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<a href="https://www.nba.com/blazers/weather" target="_blank">Important Weather Update for Tonight's Game vs. the Phoenix Suns</a>

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“Well, even though it’s preseason, it’s good to get a win. For the most part, I was certainly pleased with our offense, the way the ball moved. I thought we got good looks. It’s nice to shoot the three as well as we shot it. The Clippers got it going in the fourth quarter with all their threes there. We did have some defensive break downs on that, but give them credit. They made a nice run at the end.”

“Obviously, he shot the ball well. He’s getting more comfortable being a ball-handler play-maker. I thought he had a good floor game. Obviously, the offensive end is where he was the best tonight.”

“A couple reasons. With Damian out, it gives you an opportunity to try things like that. That’s what the preseason is for. Steve’s going to be coming off the bench during the season so it allowed him to kind of come in and play with some of the guys off the bench. I wanted CJ and Will to have a chance to play with the starters. With Damian out, it was an opportunity to give that a look.”

“I thought it was really good. The first half in particular, I think they had according to the stat sheet, two fast break points. They were really looking to push it, inbounding it very quickly. We had good run backs. They didn’t have a lot of opportunities in transition. Chris [Kaman] made a couple nice plays with some blocks. So to have that against a team like the Clippers and their starters, that was a good effort.”

“The second half we had fewer. We had 12 in the first half and 9 in the second. But we’re turning the ball over too many times. One of our strengths last year was that we didn’t turn the ball over very much. We were in the top five or top ten certainly in low turnovers, so we have to cut that down, but someone reminded me that last year we were a high turnover team in preseason as well. So it is a concern, you can’t have that many turnovers in an NBA game and expect to win very often.”

On getting young guys experience against veterans late in the game:

“Yeah I did, just like against Utah. Those guys like being in those situations, just like they did against Utah. When that comes up in the regular seasons, obviously the starters most times will be in those positions, but it’s a great experience for our young guys, whether it’s going against a young team like Utah or going against a veteran team like the Clippers. It’s a good experience for them to be in a position to close out the game.”

“Finally. It was a good game for us. We played well offensively, still things we’d like to do better defensively. The second half wasn’t very good, but give them credit. They made a lot of plays, they made a lot of shots and it seemed like everybody was going to hit a three tonight, but it’s good to be on the other side of the win column.”

On offensive success and shooting tonight:

“I think the ball was just moving. We’re a lot better shooting team that we’ve shown in this preseason. As preseason goes on, we’re going to start to get back into game form, regular season form and regular season shape, regular season rhythm. I think tonight was a step in that direction and we’ve just got to continue to build defensively. Not take our offense for granted, but know that we can play wi the best of them on the offensive end. We’ve got to be solid on the defensive end.”

 On McCollum and Barton’s play with starters tonight:

“He played well, both of them did. That’s what we expect from them, that’s what we need from them. Play within themselves, play with confidence. It was a good game for both of them.”

"Everybody played well. The shooting from the three, I think someone said it was a record if it were a regular season game. I think combined team threes would have been an NBA record tonight. The shooting today was phenomenal. Now I would say both coaches probably aren't happy with their defense, but offensively, overall I thought we struggled more. I thought we missed a lot of open shots but that happens."

"He's a veteran. He knows how to play. When he stays engaged like that he's really good. He was great tonight."

"I like him. I've always liked him. He can score. The point isn't his natural position, but it is. He can run that position. He's going to be a good player in the league for a longtime."

"I think one of the strengths of both teams is the bench. We're still figuring things out. It's our second preseason  game. I think offensively we're good. Defensively we have to continue to get better. I think we'll do that each time and then we'll really hit our stride."

"Chris is our quarterback. He was already setting something up and that was my fault. I wasn't paying attention. The ref was talking and I was trying to hurry up and get the ball in."

 On the loss and the allowances of the Blazers' 17 three-pointers:

"When you have two great player like Chris and Blake, we have to be able to knock down shooters and space the court. We have a lot of guys who are very capable. For us, we just have to be able to make those shots so it keeps the court open for those guys."

"He's a great player. He's going to get points no matter if he shoots well or not." 

Our whole thing is that we needed to defend the three better. They got some good hooks. But really, it was defense. We didn't play well offensively, but it was really more defense than it was offense."