Exclusive Nuggets at Blazers, April 13th, 2016 - Quote Book

[SlyPokerDog]

HEAD COACH TERRY STOTTS

“Well, it was a good night. I’m really glad we won the game. I’m glad we got the fifth seed. It’s been a very rewarding regular season and we’re looking forward to playing the Clippers.”


What do you like about the matchup with the Clippers?

“I don’t know if it’s a question about liking the matchup. It’s going to be tough. I mean, they have experience. They’ve been deep in the playoffs. So I don’t know if it’s a question about liking the matchup, we have to play well. They pose a lot of problems. Chris Paul is an exceptional point guard. DeAndre Jordan is an exceptional center. Blake Griffin is coming back. They shoot threes. So we have our work cut out for us.”


On Lillard’s milestones:

“I’m really happy for him. The fact that he leads the franchise in threes after four seasons is remarkable. Having a 25 point average for the first time since Clyde Drexler, that’s remarkable. His four years here have been remarkable. He just continues to shine. Sometimes you run out of words – every year he does something a little bit better. This year, he’s an exceptional leader, scored for us, led the team, and this was a culmination of all that.”


How far along are you in playoff preparation?

“A fair amount. Our video staff has been gearing up for either Oklahoma City or the Clippers. We had playoff meetings, but it’s really difficult when you don’t know who you’re going to play, to really dive in. I think the video staff was probably mostly done with the Clippers. If we played Oklahoma City, they had a night of work ahead of them, but you can’t do it all at once. Tomorrow will be a light date. I don’t think we’ll do much prep with the Clippers tomorrow. Players will get rehab and get books and video and stuff like that, but we’ll go in earnest on Friday.”

 

[SlyPokerDog]

MASON PLUMLEE

“It was a good ending. I thought we started slow but then we picked it up a little bit and played well throughout.”


On matchup with Clippers:

“It’s exciting. We’re ready for them. I think we played them well in the regular season but it’s going to be a different ball game, we’re looking forward to it.”

“Obviously they’re a veteran team, they’ve been to the playoffs before but they have a new dynamic with Blake coming back. It will be interesting. I think each time we played, there might have been a key player out of each lineup. I know we didn’t have CJ one game, we lost Dame one game, I know they didn’t have Blake – so it’ll be interesting.”


Thoughts on Lillard becoming franchise leader in three pointers:

“Well it didn’t surprise me but then again I hadn’t been here so I didn’t appreciate how many he had really hit. That’s great. I’m sure he’ll take a lot of records and raise the ball for a lot of stuff around here and then league-wide as well.”

 

[SlyPokerDog]

ED DAVIS

On tonight’s game:

“We wanted to play well heading into the playoffs. We took it serious and we tried to win. Some guys got some opportunities tonight, so that’s always a good thing.”


On playing Clippers:

“It’s a series we wanted. We’re going to ready for them. We’ll be ready to go Sunday.”

“It’s a business trip for us, we’re going down there. We’re going to try to get both of these games and come back home.”

“I think we match up well. They’re a good team, we’re a good team. We’ve got some weapons, they’ve got weapons. It’s going to be a lot of chess moves going on and we’re going to have a great game plan and we’re going to be well prepared. As long as we take care of business on our end, we’ll be fine.”

 

[SlyPokerDog]

HEAD COACH MICHAEL MALONE

On the game:

“Well, obviously I thought in that first half with the different lineup, I thought we looked really good. I really liked how we played in that first half offensively, defensively, the one issue we had tonight on the offensive end was turnovers. You give them 23 points off of 20 turnovers and this team is the five seed in the playoffs, you can’t go on the road in a hostile environment and beat yourself. The other error I thought we did a poor job of was that our defense was pretty good for the most part, field goal percentage, three point but we didn’t rebound. We gave them 20 second chance points, that’s 43 of their points off turnovers and offensive rebounds and that’s unacceptable, but the seasons over. I thanked all of our players for the opportunity to be able to coach them, I thought they were a good group to be around, and I think we have a really good group of kids in there. I think it’s a tough way to end the season with a loss, but I feel really good about the direction we’re headed, there’s a lot of optimism.”


