March 7, 2014
NOTES
• LaMarcus Aldridge has recorded the seventh 30-point, 15-rebound game of his career, the most by any Trail Blazer dating back to 1985.
• The Trail Blazers have outscored the Mavericks, 71-34, in the past 22:28 of game time (8:08 left in second quarter).
• With two blocks tonight, Nicolas Batum becomes the 10th player with 300+ steals and 300+ blocks during his Trail Blazers career.
• In just 57 games, LaMarcus Aldridge has more defensive rebounds this year than any other year in his career (495, 2012-13).
• Portland erased a 30-point deficit (44-14) in just 16:22 to tie the game, 67-67.
On What's Frustrating About Tonight's Game:
“Being right there and not taking care of business down the stretch. I had some big miscues down the stretch. I missed some shots down the stretch. Fighting all the way back and being up and having an opportunity to win and not taking care of business.”
On Calls Down The Stretch:
“I definitely feel that there were some calls that they got earlier that I didn’t get late….I feel like on some offensive rebounds I got hit a few times. I have to be better down the stretch and I just have to make those shots.”
On Cause For Slow Start:
“I don’t know. We definitely don’t want to do that again on this road trip. I think it shows how much character we have to fight back and make it a game.”
On Cause For Slow Start:
“I think they just played desperate. They know that they needed to win and they came out flying around. We had a slow start…we didn’t rebound the ball; we turned it over and let their shooters get going and get confidence. They just played a good game.”
On How They Were Able To Get Back Into The Game:
“They were making every shot. We made a lot of mistakes…so we figured if we cut down on our mistakes it would come back around. They started missing shots and we picked our energy up and turned it into a game. But down the stretch, we still made some mistakes and they capitalized on them.”
On Late Foul Against Devin Harris:
“He busted my mouth open. I knew that I wasn’t all the way in front of him but I figured since he dipped his head into my face they would call an offensive foul. But they called it the other way and that is something we had to live with. We still had a couple opportunities after that that we didn’t take advantage of.”
Terry Stotts
On Tonight's Game:
“Well, a lot to say about this game. Disappointed with our start – obviously getting down 30 on the road is not what you want, but I was proud of the way we competed and we were able to take the lead. We weren’t able to finish a few shots at the basket down the stretch. Dallas being in the bonus for most of the 4th quarter really affected the game in the 4th quarter. And that’s about it.”
On Foul Call On Lillard Late In The Fourth Quarter:
“I didn’t agree with the call.”
Did You Think It Was A Charge?:
“A charge or a no-call, yeah. It was [a big play]. I’m not going to complain about the officials. I disagree with the call. It was the play of the game, because it was a tie game and a three-point play – it changes everything.”
Did You Get The Shots You Wanted Down The Stretch?:
“Yep, L.A. [Aldridge] got a couple shots in the lane, Damian [Lillard] had a layup, Nick [Batum] had an open three, [and] we got offensive rebounds. So I know we didn’t score the last 4 minutes, but I thought we had good looks at it.”
How Were You Able To Come Back From A 30-Point Deficit?:
“I thought we were very aggressive defensively. L.A. [Aldridge] got on a roll. When you get stops, and are able to play and get in transition you’re able to change the momentum of the game. And we did it at the defensive end more than anything, but as I said L.A. was – I don’t know how many he had in the [3rd] quarter, but he was very effective with scoring the ball. We scored 36 to [Mavericks’] 18. I thought we did it at both ends.”
Devin Harris
On Tonight's Game:
“Obviously, you’ve got to love the way we started but they came back and took the lead back from us. They came out and were more efficient in the second half but we just hung in there, kept playing and we were able to make the plays to win the game.”
On Offensive Mindset:
“Just take open shots when they are there. I have to keep shooting when I am open and hopefully find my groove. But one thing I can do is drive and coach called some plays late in the game to get me in the paint and make something happen.”
Brandan Wright
On Tonight's Game:
“It was unbelievable. We got outscored by, I don’t know how much, after that first quarter being up 40-10. They went on a heck of a run but all it’s going to say in the paper tomorrow is that we got the W.”
On Defense Late:
“Yes, that’s just a credit to us turning it up and playing hard on defense. We got the stops and we made some shots also.”
On Staying Positive After Recent Losing Streak:
“Well, it’s a little bit of both, but we have to stay positive around here and keep playing. We can’t expect teams to lay down and we have to keep winning because this is a playoff race. It’s probably going to go down to the last week and each game is important.”
Rick Carlisle
On Mavs' Resolve Tonight:
“It was great. You look at the box score – we had one bad quarter, really. It was a horrible third quarter, and they got going. Give them credit; they hung in, they kept fighting and making plays. It didn’t look good. I think we had nine stops in a row to end the game, which shows what we’re capable of. Dalembert was great; he protected the rim. Devin Harris made a couple of really huge plays. It’s that close; you’re either feeling great about it or it’s a really tough, tough night. This is how it’s going to be the next 19 games; the games are all going to be hard like this.”
On Late-Game Defense:
“It was tight. It was tight, and it had to be. They’re a very skilled team, and they get the ball in the basket. Aldridge had a game going. We were throwing every coverage in the world at him, and he was still scoring.”
On Team's Ability To Compete:
“The first quarter, you’re not going to have a better first quarter in this league. There is a lot of adrenaline – you can’t sustain that, not against a quality team like Portland. When we got into a lull, we were still able to keep playing pretty well; I think we only got beat by four in the second quarter. The third quarter is the one that we’ve got to eliminate. Somehow, you’ve just got to ignore the score and keep playing. When we’re down seven with three-and-a-half minutes to go, we’ve got to ignore the score and keep playing. That’s what it comes down to, one stop and one opportunity, one stop. That’s how you’ve got to look at it. It’s going to be a character test, and it’s going to test our team resolve the next 19 games, but that’s good. If we’re not up to it, then we don’t deserve to go to the playoffs.”
On Blowing 30-Point Lead:
“We’ve been blowing leads all year. Ask me something that hasn’t been happening. We’ve blown a lot of big leads, so this is one of the realities that we face with this team, and we’re going to keep working to prevent it from happening next time. That’s all we can do, that’s all we can do. I don’t mean to offend you, but how many whatever-point leads have we blown this year?...There’s been tons of them. With 19 games left, we’ve got to work to prevent because tonight, if you talk about doing it the hard way, there’s no harder way to do it than tonight.”
On Team's Confidence Playing With "Big Boys":
“I’m not big into analysis. We’ve got to quarter to quarter. We’ve got to go whistle to whistle with this whole thing. If we could go beyond that and start looking into the future, we’ll get in our own way. That’s just the way it is. We know we’ve got a lot of good teams to play, and we know we’ve got a lot of good teams to play at home. Sunday is, on paper record-wise, is a harder game than this one. We’ve got to get ready for that one.”