Terry Stotts – Head CoachOn what happened in the second half“You got to give Utah credit with their defense. They were very energetic. They were scrambling. They were closing out hard on our shooters. Part of it was us, we didn’t make some shots. I think we could’ve executed a little bit better, passed the ball better ... We struggled offensively in the second half, particularly after we took an eight point lead early in the third quarter and they picked it up. I think we were a little hesitant on some of our decisions.”
On Rudy Gobert’s impact on the game“He continues to improve and he is a presence at the rim. He’s very athletic and has great timing and he had an impact on the game.”
On the Jazz’s defense on LaMarcus Aldridge tonight“I thought LA had some nice looks, particularly in the third quarter. They started doubling him, obviously, and that got the ball out of his hands. I thought he did a good job of reading the double teams and passing out of it, and we weren’t able to capitalize.”
Damian Lillard – Guard (19 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists)On the game“We didn’t shoot the ball well and that gave them energy. They took advantage of us turning the ball over and it didn’t help that we didn’t shoot well in the half court either.”
On the Blazers’ performance tonight“I don’t know how I could see it coming. We had two good days of practice. We got up and down. But I think they outplayed us. They came out, they played hard. They made some shots at the end of the game to kind of separate them. It all happened before that. They were playing hard, they were flying around. And it doesn’t help that it was the first game back from the break. There was already a little bit of rust, just from not playing real basketball in 10 days. Coming into the altitude, getting a little tired. They jumped on us, they just won the game. They outplayed us.”
On the team’s struggle after the All-Star break“I don’t even think you can use that as an excuse. They had an All-Star break too. That would be the easy thing to say, but they played a good game. At the end of the day, they’re an NBA team. They came out and outplayed us and won the game.”
LaMarcus Aldridge – Forward (14 points, 8 rebounds)On the Jazz’s defense and the Trail Blazers’ rust tonight“They outplayed us. They trapped us and doubled the post and had more energy than us tonight. It’s not about rust, they just came out and played a better game than us tonight.”
On the Jazz’s bench outscoring the Trail Blazers’ bench 41-14“It’s always going to be good for us to have more bench scoring, but we can’t look at that tonight. The starters got outplayed too. So, in the second half, we didn’t really score the ball. They turned us over. They doubled and they trapped and they played really active. So it wasn’t just on the bench tonight, it was everybody.”
Wesley Matthews – Guard (13 points, 7 rebounds)On the Jazz tonight“This team, they have x amount of wins, but they’re still talented. We played them pretty tough and we played a pretty good game at our place and we beat them by one. So, they weren’t going to surprise us ... We lost. They beat us. They beat the hell out of us. They got the hustle points. They made shots, we didn’t. We turned the ball over. They beat us.”
Quin Snyder – Head CoachOn holding the Blazers to under 80 points“We just kept trying to talk about competing on the defensive end. When Gordon shifted it was at the right point, kind of tipped the ball, and got a steal that kind of got us going on the defensive end. It just got us more aggressive, which was good. Everybody that came into the game took a lot of pride in it. I think it was one of the best defensive games that Trey has played all year. I was really happy to see him compete.”
On the Jazz playing with more energy“I think we played pure. We made some mistakes, but for the most part they played for one another. And when you are unselfish like that, and don’t care what happens... we were trying to make each other better, and I think you get rewarded for that. Obviously you’ve got to make a shot or two, but that is kind of what it felt like to me on the floor is that we kind of played with a purity, which as nice to see.”
On the play of Trey Burke“Trey is working on his mid-range floater. He’s always had that pull-up, but his reads are getting better. There is one time where he was trying to make the play and dropped it on the floor back to Favors, and I just think he is improving.”
Derrick Favors - Forward (16 points, 9 rebounds)On the win“It was a big game for us. We wanted to get a win after the All-Star break. We came out and played as team and got a win.”
On the defense with him and Gobert starting“Me and him we [are] both good shot blockers and good one on one defenders. It makes it a lot harder for teams to come into the paint against us. That way the guards can pressure the ball and know that me and Rudy got their back.”
On the bench play“They played good. You have to give credit to Book [Trevor Booker]. You have to give credit to Eli [Elijah Millsap], all of those guys. They came out played good, made shots, played with a lot of energy and they helped us out tonight.”Additional quotes on back...
Gordon Hayward - Forward (20 points, 4 rebounds)On the game“It’s always tough to say goodbye to teammates. Steve [Novak] was one of the best teammates I’ve played with and Enes, I’ve played with him the past four years, so it’s tough and difficult to see guys leave but that’s how this game works and this league works. We all played extremely hard tonight and it was good defensively on all of us. It’s amazing the scrambling we did on defense. It seemed like everybody was connected. We just played really hard and really well.”
On the defensive effort tonight“I think you could make the case that this is our best defensive effort. All around, everybody, one through five, whoever was out there on the court. I think it really translated to the offensive end and gave us a spark. Maybe you get some buckets in transition and all of a sudden you’re knocking down three’s and you have this energy about you. We played really well.”
Trey Burke - Guard (19 points, 3 assists)On the game“It was a lot of fun. We needed a good performance coming off the break. We knew we were going to need a couple minutes to get used to the altitude again, but I think for the most part we had a great defensive effort and that’s what allowed us to get the win.”
On the teams effort tonight“Collectively as a team we all communicated and we had each other’s backs out there. Like I said, it started on the defensive end and that’s what allowed us to get out in transition and get easy buckets and play at the level we played at tonight.”