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NBA PLAYOFFS ROUND ONE: TRAIL BLAZERS vs CLIPPERS

April 17, 2016

Terry Stotts

Los Angeles, California: Game One

Clippers - 115, Trail Blazers - 95

Q. Coach, what did you think of Blake Griffin's performance tonight?
TERRY STOTTS: I thought it was the best he's played since he's come back from his injury. He had a lot of bounce, got off to a good start in the first quarter. Other than good to see an Oklahoma grad play well, it was, like I said, the best he's played since he's come back.

Q. You shoot 40% from the field, 33 from three. How much of it was their defense, how much was just missing shots?
TERRY STOTTS: Little bit of both. I thought particularly in the first half we had a lot of good looks that didn't go, and that was a little deflating. They did get into us a little bit, especially in the third quarter. But for a game where we only had 12, 13 turnovers, they did pressure us. But I thought, especially in the first half we had a lot of good looks.

Q. With the way they were guarding the pick-and-roll, do you feel like the guys on the weak side and away from the ball got the shots that you were expecting and that they could make?
TERRY STOTTS: Yeah, it's obvious they were really pressuring Damian and C.J. on pick-and-rolls. Doubling them and forcing them to pass out. We have to make those plays. We had some threes on the weak side, we had some rolls to the basket and weren't able to finish them. But if they're going to double team Damian and C.J., then other players are going to have to make plays for us.

Q. Just one game, just one loss, but when you get beat that way does it give you a little bit of a jolt?
TERRY STOTTS: Get beat what way?

Q. By 20.
TERRY STOTTS: Well, I think we did get beat by 20. That's what the box score said, but I thought we competed with them in the first half. Third quarter the game got away from us, but there's always some good and bad to take away from it, and no question we need to play better on Wednesday.

Q. How detrimental was the foul trouble that Mo got into early, and how did that change the way that you approached the game rotationally?
TERRY STOTTS: Well, he got off to a good start and that was encouraging, so changing the rotation, he still got his minutes. We had our chances when he was in, when he was out. It's disappointing, like I said, that he did get off to a good start and we needed to take him out, but I don't think that was necessarily the make or break of the game.

Q. Obviously there was an air of mystery surrounding Blake and his health moving into this series. How did what you saw tonight change things moving forward in the series?
TERRY STOTTS: We said going into it we were going to treat him like Blake Griffin. He's an All-Star and he's a great player, so it was just a matter of time before he rounded into shape. So I don't think it changes anything from our perspective because we went into it assuming that he was 100% healthy.

Q. They beat you on the boards. How important was that?
TERRY STOTTS: Their offensive rebounds, that hurt us. It didn't seem like there were that many when you look at the box score, but they got timely offensive rebounds. Our offensive rebounding has always been important for us, so I think it was a double whammy them having the advantage at both ends.

Q. You have until Wednesday to prepare your team. What do you take positive and what do you make adjustments in coming into that game?
TERRY STOTTS: Ask me tomorrow. We'll watch the film tonight and talk about it and get our preparations over the next two days.

Q. What did you see late in the fourth quarter that allowed you to kind of institute the hack-a-D.J.?
TERRY STOTTS: Well, when you're down and you have an opportunity to extend the game, it's the playoffs. As long as he's in there, it's something you have to employ. I know it's not necessarily pretty, but you've got to do whatever you can to try to extend the game and win a game.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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