Trail Blazers Head Coach Terry Stotts
On tonight’s game...“It was kind of a sluggish first half, but I like the way we came out in the third quarter. We set the tone early in the third quarter, primarily with our defense. I think we’re a type of team when the defense starts clicking, the shots have a better tendency of going in. It was a quality win and a quality road trip.”
On coming back from a 13-point deficit...“A 13-point lead in this league is nothing. We had a nine-point lead early and they came back and took a 13-point lead. That stuff happens all the time. The Hornets play very hard. They’ve had some injuries. I know they are in the middle of a losing streak, but they’ve lost some really tough games to some quality opponents.”
On Wesley Matthews...“The way we came out in the second half, Wes (Wesley Matthews) was making his threes. He took advantage of some post-ups. His defense is a constant. He gives that every time. L.A. (LaMarcus Aldridge) obviously struggled. To be able to have a game like this with L.A. struggling, Wes and Damian (Lillard), in particular, really stepped up offensively.”
On Robin Lopez’s defense on Al Jefferson...“We struggled with (Al) Jefferson, the first game we played them. We ended up finishing the game with Joel (Freeland) but I thought Robin (Lopez) really took the challenge tonight of doing a good job on him. I think he kind of wore him down a little bit. There was a lot of contact in the lane. I think you could tell he took pride in his defense tonight.”
On their three-point shooting...“The three-ball is a big part of the NBA game and certainly a big part of our offense. When we can get quality three’s, we have enough quality shooters, I’d love for us to shoot 40 percent as a team. We have too many good shooters not to take them. We want to go out and shoot them with confidence.”
On the team...“I think we are able to stay in the moment. We’ll enjoy Thanksgiving and then look at Memphis. We all have a pretty good perspective that it is a long season. We really haven’t looked back at last year or last week.”
Trail Blazers guard Wesley Matthews
On coach only calling two plays for him...“That might have been right, it’s kind of how the game was just flowing. I was able to knock down the open shots I was given and my teammates found me.”
On knowing when he’s having a good offensive night...“I felt good tonight when I was on my way to the arena; I always try to stay confident while I was going through this shooting drought. It’s always easy to stay confident when your team is winning and your team is doing well. I knew it was only a matter of time until that drought ended and I was back to being myself. Hopefully tonight was a step in that direction.”
On second quarter team giving up 30 points and their 34 point third quarter...“We need to stop doing that, though our record is good when we’re trailing at halftime. We were told that after our game in Philly but we’re not going to continue to see if we can restrain that. We want to pose our trill from the start to the end. We know there are some games that we will be trailing at halftime but we don’t want it to be because we weren’t playing with hunger.”
Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard
On 9-game winning streak...“It feels like we’re playing good basketball for a while now, though it doesn’t seem like that many games have passed.”
On winning streak this year vs. last year...“Last year the winning streak was such a high point in our season, it gave us that distance from the other teams. This year we’re winning better, it’s not all off our offense; we’re defending better, making adjustments and winning games even when we don’t have good offensive nights. We haven’t played our best offensively yet but when we do, along with our great defensive play we’ll be able sustain the level that we’re playing.”
On ankle injury in first half...“In the first half I made a move in transition and I took the contact. I knew the defender was going to fly by, so I was trying to wait for to pass while keeping my eye on the rim that I didn’t realized how close to the ground I was. As soon as I shot the ball I hit the ground instantly and I rolled my ankle but I’m ok now.”
Hornets Head Coach Steve Clifford
On tonight’s game...“Obviously we played a really good first half then just started the third quarter with nothing and the game changed quickly. Never really know until you watch the film but before that we played a really good game. They’re rolling right now. They shot the ball well. We had 29 assists and only six turnovers against a team that’s the seventh best defensive team in the NBA. Obviously their three-point shooting hurt us.”
On what positives he saw tonight...“Tonight we played better. We played harder and smarter. We played with organization and purpose. It’s going to start with playing the right way and doing the right things. I think the guys went out there and they fought hard.”
On the team’s mood or attitude right now...“We have a prideful group. They want to win. I’m not worried about that. We have to find a way to win. Attitudes have not been a problem.”
On Lance Stephenson...“When he went out there, I didn’t plan on not playing him but Brian Roberts was our best player tonight. To be fair, I think one of the things that’s made it more difficult for him is that he came here and people proclaimed him as this next superstar. He’s a talented kid. He’s 23 years old. He started two years before he got here. He averaged 13 points a game. What he did was, he played on really good teams so everyone saw him playing when nobody else was playing. When Al Jefferson came here, he had been like 19 and 10 for nine years. You knew what you were going to get. That’s what Lance will become so in many ways it’s not fair. He’s not a star. He’s a guy that has the talent to become a star. To be a star in this league, you have to do it over years.”
On how to get back on track...“It’s going to start with getting back to the things that win. Not giving up fast break points, protecting the paint and not fouling much. Offensively, we’re going to have to be a ball movement team.”
Hornets center Al Jefferson
On the third quarter...“They picked it up and we didn’t. They made shots and we didn’t.”
On moving forward from this loss...“We’ve just got to keep playing hard. That’s one thing I know we’re doing, we’re playing hard and we’re competing. Things just aren’t working out for us. I know once we get that monkey off our back, things will start turning around for us. We’ve just got to continue to compete and continue to play hard and we’ll be ok. I’m not in panic mode.”
On trying to end the seven-game losing streak...“I’m not the type of guy that sits back and makes excuses for everything when things are going bad, because we don’t do that when things are going good. We’ve just got to find what we need to do to get this team where it needs to be, because we have the talent. It’s not a talent issue. We have guys on this team who want to win, we’ve just got to get it together. Once we do, we’ll be having entirely different conversations.”
Hornets guard Brian Roberts
On the difference in the third quarter...“They came out and stepped up and we didn’t meet that challenge. That was kind of the difference, setting the tone in the second half. We fought and competed, but we’ve got to find a way to get some wins. There are 48 minutes and we’ve got to find a way to fight and compete.”
On what led to his career-high 24 points tonight...“Just staying in attack mode, staying aggressive and coming into the game with the mindset to go out there and be aggressive. That’s it really.”
On if he is feeling more comfortable...“It’s getting there. I’m feeling pretty good out there on the floor, getting to play with these guys and know their strengths and they get to know my strengths too. I’m feeling good and I think that’s going to translate to help this team get some wins. Individually it’s ok, but we’re trying to get some wins.”
On the positives to pull from the loss...“It’s hard to get moral victories. It’s not really what this is about. But there are some positive things. We compete and we play hard, and sooner or later it’s going to translate into wins. We’ve got to just keep plugging away and keep fighting, but right now it’s tough.”