January 15, 2013
NOTES
• Portland is one of only three teams with a single-digit loss total (Indiana, San Antonio).
• Portland has shot at least 70 percent from the foul line in 26 straight games, tied for the second-longest streak in team history (47, 86-87; 26, 85-86).
• The Trail Blazers improve to 7-0 this season against the Central Division (DET 2, CLE 2, CHI, IND, MIL).
• Portland is now 14-0 when holding its opponents below 100 points this year.
• Damian Lillard leads all NBA players with 10 games of at least five 3-pointers made this season.
• LaMarcus Aldridge recorded his 22nd double-double of the season with 32 points and 18 rebounds. The Trail Blazers are 19-3 when Aldridge records a double-double.
• Half of LaMarcus Aldridge’s 25-point, 15-rebound games in his career have come this season (four of eight).
• LaMarcus Aldridge now was four games of atleast 25 points and 15 rebounds, the second most in the NBA this year (Kevin Love).
• Damian Lillard has made at least four 3-pointers for the 17th time this season, the most in the NBA.
• Portland’s 12-0 run since the 2:31 mark of the fourth quarter created the first double-digit lead of the game for either team, 108-96.
• The Trail Blazers are 10-4 when Damian Lillard and LaMarcus Aldridge each score at least 20 points (Aldridge-32, Lillard-28).
• Tonight marks LaMarcus Aldridge’s 16th game this season of at least 20 points and 10 rebounds.
• With field goal attempts tonight, LaMarcus Aldridge passed Terry Porter for fourth on the Trail Blazers all-time field goals attempted list with career field goal attempts. LA needs 10 field goal attempts to tie Porter for 4th on all time FG attempts list (8,506).
• LaMarcus Aldridge scored his first 3-pointer of the season, 22nd of his career at the 3:17 mark of the fourth quarter.
• LaMarcus Aldridge posted 10 points and seven rebounds in the third quarter.
• Damian Lillard scored 20 points in the first half, one point shy of his first half season high of 21 points. Lillard also tied a season high of seven made field goals in the first half (previously set on Dec. 6 against Utah).
• The Trail Blazers ended the first half with a 16-4 run in the final 3:53. Damian Lillard scored nine of Portland’s final 16 points.
On Close Game Coming Down To Fourth Quarter:
“That was a similar game to a lot of other games so far this season. It all came down to us. We had a choice to make and that was to get some buckets and get some stops. We got it done.”
“It’s been going on and on this whole season. We get in that position where it’s gut-check time and it’s time to win the game and we’ve done a great job of doing that.”
On Getting A Momentum Win Going On Road Trip:
“It was a great win for us tonight going into the road trip, especially on our home floor. It’s good momentum for us going on this tough stretch."
On Upcoming Road Trip:
“I know it’s going to be tough. I think they’re all winnable games. We just have to go in with that mindset that we’re going to go take care of business. We have to do all the things over the course of these wins that we need to do to make it happen.”
“I don’t think it’s a test, I think it’s an opportunity to prove ourselves. It would be a tough trip for any team in the league, so we have a chance to go out there and steal some games so it should be fun.”
Did You Improve With The Time Off And For Practices Lately?:
“We did. Tonight, I thought we had a much better presence defensively. We were physical, we protected the rim. We might have had some fouls, but I think a lot of the things that we worked on, that we talked about, we did a better job today.”
Terry Stotts
On Tonight's Game:
“Well I was very pleased with our defense, for the most part throughout the game but particularly in the fourth quarter. We did a nice job of protecting the rim and forcing mid-range shots. LaMarcus and Damian did a nice job of closing. We hit some timely shots. Obviously LaMarcus’s three was timely. Nic’s kickout to Damian’s three was timely. I thought our bench did a very good job of getting the lead and getting some momentum for us during their run in the second half. To be able to bring the starters back in with a tie game was something that we needed.”
On Limiting Irving And Waiters In Second Half:
“I really thought it was very good individual defense – whether it was Mo or Damian or Wes and Nic. I thought in the second half, really were in a stance and really were taking the individual challenge of guarding Waiters and Irving in particular.”
