April 4, 2014
NOTES
• With six points tonight, LaMarcus Aldridge has scored 1,500+ points for the second straight season. Aldridge joins D. Lillard, C. Anthony, S. Curry, K. Durant, J. Harden and L. James as the only NBA players to record 1,500+ points in the past two seasons.
• With four blocks, tonight, Robin Lopez moved into ninth place on the Trail Blazers single-season blocks list (137).
• Robin Lopez recorded his 29th double-double of the season, tying him with Tim Duncan for 19th in the league in total double-doubles this season.
• This is only the second time in Robin Lopez’s career that he has recorded 18+ points, 13+ rebounds and 4+ blocks (Nov. 21, 2012, New Orleans at Indiana).
• Nicolas Batum recorded his 30th career double-double, with 14 of those coming in this season alone.
• Wesley Matthews’ streak of consecutive made free throws ended tonight at 37. The streak dated back to March 14. Damian Lillard made 38 straight free throws earlier this year from Nov. 13-Dec. 1.
• The 16-point loss is the second-worst loss for the Trail Blazers at home this season (previous was 17, Jan 28, 2014 vs. Memphis).
• Portland got out-scored 48-32 in the paint and Phoenix grabbed 10 more offensive rebounds than the Trail Blazers (23-13).
• The Trail Blazers only scored 13 points in the fourth quarter, their fewest fourth quarter point total all season (previously 15, Feb. 11 vs. Oklahoma City).
• Gerald Green had 32 points off the bench tonight for Phoenix. The last time the Suns had a player score at least 30 points off the bench was Goran Dragic on Jan. 25, 2010 at Utah (32 points).
• Phoenix started the first 6:55 of the fourth quarter on an 18-5 run. Nicolas Batum ended a five-minute scoring drought for the Trail Blazers with a 2-point shot at the 4:45 mark of the fourth quarter.
On Covering Bledsoe:
“He’s fast. He’s crafty. He’s strong. He always has the ball in his hands. You chase him around off pick and roll and pick and roll and the floor is spaced because they have shooters out there, so that makes it tough.”
On Suns:
“I think it’s their ability to really go small and spread the floor out and we haven’t been able to stop them in transition. We allowed them to get out and get threes and get into the paint and make plays. We haven’t been able to take that away from them.”
On Gerald Green:
“I saw him play a game similar to that where he had 40. I forget who it was against, but we knew that he was an explosive scorer. He’s shooting the ball really well this year. He got on tonight. He started to make everything and was feeling it. He played a great game.”
On Tonight's Game:
“I thought for the most part they just outhustled and outworked us. I thought they definitely played with a little bit of urgency. Any loose ball, they would do a good job of pursuing it.”
On Defense:
“We did a good job of the initial possessions but you have to close it out. They had way too many second chance opportunities. Any NBA team is going to put the ball in the bucket when they get that many opportunities.”
On Tonight's Game:
“They played like they wanted it more. They got to the long rebounds and they made us pay for it. We missed some shots, some opportunities, but it’s hard to beat a team when we give them more possessions than us.”
“We just didn’t do what we were supposed to. They shoot any shot they feel like shooting. They got guys that can get to the basket, they’ve got guys that can shoot the three. They play small ball, they’re quick, they’re athletic. But we still didn’t take care of business how we should have tonight.”
On Gerald Green:
“He got hot. He’s feast or famine and he was feast tonight.”
Terry Stotts
On Tonight's Game:
“Well I’m glad we don’t have to play Phoenix any more. They just really play well against us. They average about 40 points in second chance points and fast break points against us. They push the tempo. Obviously, they’re active on the offensive glass and extra possessions hurt us. Usually I like our chances when we hold a team to 40 percent shooting, but give them credit. Gerald Green got it going. He played a fantastic game. Bledsoe was very aggressive going to the basket making his plays. They outplayed us. I don’t know, maybe it’s just a bad matchup for us. I don’t know.”
On Fourth Quarter:
“We struggled scoring. Gerald made some big momentum plays that energized them. We got down 10 or 12 and really couldn’t mount a charge after that.”
On Giving Up 23 Offensive Rebounds:
“It’s probably a little bit of everything. There’s some boxing out, some they went and got some of it, some of it we had the ball in our hands and didn’t secure it, sometimes it was a 50-50 ball and they came up with it. Some of that is them, some of it is us. When you give up 23 offensive rebounds, there’s probably a host of reasons.”
On Gerald Green:
“Gerald is a wild card. He can get it going. The first two shots he hit, he came off a flare and hit a three and then came down and hit another three and then hit one in transition later. He’s the type of player that can get hot for them. When he gets it going, he elevates and it’s a difficult shot to defend when he gets it going. I’ve seen him do that before.”
Goran Dragic
On Tonight's Game:
"We bounced back, especially after tough losses. Last game was really tough for us, we were up 16 against the clippers and we lost that game. We already know that we match up pretty well with Portland, so we know that we can win that game here. Today everybody was focused, everybody was playing hard on offense and defense."
On Second Half:
"We were just more aggressive, especially on the defensive end. We didn't allow them to have open shots. We were pressuring them, they were taking some contested shots and after that, we ran. We scored some easy transition points, which was huge. It was all a team effort and, in the end, if you're going to play like that throughout the whole game, then it's really tough to beat us. So far this season, we haven't played like that for 48 minutes so hopefully we're going to do that now."
Eric Bledsoe
On What Was The Key Factor In Tonight's Win:
"We just had a thing called determination I guess. Everybody knew that if we lost this game it would be a little bit tougher on us going forward. So, it was just determination. [Gerald Green] came in and led the way."
On Ability To Come Back From Deficits:
"All season we've been here. We've played down from now up whatever the case may be. We've been here before and this team does a great job of not getting dead when they do go on runs and stuff."
On Success Against The Trail Blazers:
"I have no idea, man. Honestly, I can't tell you. It's a great team, record shows that they've been playing well all season. For us to beat them three out of the four teams, I honestly have no answer for it."
Jeff Hornacek
On Tonight's Game:
"We had, I thought, a great effort from the point we got down ten. The guys that came off the bench gave us a big lift defensively out there. That's a good win for us."
On How They Turned It Around:
"We came out soft in the beginning of the second half there and I think we just started getting after it. Some of the guys said we can't lose this game and they went to that next level that it takes to win a game that you're in a playoff contention with guys and if we do happen to make it to the playoffs, that's the kind of effort you need all the time. That's a great learning for us as a young team. Again, we always say young, we're probably more inexperienced than young, but to go out there and make the plays when they count was big."