Postgame quotes and notes: Celtics 96, Blazers 76
Official postgame quotes and notes following the Portland Trail Blazers’ 96-76 defeat to the Boston Celtics on Friday evening at the Rose Garden.
BLAZERS POST GAME QUOTES
Friday, Feb. 19, 2010 – Final Score: Boston 96, Portland 76
COACH NATE McMILLAN
“I thought Boston came out and did what they needed to do. The way they played the game was our game plan – to be the aggressors, defensively get up into their chest, and beat them to their spots; offensively, attack them. We never established that we could guard them on the defensive end of the floor. That first quarter, I think they shot better than 70 percent in that quarter. Offensively, we had some shots, we didn’t make some shots, and they basically packed it in and forced some guys to shoot the ball. They got the game to their tempo and we pretty much played that tempo all night.”
Was that the best defense you’ve seen?
“No, I thought the Lakers when they came in, a big team like that played well here. For whatever reason, we are getting off to some poor starts here. I thought tonight we didn’t have our rhythm, but defensively is where it starts. They pretty much got what they wanted in that first quarter and pretty much throughout the game.”
“The second half I went back to Howard so we could get to more sets. It wasn’t on Camby other than that I felt like we needed to try to get more sets and call more plays so we put Howard in and brought Camby off the bench.”
“As a team, we didn’t get it done. Defensively, we didn’t defend them. They had like 20-some points in the paint that first half and they weren’t off of post-ups, they were off of cuts. That’s just a matter of keeping your body between your man and the basket. We didn’t do a good job of that.”
On Roy:
“He’s been out for, what, 5 weeks? It’s going to take him some time to get his rhythm. It seems as if we were kind of waiting for each other tonight to make something happen as oppose to coming out with that sense of urgency tonight and making something happen each guy. Pretty much, they had control of the tempo all night.”
“Tonight was like having two new guys in the lineup with Marcus and bringing Brandon back. We’ll look at film and figure out what we need to do. We need to work on trying to get a rhythm and a rotation to fit this team.”
BRANDON ROY
“They were definitely the more aggressive team. They attacked our paint really well tonight. We’ve got to do a much better job of coming out and getting off to better starts – especially at home when a team is coming off a back-to-back like that.”
“I felt like we couldn’t really get into an offensive rhythm. You’ve got to give them some credit – they did a good job of taking away some of the stuff we wanted to do. I think because of that, our defense wasn’t necessarily as tough as it could have been. It was one of those nights where we took a step back and we allowed our offense to frustrate us. I think we gave up some easy baskets tonight.”
Trouble fitting in Camby?
“No, I wouldn’t say trouble. I just think they came out and were the more aggressive team. I think early when we couldn’t find a rhythm and couldn’t be consistent on offense. They did a good job of taking advantage of us on the other end. I don’t think that had anything to do with Camby.”
“I’ve got to continue to try to get my rhythm, get a feel for what I can do out there. Even without the hamstring, I had a lot of time away from basketball so I’m still trying to find my rhythm and find my way with this team. They’ve been playing good basketball and I’m just trying to figure out how I can get in there and help and at the same time get back to where I was. Some of it is going to take a couple games. This is definitely a tough team to come back against.
CELTICS POST GAME QUOTES
Friday, Feb. 19, 2010 – Final Score: Boston 96, Portland 76
COACH DOC RIVERS
ON GAME
“Ball movement was terrific. Defense, number one, was terrific. We’ve talked about it since the break we keep getting opportunities in the first and second quarters and then we start walking the ball up and not moving the ball and I thought this was the first game that we maintained that throughout the game. When you pass to each other that well and you execute offensively and your defense is what it’s been you become a pretty good team.”
ON TEAM
“The three things coming out of All-Star break were we had to be a better rebounding team, we had to have less turnovers, and we have to improve our weak-side help defense. We fought all first half trying to guard the ball and we don’t do that very well and it’s been proven through the years so the next step if you don’t guard the ball well is the next guy has to be there every time a guy is beat.”
ON RAY ALLEN
“He’s just playing well. He’s relaxed. I didn’t like the minutes he played tonight again, but with the lack of depth we have right now one of the guards was going to play. It’s usually Rondo, but it was Ray tonight, but he was making shots and it was good for us.”