On Contributions Of Mo Williams Despite Tough Shooting Night:
“Mo – his energy is obviously, but his gamesmanship, his understanding of how the game is going, getting people shots – and like I said, defensively, they were trying to go at him with Waiters and he really took that challenge as well. I thought that gave our team some energy.”
How Would You Describe The Upcoming Road Trip?:
“Challenging. It’s four, right now, four teams that are in the Playoffs. I’m always reluctant to talk about a whole road trip. Right now, it’s about San Antonio and they’ve won six in a row and have the best record in the league or close to it – so the road trip is challenging, but like anything else, you can’t look at the whole thing. If you’re going to read a 2,000 page book, you can’t look at the whole book. You’ve got to take the first chapter.”
On Forcing Outside Shots Only In The Last Few Minutes:
“I thought everybody took an individual challenge. On their pick and rolls, our bigs were good at containing the ball and not giving them an alley to the basket. With the one on one defense, our stances were good and taking away angles to drive. The help defense was there. So I just think it was a combination of good individual defense and good especially pick and roll defense.”
On Aldridge's Play Down The Stretch:
“The two plays that he made going to the basket were aggressive, strong moves. He knew it was winning time and I just felt like you could see him with the determination of making a play at the rim. Both plays paid off for us.”
Kyrie Irving
On The Impact Of Big Shots Made By Portland Late In The Game:
"I mean, very deflating, but big time players make big time shots and they were just playing off the momentum and just made shots, especially at the end."
On Portland Using Its Best Plays To Win The Game Tonight:
"Yeah, you could take some positives from the game, but obviously you want to come out with a win regardless. We competed for the full 48 minutes, but especially in the last three minutes, I felt like they just got away from us. We'll probably go over film tomorrow - we'll definitely go over film tomorrow and look at the things we can improve on and just learn from it. We're playing Denver on Friday, so it's just on to the next game."
On Fatigue Tonight From Back-To-Back Road Games:
"We're not going to use that as an excuse. They just played better than us in the last three minutes or last four minutes. They just made shots, made the plays that needed to be made. A few shots that we normally make at the end of the game or, you know, throughout the game just didn't fall for us and it's just one of those nights."
Mike Brown
On Tonight's Game:
"You give Portland credit. Obviously, it was a back and forth game. We told our guys at halftime - hey look, at any time, any team can go on a run. Any team can go on an 8-0 run, be up by four, be up by six, we just have to make sure we sustain what we're trying to do because if they go on a run, we felt that we'd have a chance to go on a run ourselves and be back in it. We thought it was going to be a back and forth game, which it was. Obviously, they were go on the last bit of run. You have to give LaMarcus Aldridge credit. He hit some tough shots down the stretch, they came up with a couple of tough rebounds, for kick-out threes and it kind of discombobulated us a little bit when they scored. We missed some shots, and there was the ball game. The thing I like about what our guys did, I thought our guys competed and that's something that we've been harping on. I thought they competed and then I also thought that our pace was really good throughout most of the game. So, hopefully we can continue with those two things, as well as passing the basketball, we had pretty good stretches of it at times, going into Denver."
On LaMarcus Aldridge's Performance Tonight:
"I thought he made some tough shots because we felt like we had him not under control, but he had to work for his shots and we were doing a pretty good job. We had talked about going to double team him. They have such great shooters. We felt like since we were making them work most of the game with [Tristan Thompson] and [Anderson Varejao], we did good but if he got deep, then we'd go hit him. He made a couple of real quick moves. One to the baseline that they called a foul on [Varejao], another one to the middle of the floor and we didn't have time to get to him before he went to the move and got too deep. So, you give him credit. You give him credit, you give them credit because they kept going to him and he delivered down the stretch."
On The Energy Level Towards The End Of The Game:
"We looked like we were tired, we were gassed a little bit. But, Portland had something to do with it. They kept attacking, kept attacking, kept attacking and, you know, when they hit a bucket and then they hit that big three, that took a lot of wind out of us."