free throw shooting number one and I think number two, just a couple of mental mistakes there that we’ll have to clean up in film but use it as a learning experience and use it to get better.”


On Nurkic injury:

“That’s what our guys are talking about in the locker room right now. They’re not talking about the game or the loss, they’re talking about, you know, a player was having a great game and a heck of a player and you just pray that it’s not a long-term thing and he can bounce back. It just takes the wind out of yourself, it’s just not the same. Like I said, we’ve been through it, so its tough, tough for the crowd, tough for everybody.”


On turnovers in the last few minutes:

“Well, listen, I think part of it was their activity on defense, I give them credit. I do think, just as a general thing, we are kind of good to really good is making that extra pass and that’s collective. I can look at all five of our guys who are out there, they could’ve made a good to great pass and that’s how you close out against a playoff team, an excellent western conference team. I thought we didn’t do that enough and we’ve got to do a better job.”

 

[SlyPokerDog]

JARED DUDLEY

On matching up against Jusuf Nurkic

“I tried to do my best. [Jusuf] Nurkic obviously has size and strength over me. I tried to front him when I could, they had shooters all around. I was kind of hoping for ball screens for Damian Lillard to shoot those long threes. They kind of mixed it up and [Jusuf] Nurkic just took his time… For a game that long, [the Blazers] didn’t get one offensive foul, which is rare. Give them credit for crashing the boards and give us credit that we kept battling.”

On defensive rebounding

“It’s a personnel thing. It’s Jarret Allen’s second year, he’ll get stronger, he’ll get more physical [at center]. We’re undersized at power forward, it’s Rodions [Kurucs] first time playing at power forward and he’s a rookie. You come up with myself playing power forward and I’m not the most athletic guy. Ed Davis is our best rebounder… We’ve learned that you can put a body on [Jusuf] Nurkic and he’s just moving you out of the way.”

 

[SlyPokerDog]

ED DAVIS

On playing a tough game

“Yeah we won’t back down. No matter who we’re up against, we play tough every night and we fight, and we take hard fouls and do all the little things. There’s no quit in us, there’s no backing down. That doesn’t go on, definitely not on my watch.”

On mistakes in the last minutes of regulation

“The [Blazers] are a hell of a team. That’s the reason that it’s so tough to play in this building. I’ve been in this situation so many times on that end and I’ve seen it happen. They’re a good team and give credit to them. They’re well-coached and it’s a tough game.”

 

[SlyPokerDog]

D’ANGELO RUSSELL

On the game

“I don’t think we were as perfect as we need to be to get a win in an environment like this. [The Blazers] capitalized. They weren’t perfect, but they got enough to get it done. I don’t think we helped ourselves down the stretch.”

On losing centers to foul trouble

“When you’ve got a different lineup out there and you’re trying to run offense and be as crisp and locked in as you want… it just forced us to do other things. I don’t think that was an excuse. We turned it over and missed boxouts.”

 

[SlyPokerDog]