January 28, 2014
NOTES
• The Trail Blazers have now defeated the Raptors six straight times in Portland, dating back to Dec. 22, 2006.
• Portland is now 25-2 on the year when taking a lead into the fourth quarter.
• LaMarcus Aldridge has eight 25-point, 15-rebound games this season. Prior to this year, he never had more than one such game in a year (four total).
• In the final two minutes of games within three points this season, Damian Lillard is now 10-for-17 from the field (5-for-8 from the 3-point line).
• LaMarcus Aldridge grabbed a career high 11 rebounds in the first quarter, one rebound shy of the franchise record for rebounds in a quarter (previous was nine rebounds, occurring five times most recently on Dec. 12, 2013 vs. Houston).
• LaMarcus Aldridge has recorded his 10th game of at least 20 points and 15 rebounds this season, second-most in the NBA behind Kevin Love.
• LaMarcus Aldridge recorded his 30th double-double of the season, the fourth-most in the NBA. The 30 double-doubles for Aldridge are the most through his first 47 games of any season.
• LaMarcus Aldridge recorded a double-double in the first quarter of tonight’s game, the first time in his career that he has ever recorded a double-double in the first quarter (12 points, 11 rebounds).
��� With 22 field goal attempts tonight, LaMarcus Aldridge passed Geoff Petrie for third on the Trail Blazers all-time field goals attempted list (8,723).
• From 8:38 to 3:02 in the second quarter, Damian Lillard scored 12 of Portland’s 15 points.
• The Trail Blazers held Terrence Ross to eight points, ending his career best streak of five straight games scoring in double figures.
• DeMar DeRozan scored 30 of his total 36 points and dished out 10 of his 12 assists in the second half of tonight’s game.
On Tonight's Game:
“We played defense. We contested shots. DeRozan made some great shots and that’s why he’s an All Star this year. He made great reads in the pick and roll of finding Patterson open for the jump shot. He was big time down the stretch.”
Was There Relief Pulling Out The Win?:
“I don’t know about a relief, but we know that we had control from the beginning so it was just about staying solid the whole game and trying to just close it out. We did that.”
On First Quarter Double Double:
On double double in first quarter, quick start:
“I just felt fresh in the first quarter. I had energy, I was trying to run the floor, I was trying to be active. My teammates just found me for open shots and things like that.”
On Matthews' Defense On DeRozan:
“He’s big time. That’s what he can do for us. I thought he had taken it personal down the stretch. He fouled him on that one shot and I thought after that, he was locked in. He came through big time for us down the stretch and got those two big steals for us.”
On DeRozan:
“He played the right way. He had 12 assists. He’s making the right passes. He’s making the right reads. There wasn’t a tendency that we could put him on. When we under the screen, he made a play. We went over the screen, he made a play. We tried to juke around, through the screen and he made a play. There’s going to be nights like that where you’re able to get the stops we need at the right time.”
Would You Rather Have A Game Winner Or Win The Game With A Big Defensive Stop?:
“They’re equal for me… I feel as much pride in my defense as making a big shots. I’m mad they called the jump ball. I thought I ripped it away from him but we were able to get a stop. I’m thankful for that, otherwise I wouldn’t have been able to sleep after that foul on the top of the key.”
Terry Stotts
On Tonight's Game:
“It’s good to get a win after losing a couple. It’s a win we needed to get. Toronto played very well to get back in the game and obviously to take the lead. DeRozan got hot. We fouled him a couple times but he still made the shot. He got it going. But I don’t want to have that last quarter take away from what I thought was a pretty good game for us.”
On Matthews Defending DeRozan Last Few Possessions:
“Those last two possessions, to get the jump ball he stayed after it and then the last possession, he kept his left arm up and I thought he did a nice job of staying in front of him without fouling. I think he was disappointed DeRozan had gotten it going but he stepped up when we needed him.”
On Lillard's Go-Ahead Basket:
“Basically we ran the same play twice in a row and they fouled the first time. He made a good read, they blitzed him both times but he made a good read on the second one, kept his dribble, and was able to attack the big after he kind of released, so it was a good read on his part.”
On Using Batum On Lowry To Start The Game:
“We’re going to do that more often to start the game. We’ve done that many times and Nic is very good at guarding point guards. Even though Lowry has a good line, I thought Nic did a good job on him. We won’t be able to do it every game depending on matchups, but you look back at the Denver game and him guarding Lawson. We’ve done that many times, we’ve just kind of waited until the second half or the fourth quarter, but when the matchup allows us to do that, we’ll probably do it more often in the first half.”
On DeRozan's Play:
“He almost single handedly got them back into it. I know other guys made shots, but he made tough shots. He made some jumpers where he got fouled. He made threes. I think they were 6 for 12 and he made his 2 threes in the second half. He was voted an All Star for a reason. He’s capable of getting hot and carrying a team.”
DeMar DeRozan
On What Needed To Change In The Game Tonight:
“We understand what we had to do, honestly. We understand we were down big and the only way we would get back in this game was to get stops and that’s what we started doing. That was the main part. We were missing a lot of easy shots that we normally make, but we don’t worry about that. The only thing we worry about is the defensive game and we picked it up in the second half.”
Kyle Lowry
On What Started To Work In The Second Half:
“We started screening a lot better, getting to the rim a lot better, executing our game plan and what we wanted to do. We have to drive the ball and get to the paint and we did a good job of doing that in the second half and not settling for jump shots.”
On Aldridge's Performance Tonight:
“I mean, he’s an all-star. He’s an all-star for a reason and he did an unbelievable job of making shots, getting to the line and just getting it going. We’ve seen that before, so it’s no surprise to us. It just sucks that we didn’t win.”
Dwayne Casey
On Thoughts On The Difference Between The First And Second Halves Tonight:
“First half, we came out with a typical back-to-back approach. It wasn’t us. I thought we picked it up in the second half, but again you can’t spot a good team like Portland that many points and expect to survive. I commend our guys for fighting and scrapping in the second half, but we have to start the game in that approach, even on a back-to-back.”
On The Youthfulness Of The Team As A Possible Factor In Tonight's Loss:
“Some of it is. Some of it is kind of the NBA thing. Back-to-back you’re supposed to be mentally tired, physically tired. And again, I do think it’s something coming from the altitude from Denver, you know, going from that and coming to play a game the next night, there has been talk of that, but with that said, we have to come out with a better approach on both ends of the floor. I thought in the first half we missed a lot of good shots and we let that curve back to the defensive end and not have the focus on the other end.”
On What Worked In The Second Half:
“Effort and focus and, it sounds simplistic, but making shots. I thought we made shots. In the first half we missed shots, some of the same shots [DeMar DeRozan] had in the second half, he missed in the first half point blank, free throws in the first half. So, everything that was mentally hampered in the first half, we did in the second half. I just thought we were just like punch drunk in the first half and we picked it up the second half. Again, we put ourselves in a position to win the game even after all of that. So, that’s what you have to ask for.”
On The Ability To Come Back From Large Deficits Tonight:
“It shows a level of toughness, I do say that, but why put yourself in that position? If you know something is going to be bad for you, why do you want to do it? But I liked the fight. I loved the way [DeMar DeRozan] picked it up in the second half. He and [Kyle Lowry] carried us both - 41 minutes for Demar, 43 for Kyle. DeMar wanted the ball at the end of the game and that’s what you want your star to do. He got us to that point. I didn’t even talk about that last play, but he wanted the ball, he took us to that point where we had a one point lead and I commend him for that.”