ON MATURITY
“I like our team. I know who we are. I know we are going to keep getting better…It was a good mature win. It was a good mature win because it was an emotional game last night but this team doesn’t get that high. They were excited, then they came in here and were ready to play again. That’s a sign of a more mature team, maybe what you needed in this case.”
PAUL PIERCE
ON BENCH
“I think it was a number of guys. Tony Allen with his defense, Marquis, those guys really controlled the game and pretty much pushed the lead from where we did and then in the fourth quarter they closed the game and allowed us to rest and that’s big especially on a long road trip.”
RAY ALLEN
ON DEFENSE
“It looks like we’re starting to surface. We’re coming back to the reality of who we think we are the team we started the season as. Every night is a new challenge, you never just show up and it appears, and that’s one thing that we always have to remember…Games aren’t always going to be 20-point wins…We got to be better on the ball. It’s tough in this league but I think the better we communicate we can at least channel the player into our help”
ON GAME
“There was a two or three minute stretch where we didn’t put anything together on offense. Defensively we were solid, we ultimately ended up scoring.”
POSTGAME NOTES
Boston 96, Portland 76
February 19, 2010
— Tonight marked the 102nd consecutive Trail Blazers sellout at the Rose Garden (including playoffs), dating back to Dec. 21, 2007.
— The Celtics swept the Trail Blazers in the season series for the fourth time in the past five years, winning nine out of 10 meetings in that time.
— Portland’s 57 games played so far this season mark an NBA high … Portland’s 55 first-half games were its most since equaling that mark in 1979-80, while its 29 home games before the break were the most since 1976-77, when the Trail Blazers won the NBA Championship.
— At 32-25, Portland is only three games behind its 57-game pace from last season (35-22) … The 2008-09 Trail Blazers’ 22-8 mark after the All-Star break is the best record, by percentage, by a Portland team after the break in franchise history.
— Portland’s seven assists tonight tied for the fewest in a game by the Trail Blazers in team history, tying the mark set earlier this season (Dec. 19 at Orlando).
— The Trail Blazers’ 76 points were its fewest this season and the fewest in a game vs. Boston in series history … Portland’s 33.8% field goal shooting and 22 field goals also marked season lows.
— The 20-point margin of defeat is Portland’s largest of the season and the team’s largest at home since a 120-98 loss to Golden State on April 18, 2007 … The Trail Blazers have won five games by 20-plus points this year.
— Portland used its 12th different starting lineup of the season tonight after running out seven different starting fives in all of 2008-09 … The Trail Blazers have not used any one starting lineup in more than 11 games this season.
–Portland’s record against teams playing in the second half of a back-to-back is now 5-4 … The Trail Blazers are 10-3 this season in the second game of their own back-to-back situations.
— The Trail Blazers scored 18 more points from the foul line than the Celtics tonight … On the season, Portland has now hit 132 more free throws than its opponents, an average of 2.3 more per game.
— LaMarcus Aldridge scored 15-plus points for the 16th consecutive game, the longest such stretch of his career.
— Jerryd Bayless scored his first eight points from the free throw line … On the season, Bayless has made more foul shots (161) than field goals (141).
— Marcus Camby appeared in his first game as a Trail Blazer, totaling two points, seven boards and a team-high three blocks in 29 minutes.
— Brandon Roy’s 34 minutes were his most since Jan. 10 vs. Cleveland (45).
— Boston’s 18-point lead (56-38) after the first half represents Portland’s second-largest halftime deficit this season (39-61, Nov. 27 vs. Memphis).
— Portland’s 13 points in the second quarter are its fewest scored in that quarter this season and tied for the fewest Portland has scored in any quarter this year (third quarter vs. Nets, Nov. 25) … The 15 Trail Blazers points in the fourth quarter also marked a season low for that period.
— Rajon Rondo notched his 25th double-double of the season … Rondo recorded seven assists in the first quarter alone.
— Andre Miller led Portland in assists for the 29th time this season, including 16 of the past 25 games (inc. ties) … He notched his team second-best sixth double-double of the season.
— Dante Cunningham has now scored in double figures in three straight games, accounting for three of his four career double-digit scoring efforts.
