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NBA WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: TRAIL BLAZERS VS. WARRIORS

May 19, 2019

Damian Lillard

Portland, Oregon - Practice Day

Q. How are you feeling? Can you tell us about your ribs and how you're feeling?
DAMIAN LILLARD: I feel fine. I mean, it happened early in the second game. I think the third [quarter] of the second game. I mean, I finished that game and played last night.

Q. Is it separated?
DAMIAN LILLARD: Yeah.

Q. Is that from when [Kevon] Looney fell on you?
DAMIAN LILLARD: Yeah.

Q. Is it limiting you at all as far as your shot or your movement?
DAMIAN LILLARD: Not really. Just the pain, just from having a separated rib. There's nothing you can really do about it. Just when I get winded, it's a little harder to breathe. Contact, when you're in there banging with guys, just normal stuff.

Q. Can you take a painkiller to diminish the pain?
DAMIAN LILLARD: No. That's the message that's coming and stuff, like after the game recovers.

Q. Do you just kind of wear like a padded vest?
DAMIAN LILLARD: Just have it taped and padded.

Q. Do you feel like it's affecting your shot at all?
DAMIAN LILLARD: No. I mean, it's on the left side.

Q. Do you feel like it's affecting your burst at all? I noticed a couple times last night where I typically see you come around that screen and go to the rim.
DAMIAN LILLARD: No, it's not. I mean, it's not -- I don't think it's something that's affecting my game. It's there, but it's not something that's affecting anything that I'm doing. Obviously you feel it, but that's it. But I think just sometimes I'm not looking at initial action. If I'm coming off a screen, I'm not just looking at my guy and a guy that's defending -- the big that's defending the pick-and-roll. I'm seeing Draymond Green, and he's behind that kind of like tracking my movements, so it's like a next layer of defense that I'm paying attention to so whereas like I'm not, I guess, wanting to explode and get around that guy because I see what's waiting for me, and then just the crowd, and put myself in a tough position. It's tough, they're doing a good job in their coverages.

Q. At this point after such a grueling season how are you feeling overall?
DAMIAN LILLARD: I feel fine. Obviously it's frustrating. I think Game 2 we had that game and we let that one slip away, let the double-digit lead in Game 3 slip away as well, so I think it's frustrating for that reason because you could be up 2-1, and you're down 0-3. You know you look at the numbers and there's a slim chance of you winning the series like that, but we've got a lot to play for. Obviously you never know when the first time it's going to happen. We could be the first team to do it. Also you don't want to go out being swept in the Western Conference Finals. Pride, being competitors, being professionals. We've got a lot to play for. We're not ready to just go out there and say, oh, we did our best, we had a great season. I mean, we've got a lot to play for.

Q. With the ribs, I assume it's just time?
DAMIAN LILLARD: Just time. I mean, I've never done it. So it's time.

Q. You obviously read about what Keanon Lowe did. What made you want to reach out?
DAMIAN LILLARD: I mean, Parkrose, first of all, my connection to Parkrose, they're one of my respect schools where I go and speak to those kids. I form relationships with their staff and students at the school, and they've really bought into the respect campaign. There's a connection there. And then just that type of act, a kid shows up to school with a gun, a shotgun, and a bunch of people's lives are at risk. A lot of students in the classroom, including his, and in that situation a lot of us would freeze up or kind of back out and not know what to do. For him to take that type of stand and to go and tackle the kid and protect all those people and himself I think just -- that's a real hero move. That's a big move, and that's big time for him. So we wanted to reach out and invite him to the game and acknowledge that.

Q. Did you speak to him?
DAMIAN LILLARD: I did, after the game.

Q. You're a guy that's been in this situation before. How does the rest of the team handle it, I guess, because it's kind of obvious when you're out there you have a responsibility, but what does that mean for other guys to make sure they put themselves out there and not give in to being down 0-3?
DAMIAN LILLARD: Well, we're a team. I think obviously people are going to look to me and say, you know, Damian, you won't give up, you won't do this because they focus on me. But I think everything we do is as a group. Everybody comes to practice. Everybody watches film. Everybody has to get in the cold tub and get massages. Everybody is invested in this, so I think that's why. We've put so much into the success that we've had this season that everybody cares. It means something to everybody. So on top of all those things, having pride and not wanting to be swept, we're not ready to stop playing. So it's as simple as that.

Q. What have you thought about the changes Terry [Stotts] made last night? Can we you get your thoughts on how Meyers Leonard played last night?
DAMIAN LILLARD: I thought Meyers played great. I thought Meyers had a great game. I thought Coach made some good adjustments. Obviously it was working for us for a lot of the game. It's just those runs. They go on those runs and they start scoring the ball, and you've got to be able to match that. They had a 13-point third quarter. It's going to be tough. We're trying. We know the effort is there. Even in that third quarter we got a lot of quality looks, we got quality possessions. I just think people want to see me doing it. They want me to be making shots and doing all this stuff, but it's different when you're out there. Being a part of the game is different than somebody just watching. Just haven't been able to get it done, but I think what Coach put out there and a lot of the adjustments he made, it worked for us. We just weren't able to sustain it.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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