On his feeling of the upcoming offseason:

“We’ll get with all of them here in the future, address what we feel their biggest weaknesses that really needs to be addressed this summer and make sure our staff is working with them. We’ll have these guys back in Denver throughout the summer, summer league, whatever it is. If we can continue what we’ve done all season in terms of getting better, I thought Emmanuel (Mudiay) finished up the season on a really high note. I think he playing very, very well. I think, you know you saw tonight the combination of Jusuf (Nurkic) and (Nikola) Jokic, what they’re capable of doing. Gary Harris, you can argue was our most consistent player the whole year and those guys are all 21, 22 years old. I just want all of those guys to right now get away, go spend some time with their families and decompress to get their bodies right and then we’ll get back to work. It’s a big summer and just commit to coming back a better player and I know all of them will.”

 

[SlyPokerDog]

JAMEER NELSON

As a veteran, what he has to say about this team:

"Throughout the season, we had our ups and downs. It was to be expected. We have a lot of young guys, guys who have barely played in the league, trying to get their feet wet. At the end of the day, we have to realize that this is going to be a big summer for us. All individually and collectively. Nobody knows who's going to be here and who's not. For the individual guys, they all have to get better. They have to realize and set some goals, and try to accomplish those goals. The only thing I think we could have done this year is that I don't remember setting goals, too many goals. Of course as the season goes on, you have to do that. You have to play for something. We should be here in our last game of the season thinking about the playoffs and not about going home."


On how important a good work ethic is:

"That's going to contribute to those guys in their future. That's going to help us. It's going to be something they'll continue to develop and continue to work hard, continue to have a better work ethic in the next day."

 

[SlyPokerDog]

EMMANUEL MUDIAY

What about the season stands out to you?

"It's been a long season. We had to take our bumps. We had a lot of injuries, but at the same time we feel good about going into next season. We did some good things this year so I think we'll just keep growing and learning."


On the highs and lows of his season:

“The good part about it is that I learned, that's what I can say is the good part. I had to go through my ups and downs but I learned and it made me a better player."


On what he'll work on this summer:

"Being a student of the game even more. Studying... Everybody has to study. [Get ready] mentality-wise, and just working on my all-around game."

 

[SlyPokerDog]

TEAM

• With a 44-38 record, tonight’s win puts Portland six games over .500 (matches season-high).

• Portland closed the season by winning seven of its final nine contests.

• Portland won 18 of its final 21 games at the Moda Center this season and finished 28-13 overall at home.

• Over the final 49 games, Portland was 27-1 when leading at halftime.

• The Trail Blazers went 35-7 this season when leading after three quarters (24-3 at home).

• Portland held Denver to 99 points, and ended the season 22-5 when its opponent scored less than 100 points.

 

[SlyPokerDog]

PLAYER

• Damian Lillard’s second three-pointer tonight was the 827th of his career. That surpasses Wesley Matthews (826) for the most three-point field goals in Trail Blazers history.

• In four seasons with Portland, Damian Lillard has recorded four of the six-highest single-season three-point totals in franchise history.

• Damian Lillard (25.1 ppg) and CJ McCollum (20.8 ppg) are the first backcourt duo in Trail Blazers franchise history to both average more than 20 points per contest in a single season.

• Damian Lillard is the third Trail Blazer to average 25+ points in a season (3-Drexler, Vandeweghe).

• With five assists tonight, Damian Lillard tied Jim Paxon for sixth place on Portland’s all-time assist list (2,007).

• Allen Crabbe finished the night with 16 points on 4-of-7 shooting, marking the 42nd game in which he scored in double figures this season (one such game in first two NBA seasons).