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Postgame: Trail Blazers at Clippers

TRAIL BLAZERS HEAD COACH TERRY STOTTSRE: Overall thoughts on tonight’s game“Well the understatement is that was a hell of a win. Nic Batum either scored or assisted on the last 19 [points], which is incredible. We’ve come back from a lot of double-digit deficits this year, and that was another one. I can’t say enough about how our guys keep competing and we never think we’re out of it.”RE: Damian Lillard’s performance“He [Damian Lillard] had a great rebounding game. I’m sure he is frustrated about not making shots, but he let the game happen. For a point guard to get 18 rebounds on a poor shooting night, I think it speaks a lot to his character because a lot of times when the ball isn’t going in, guys find it hard to get the energy to do the other things. He just kept competing.”RE: Helping team keep composure in tough situation“I think that [keeping composure] is in their nature. They are all very competitive. We have come back enough to where we know that we have a chance if we do the right things. It may or may not happen, but if the belief is always there, then it is easier to be composed. I will say that there was a two or three minute stretch there where we weren’t as composed as I would have liked us to have been.”TRAIL BLAZERS GUARD DAMIAN LILLARDRE: Career-high 18 rebounds“As soon as I walked off the court, that’s what everybody was saying. They were calling me Dennis Rodman. I wasn’t scoring the ball. Somebody else had it going. [LaMarcus Aldridge] hit some shots, Wes [Matthews] hit some shots, Arron [Afflalo] hit some shots and Nic [Batum] finished it out. I was trying to play defense with energy, move around the court and stay active on the glass so that they wouldn’t keep getting second and third opportunities.”TRAIL BLAZERS CENTER ROBIN LOPEZRE: Second-chance opportunities“Usually, our guys are going to get great looks. They are great at creating shots for themselves. My opportunities come when the ball goes up and I try to feed off of that.”RE: Fourth quarter effort“The past few games, I think that we have been doing a great job in the fourth quarter. That is something that goes back to last season. That was one of our hallmarks last season. It’s great that we are getting back to that. It’s very important for us.TRAIL BLAZERS FORWARD LAMARCUS ALDRIDGERE: Slow shooting start“I haven’t had a good rhythm lately. I just haven’t been shooting the ball well. Both guys [Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan] defend well, but it was just me missing shots.RE: Difference late in the game“We just started to guard better. In the first half, we didn’t play good defense. J.J. [Redick] got to his shot a lot. [In the fourth quarter], guys just started to take that challenge better. I thought it was a better effort by our defense altogether.”RE: Lineup with four three-point shooters“It makes it hard to guard. Arron [Afflalo] can create, Wes [Matthews] can create and Dame [Damian Lillard], when you add him, you have to pick your poison. I think tonight, we did a great job of finding the shot and finding guys that were open.”

CLIPPERS HEAD COACH DOC RIVERSRE: Overall thoughts on tonight’s game“We made a lot of mistakes down the stretch. We gave up a couple of bad three-pointers. That can never happen.”RE: The absence of Blake Griffin and Jamal Crawford“I would never tell our players this, but I told our staff that this cannot be an offensive game tonight. We have Blake [Griffin] out and we have Jamal [Crawford] out. We had to make this a mud-slinging, low- scoring game. We accomplished it, but at the last few possessions of the game we stopped defending and gave them two three-pointers. That just cannot happen.”RE: Moving forward after the loss“I think that the team is down about the loss. I am down about the loss. What can we can we do? The game is over now so we will watch film and get ready for the next game.”CLIPPERS GUARD CHRIS PAULRE: Playing without Blake Griffin“I’ve said this even when we have won games – we need Blake [Griffin]. But without him, guys have to step up. [For example] I shot 29 shots. I’m sure I haven’t shot that many shots this year.”RE: Holding Damian Lillard to only five points“[Damian Lillard only scored 5 points], but we lost. It’s a team game played by individuals. Even though some guys didn’t score their points, other guys did score. So we have to play better team defense, because down the stretch, that’s what let up. We lost 11-6 in overtime.”CLIPPERS CENTER DEANDRE JORDANRE: Overall thoughts on tonight’s game“Tonight was a tough loss. We had our chances. It was a tough game. We will be ready for the next one.”RE: Losing to a Western Conference playoff team“Portland is a good team, it was a tough loss.”CLIPPERS GUARD J.J. REDICKRE: Missed shots down the stretch“They didn’t do anything differently [to defend me in the second half]. I think I had a shot from the foul- line, they locked-and-trailed, and didn’t stop the big. That’s how they played it the whole game. I missed the shot. The play before that I turned the ball over and got a lay-up. So they didn’t play it any differently. They were switching some of Chris [Paul’s] pick-and-rolls, but for the most part, even in overtime, they played the big back. They didn’t change anything up. I think our execution could have been a little bit better. They made some big shots in the fourth quarter. We made a couple mistakes. They’re a great team. You can’t make those kinds of mistakes against a great team.”RE: Overall thoughts on tonight’s game“We deserved to win. When you feel like you deserved to win, losses like that are extremely frustrating. The thing is, they also deserved to win. They fought through some adversity. They had some guys that made some big plays. [Nicolas] Batum has struggled at times this year, but he was fantastic tonight. He had some huge plays in overtime. You have to give them credit, but to lose a game like that, it hurts.”