Postgame quotes: Rockets 104, Blazers 100
Official postgame quotes following the Portland Trail Blazers’ 104-100 defeat to the Houston Rockets on Friday night at the Toyota Center.
Houston Rockets (25-21) vs. Portland Trail Blazers (27-21)
January 29, 2010 – Toyota Center
Final Score: Houston 104, Portland 100
COACH NATE MCMILLAN
“There were a lot of timely possessions in the game and it makes a difference when you don’t get rebounds. We made runs and played good defense and they just out-worked us for loose balls. We had some breakdowns and turnovers down the stretch and we didn’t execute.”
“The point guards the last few games have just blown by us. The weak side is not helping and we are not guarding anyone. We have to bend our knees and guard somebody.”
“We have three or four guys playing well but both our units aren’t playing well together. I play with what I’ve got. I understand that we need help (inside) but I have to work with our guys to make plays and make it happen.”
LAMARCUS ALDRIDGE
“It’s a tough loss. We had control early and then they made a run. It’s also really tough when you come back from half time and see that you just lost two points. Houston made points down the stretch and we didn’t.”
“I got off to a good start. I tried to figure out what I can do to help this team. I got off to a slow start in the third quarter and then in the fourth quarter they double-teamed and I passed the ball out.”
NICOLAS BATUM
“I feel good and my shoulder is fine. I just need to get back in shape after missing forty-five games.”
“The last five minutes of the game we let Brooks do what he wanted to and it made it very tough for us. We had too many breakdowns on the offensive end.”
STEVE BLAKE
“We had a costly turnover in the fourth quarter that really hurt us. We had a lot of shot clock breakdowns that cost us. We know Houston is a good team and at home they did what they had to do.”
“He is extremely quick and very good with the ball in his hands. You really can’t lay off him because he shoots the 3-pointer so well. He is a tough cover.”
RUDY FERNANDEZ
“It doesn’t matter what I did because we lost the game. We tried to play hard but didn’t make the plays down the stretch. Houston is a good team and they beat us.”
POST-GAME NOTES
Team Leaders:
Houston
Points: Aaron Brooks-33
Rebounds: Shane Battier-8, Luis Scola-8
Assists: Aaron Brooks-7
Portland
Points: Rudy Fernandez-25
Rebounds: Nicolas Batum-9
Assists: Steve Blake-9
q The Rockets posted a 104-100 win tonight against the Trail Blazers. Including last year’s playoff series, Houston owns a nine-game home winning streak over Portland (six regular season, three playoffs).
q Houston set season highs in free throws made with 29 and free throws attempted with 43 tonight. The 43 trips to the line by the Rockets also set the team’s record for free throws attempted at Toyota Center (prev. high: 42 on 3/24/08 vs. Sacramento).
q The Rockets returned from 10 points down to capture a 104-100 victory tonight. Houston has faced a double-digit deficit at home eight times this season, going 3-5 over those outings. Overall, the Rockets have come back from a double-digit deficit to win 10 times this season.
q Houston recorded 16 fast-break points tonight. The Rockets have now reached double digits in fast-break scoring in each of its last eight games (1/13/10-1/29/10). Houston reached double-digit scoring off the break in all of its first 11 games this season (10/27/09-11/17/09) to set the longest such streak of 2009-10.
q The Rockets outscored the Trail Blazers by a 52-32 count in the paint tonight. Overall, Houston has reached 50 points in the paint on 12 occasions this season.
q Aaron Brooks registered 33 points (11-21 FG, 3-9 3FG, 8-10 FT) and a team-high seven assists tonight, marking his fifth 30-point outing of the season. Brooks now has at least 20 points in four of the last five games.
q Carl Landry, who ranks second in the NBA in fourth-quarter scoring (301 points) behind Cleveland’s LeBron James (322 points), netted 15 (5-8 FG, 5-10 FT) of his 21 points (6-13 FG, 9-14 FT) in the fourth quarter of tonight’s game.
q Trevor Ariza finished with 12 points (5-11 FG, 1-2 3FG), four rebounds, three assists and two steals tonight. Ariza also had 19 points (8-21 FG), 10 rebounds, three assists and two steals in the last game vs. Denver (1/27/10).
q Luis Scola scored all 12 of his points (5-10 FG) in the second half tonight. Scola has now reached double-digit scoring in a career-high 15 consecutive contests (12/29/09-1/29/10).
