February 7, 2014
NOTES
• Damian Lillard joins Clyde Drexler as only Trail Blazers to ever record 38 points, 11 assists and 4 3-pointers in a game (3/15/92 at BOS).
• Damian Lillard joins Chris Paul and Kyrie Irving as the only NBA players with 38 points, 11 assists and 4 3-pointers in a game this year.
• Wesley Matthews is the ninth NBA player to ever make a 3-pointer in at least 48 of his team's first 50 games of a season.
• LaMarcus Aldridge has scored 20+ points and/or recorded a double-double in 48 of Portland's 50 games this season.
• LaMarcus Aldridge is the first player in Trail Blazers history to score in double figures in each of the team's first 50 games of a season.
On Tonight's Game:
“I thought we played well against a championship level team who found a way to get it done. George Hill played a great game, David West played a great game, and Paul George found a way to come up big. That’s what great teams do, find a way to get it done."
On His Offensive Night:
"The ball was going in. I’ve had a couple of rough games shooting the ball. But I’ve always said I’m going to keep shooting it. Their bigs were playing back and I was able to get to my spots on the floor and after I hit a couple I felt good early and got my confidence."
On Last Play In Regulation:
"We ran pick and roll but both defenders ran hard at me and I didn’t want to put up a shot too early in case I missed, they could have time to get their own shot. Then I saw Nico (Nicolas Batum) come open to me and I got it to him and he got up a shot. I have confidence in him anytime."
On Playoff Atmosphere:
"They have the best record in the league and we have a pretty good record. But it’s the same as playing someone like Oklahoma City. We know they’re a good team. We want to come at them hard and they want to come at us hard.”
On Tonight's Game:
“I thought we were right there. I think there are some positives that we can take away from this. It was like a playoff environment and I thought we had control for about 95 percent of the game. But it was the other five percent that caused us to lose. But it was a positive loss, if there is such a thing. There definitely is a possibility of seeing them again. But they were just able to knock down some shots and then they were able to get stops.”
Terry Stotts
On Tonight's Game:
“I thought it was a very well-played game by both teams. It’s a game I think we were in position to win, obviously. We didn’t come up with some rebounds when we needed them. But give Indiana credit. They hit some tough shots when they needed to."
On Rebounding:
"I thought sometimes we were there and they came up with it. We didn’t give up an offensive rebound in the first half and they had seven in the fourth quarter. They kept playing. They’re a tested team and they showed why they have the best record."
On Defense:
"I thought our D was good. I thought we made some adjustments. I thought we contested shots. In regulation we were in position to win the game.”
George Hill
On Tonight's Game:
“It was fun. We knew Lance (Stephenson) was out. He’s a big part of our energy and things like that. We always say when a guy is down, the next guy has to step up. I just tried to be as aggressive as I could tonight."
On Coming From Behind:
"We always say it’s a long game and we’re never out of it with the defense we play. Even with the deficit we had we knew we’d continue to keep grinding."
On David West:
"Just trying to take the shot that was there. We missed a three and Roy (Hibbert) or Danny (Granger) did a good job of crashing and getting the rebound. I was just trying to move to an open spot to get a shot up. I knew we needed a three."
On When He Felt He Had It Going:
"When I first walked in here I was yelling at everybody that I have a lot of energy today. From five o’clock when we came here to start shooting, I don’t know what it was, I just felt different today.”
Paul George
On Tonight's Game:
“We just battled and stayed with it. We wanted to be aggressive and attack first. We just attacked and shots started to fall. "
On The Game Being Fun To Play In:
"It was fun. Those are the games you want to be a part of, playing against the highest competition in a game where you’ve got to grind it out. It’s the most fun games in this league."
On Rallying For Win:
"Regardless of the circumstances in the game, I’ll take a win anytime. (The Trailblazers) are a great team, a great organization. It was a great team win. They really battled. We had to gut it down. We really just manned up defensively, and offensively I thought we made huge plays.”
David West
On Tonight's Game:
“We were just making sure we stayed in it and stayed aggressive. Ultimately we made enough plays defensively against the top offense in the NBA to come up with a big win at home.
On Portland's Offense:
"Obviously they have tremendous shooters. Matthews (Wesley), Lillard (Damian) and Batum (Nicolas), they’re active. Aldridge (LaMarcus) is arguably the best right now at the four position in the league. They just play a good style of ball. They are one of the top teams in the league and they have proven that during the season. I just thought we made enough plays and enough stops to win the game.
On The Win:
"This was a big win for us. Against the top teams you’ve got to get wins throughout the year. This is a good win for us. We talked about finishing strong before the All-star break. We prepared well yesterday for this and just came in and had an overall good game.”
Frank Vogel
On Tonight's Game:
“That was a heck of a basketball game, very intense. Our guys exhibited great will.
On George Hill:
"He’s a special player, probably our most underrated guy. To have a break out game like that offensively with Lance (Stephenson) out was good to see. It was his individual mind set. He gets slack because his assists and rebound totals aren’t all that high. But he’s capable of doing what he did tonight.
On Portland:
"They knock down everything. They did that when we played out there. They hit pull up, pull up after pull up with a hand in the face. These guys have great will and rise above whatever challenge they face. I could see the look on David West’s face to carry everyone on his back.”