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NBA PLAYOFFS ROUND ONE: TRAIL BLAZERS vs CLIPPERS

April 20, 2016

Blake Griffin

Los Angeles, California: Game Two

Q. You've been here a while and you guys have had some good benches, but this group has taken a while for them to really come together. But what have you seen from them and how much confidence are they playing with right now?
BLAKE GRIFFIN: I thought they played the right way from top to bottom. I think they played with the right spirit. Like they just got it tonight. They moved the ball. Defensively they were great, even when Portland scored, got the ball out quick, got into a set, got what we wanted. There weren't many times where they didn't get into what we were trying to get into. That's huge.

When your second unit can come in and build a lead like that and extend a lead and keep a lead and do all the things they did. So they were great tonight.

Q. How's your individual progression coming along? We saw a nice dunk today. It looked like a little more of the athleticism was back. You had said the other day you still didn't quite feel yourself yet?
BLAKE GRIFFIN: I feel good. Physically feel good. Didn't score well tonight, but Doc stresses a lot of times, especially in the playoffs, when you're not doing one thing particularly well, find other ways to impact. So that was kind of more my thought process tonight. I thought everybody was so good from top to bottom for the most part.

The first unit I thought we were pretty relaxed on defense, a little too relaxed on defense, but picked it up and guys hit shots, guys got stops. D.J. was big on the boards, so it was a good game for us.

Q. Blake, I realize a different team, different season, but do you think you'll reference or anybody will reference being up 2-0 on Memphis three years ago, kind of the same situation, winning two at home and going on the road?
BLAKE GRIFFIN: Yeah, I don't know if you even have to look back that far to reference a time where you can't overestimate a team or think that you're already done with the series before you are. Just look at what happened last year. 3-1, 2-0, it's pretty much the same thing. I think that's in our minds, and I think the way we practiced yesterday, the way we practice these next two days will be big for setting the tone for Game 3 and 4.

Q. How comforting is it to have a bench like this and kind of get you guys over the hump at times, especially in tonight's game when they kind of gave you guys an 11, 15-point lead?
BLAKE GRIFFIN: It's huge. Like I said, from the beginning of the game or from whenever they got into the game, they executed on all facets. On all things we worked on, they executed. Like I said, there are times when Portland scores and maybe mess up, missing some easy shots, but they got stops. They got some easy shots for themselves. They gutted it out. So I can't really say enough about what they did tonight. They were great.

Q. You talked about Memphis. You've also mentioned your guys' maturity. Does it feel like to you guys you've been through pretty much anything you can see at this point because you do have this core and it's been together for years now?
BLAKE GRIFFIN: You never say that you've been through everything, but we have been through a lot. The one thing that I think we should use is we've lost several different ways. We've lost tough series, we've lost when we've been up, like I said, and should have -- we felt like we should have won. We've won tough series.

The one thing, I don't think I've ever won a series that wasn't a Game 7, so that's kind of the next step is closing out a series without enduring too much energy and without taking it to seven games. Taking care of business when you do have a lead like this.

We know what to expect going into Portland. We know they're a tough team. They play so hard, especially at home. They're well-coached. So they're going to come out and feel their home crowd and have a lot of confidence.

Q. You and D.J. are probably one of the most dominant four, fives in the business. How important is it for you guys to keep on imposing your will and attacking them inside?
BLAKE GRIFFIN: I think it's important for us to just be solid and execute our game plan. I think controlling guys like C.J. and Damian is not a guard thing, it's not an individual thing, it's a team thing because of how good they are. D.J.'s done a great job in pick-and-rolls. He'll continue to do a good job with rotations, and then not allowing guys like Ed Davis, Mason Plumlee who played so hard, crashed the boards hard every time, Chris Kaman and those guys to have a huge impact.

But like I said, I think our whole mindset is just to be solid and dominate in that way rather than trying to do too much.

Q. What one thing has your team done most effectively that's allowed you to win these two games by sizeable margins?
BLAKE GRIFFIN: We've executed defensively when we needed to. Executed in the right way. Damian and C.J. are going to get points and they're going to get shots, but you've just got to make it tough for them. Try to make it tough for them. I think we've tried to do that.

Defensively our game plan I think we've executed for the most part. There are obviously times we can be better and we need to be better. But I would say we're pretty happy with our game plan these past two games.

Q. One of the things that people have talked about throughout this season is that this is a team that's equipped to win different ways. You guys can play big, you can play it small. Do you feel like so far through these first two games that you've won different ways and that you've shown you can do it? Whether it's defensively or by playing big. Do you feel confident in the fact that you guys can do that on a regular basis?
BLAKE GRIFFIN: Yeah, I like our versatility as a team, but throughout the regular season, winning different ways is important, but in the playoffs it's really important because there are going to be nights when you're not scoring the ball as well and things like that. So in the playoffs it kind of goes up to a whole other level, as everybody can see.

So doing those things now is more important than doing it in the regular season. So just because we've had success in different ways in the regular season, I guess we just needed to stay on it and not drop off and not just get into the mindset of outscoring a team, but rely on defense and letting that get us into easy offense.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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