Trail Blazers vs Spurs Saturday, 11/10/12 AT 07:00PM

Post-Game Notes And Quotes: Slipping To The Spurs

11/10/12

Written by: sarahhecht

November 10, 2012 San Antonio 112, Portland 109  

POST-GAME QUOTES

HEAD COACH TERRY STOTTS
“I thought for the most part we played a good game. Obviously, the end of the third quarter, beginning of the fourth was a problem. They made that run with their bench guys and Gary Neal got it going. We got back into it. It was a disappointing loss though.”

On Spurs run in early fourth:
“They got hot. They were playing small ball all night which opens up the court. Gary Neal got hot, their bench guys got a nice rhythm. I don’t know how many threes they hit during it, but obviously those quick threes changed the game. One of the things when you play small is it allows you to score points. It becomes a different type of game.”

On lack of bench production:
“We’ve got to find ways to win games. The bench was effective in the first half. We were positive in the first half with the bench guys on the floor. I’m more concerned about what happens on the court when they’re in the game than actual numbers, points, rebounds. The bench was a positive in the first half and we had a bad stretch, a horrible stretch. Obviously we scored enough points to win. It wasn’t about bench production, we scored enough points.”

On defense allowing 57% shooting tonight, 50% or higher to opponent in 5 of 6 games:
“The second quarter, we defended really well and I think we held them to under 40% that quarter. When teams go small, it’s an offensive move. It opens up the court with a lot of three point shooters so it changes the dynamics of the game. That being said, 5 out of 6 games over 50%, it’s hard to do that. It’s really hard to do that. That being said, I have a hard time faulting effort. We’ve just got to be more deliberate, more attention to detail in some of our coverages and we’ve got to go back to work tomorrow.”

Was defense good enough to have a chance to win late in the game?
“We were down nine and we played good enough defense to get us back in the game. We wouldn’t have been in a position to win the game if we hadn’t have defended. And that’s with a possession where we actually get a stop and it ends up being a lay-up. So I thought our activity in the fourth quarter in our comeback was outstanding. We wouldn’t have been in a position to win the game if we didn’t do that. We got deflections, we got rebounds, we did the things that you need to do.”

LAMARCUS ALDRIDGE
On defense tonight:
“I think they made tough shots tonight. I thought we played well throughout the whole game. We gave up that one run early in the fourth, I thought that was hard to come back from after that.”
“They made tough shots. We have to control the ball better. But Neal made some one-legged runners, one-legged glass, so we didn’t give up just open looks. Tonight, we made them take tough shots. They just made big shot after big shot.”

Was defense better than it has been?
“I think in previous games, we gave up wide open threes, wide open lay-ups. Tonight, we either fouled them hard or they made a really tough lay-up. They made tough shots. I felt like tonight they earned it.”

On bench production compared to 63 points from the Spurs bench:
“Even with all of that, we still had a chance to win. So we can’t buy into that. We have to do what we do better. We had a chance to win tonight.”

On building lead through the third quarter:
“We were just taking advantage of matchups. We ran through the post, put them in pick and rolls. We were trying to push the ball and run at them and I thought that was good for us early.”

Thoughts on 2-4 record so far:
“We’ve been in some close games that we haven’t won. A young team – one of the hardest things is to learn how to win games late. I think that’s the transition that we’re going through right now.”

POST-GAME NOTES

- Tonight’s attendance of 20,447 marked the 195th consecutive sellout at the Rose Garden (regular season and playoffs).
San Antonio’s win snapped a seven-game losing streak to the Trail Blazers at the Rose Garden.
- The last time two Portland players scored at least 29 points in a game happened Feb. 4, 2012 against Denver. In that contest, Nicolas Batum scored 33 points and LaMarcus Aldridge scored 29 points, the same totals from tonight.
- Since the 2006-07 season, Aldridge is only the fifth player to record at least 29 points, seven assists and four blocks in a game (Russell Westbrook, Dwyane Wade, LeBron James, Manu Ginobili).
- Aldridge is the first Trail Blazer to record at least 29 points, seven assists and four blocks in a game since Clyde Drexler, against Dallas on March 8, 1988.
- Aldridge also scored a season-high 29 points, and recorded a season-best four blocks.
- Damian Lillard is the fourth player since 1985 to record 100 points and 40 assists in his first six career games, joining John Wall, LeBron James and Damon Stoudamire.
- Nicolas Batum tied a career high with 33 points (2 times, last – Feb. 14, 2012 vs. Washington).
- LaMarcus Aldridge tied a career high with seven assists (3 times, last – March 12, 2011 at Atlanta).
- Portland had three 20-point scorers against the Spurs, the second time this season the Trail Blazers have had that many 20-point scorers in a game. In all of last season, the team had four games in which three players scored 20+ points.
- JJ Hickson’s 14 rebounds are his most since April 8, 2011, when he had 15 rebounds as a member of Cleveland, against Chicago.
- Hickson recorded his third double-double of the season against the Spurs, finishing with 13 points and 14 rebounds.
- San Antonio entered tonight allowing opponents to shoot 31.0 percent from beyond the arc. Portland shot 10-of-22 (45.5%) from the 3-point line.
- The Spurs allowed a season-high 109 points against the Trail Blazers. Coming into tonight’s contest, San Antonio was allowing just 91.7 points per game.
- San Antonio’s Gary Neal scored a career-high 27 points.