q Kyle Lowry did not return to the game tonight after leaving with a sprained left knee suffered in the second quarter. He finished with 11 points (4-6 FG, 3-3 FT) and three rebounds.
q Rudy Fernandez scored a season-high 25 points (9-14 FG, 5-6 3FG), including 13 points (3-3 3FG) in the fourth quarter. He surpassed his previous season best of 22 points (6-9 FG, 8-8 FT) set vs. Denver (10/29/09).
q LaMarcus Aldridge had 20 points (7-17 FG, 6-8 FT), seven rebounds and four blocks tonight. Aldridge now has at least 20 points in each of his last six regular season visits to Toyota Center (20 on 11/3/07, 22 on 2/11/08, 21 on 2/24/09, 22 points on 4/5/09 and 27 on 10/31/09).
q Steve Blake totaled 14 points (6-10 FG, 2-4 3FG) and a game-high nine assists tonight.
q Jerryd Bayless netted 11 points (5-5 FT) tonight. Bayless has now reached double digits in scoring in 13 of his last 22 games played. Overall, he has scored in double figures 17 times.
ROCKETS COACH RICK ADELMAN
(On the game)”I’m just completely glad to get the win. I thought the guys for the whole game stuck in there, played hard and made a lot of shots down the stretch there. You know, (Rudy) Fernandez was terrific, knocking 3’s down. We just seemed to try to make it difficult but you know, I’ll take the win after the last three games. It was a win we needed and we got and hopefully we can build off that.”
(On the Rockets defense) “I thought we really worked hard. (LaMarcus) Aldridge really hurt us early. He made some tough shots over Chuck (Hayes) but we did a nice job of coming at him and doubling him and we were scattering but the other big was kicking out to the shooters. Even with all the injuries they’ve had, they are a very talented offensive team (Portland). They can really shoot the ball. Then, they have a guy inside who can score so we knew it wasn’t going to be easy. Again, they (Rockets) persevered. They stayed with it and that’s what we needed to do and ended up getting the win.”
TREVOR ARIZA
(On the importance of hitting free throws for the win) “Man, it’s big for us. Lately, we’ve definitely been struggling from the line. I’ve been struggling from the line. I think it is a concentration thing. I think it is probably a concentration thing that we’ve got to get better at.”
(On getting the win) “It was huge for us. No matter how many people got down, we’ve got people down too so a win is a win. We appreciate it. We’ll take it anyway we can get it.”
AARON BROOKS
(On playing against the Blazers) “We just kept fighting throughout the whole game. When we got down we pushed back and we got stops. I think that was probably the difference than when we started the game that we didn’t. We came back and fought back and I thought that was the difference.”
(On the importance of hitting free throws to close the game) “We really need to work on our free throws a little more. Today, it was Carl (Landry), the game before it was me. It’s going to give coach high blood pressure so I think we need to put more emphasis on shooting free throws after practice. It’s weird because in practice they always go in so I don’t know what it is.”
SHANE BATTIER
(On the win) “Hey, beggars can’t be choosers. People complained about how we won it again but there are no style points in the NBA. Two weeks from now it’s a win and we just needed one to get over the schneid and hopefully we can build on it, take away the last couple minutes, we played solid for the entire game. It’s been a while since we really had a game, free throws not withstanding, where we played solid the entire game.”
(On Portland) “Give them credit, they are playing great. They’ve been doing a lot of the same things that we have done the last couple of years. They have circled the wagon and they have had devastating injuries as much as we had but they continue to play hard and play together. They are a good role model. We have to remember that we’re that underdog team that no one believes in and everyone has counted us out and we have to bring the effort like we did tonight, every single night.”
CARL LANDRY
(On the Rockets missed free throws) “We missed a lot of free throws down the stretch as I’m sure everyone could hear or see. They were free throws that we usually hit. We were a pretty good free throw shooting team. I got put on the line and I missed two and I don’t think I have missed two in a row all year long. We just made it tough on ourselves but at the end of the day we came up with a victory and that’s what we want.”
(On him facing double teams) “It’s something that I haven’t seen since college. This is the next level which is the NBA with the best players who are quicker and stronger and more athletic. I just have to be ready to face the double teams and make the right play, make the right pass.”
CHUCK HAYES
(On the importance of the win) “Very important. Not only was it a three game skid but it was a three game skid at home. We needed the win to get us that feeling of what it takes to win again and hopefully, we can turn some things around.”
(On the Blazers) “They fought back. They were not going to give up. They resemble their coach and the way he coaches. They fought back and they made it a game.”
