The Portland Trail Blazers’ winning streak ended at four games on Friday night. The Blazers couldn’t keep up with the fast-paced Toronto Raptors on the second night of a back-to-back, as they faded away in the fourth quarter in a 110-98 loss.
Despite no Deni Avdija and a “helpless” first quarter where the Blazers scored just 12 points on 15.4% shooting, the Blazers hung in the game and even had a small lead early in the fourth quarter. That was thanks in large part to the performances of Jrue Holiday (21 points, seven assists) and Shaedon Sharpe (21 points, seven rebounds, four assists). But Toronto outscored Portland 34-24 in the final period to seal the win.
After the game, Blazers acting head coach Tiago Splitter and Holiday spoke with media about the loss. Below are some quotes from the interviews.
Splitter on his postgame message to the team:
> A short one … just rest, get ready for the East Coast trip. So not a great night, of course, and just gotta, of course, think about it, but honestly flush it and move forward.
On what factored into the team’s poor offensive start:
> They were in the gaps helping a lot so we couldn’t get to the rim easily, just kinda like letting us shoot, and we were not making shots on it.
On how he would describe the first quarter:
> Helpless sometimes, but there are nights that we are a little bit off like that. You gotta just keep pounding and trust. There were nights where we started like that and we changed it around. It was not the case tonight. … We shot 45 3s. For the most part, those were good shots. Some shots at the rim were not good where we shot heavily contested shots because they were there, and we only got to the free throw line 10 times. So that was the game there.
On if there were more 3-point attempts the team left on the table:
> Probably. Because they shrink a lot. That’s what they do. They help, they come blitz from behind, so we probably could’ve shot 60 \[3-pointers\] if I’m honest. But this is what they bet on. This is the way they play. If you don’t shoot it, they create turnovers because they’re really there, and then they run.
Jrue Holiday on what was most frustrating about the game:
> I think we just didn’t have it at the end. Obviously for most of the game it kinda felt like we were climbing an uphill battle, but we got it within five a couple of times and even got up. So I just think toward the end, usually when we’re better at making plays and getting the lead, we didn’t have it tonight.
On what led to the shooting struggles early:
> It could be anything. But there’s no excuse to it. We all took good shots. I think we all played the way that we usually do, but transition could’ve been different. They’re a really fast team, especially getting off the rebound in transition, but our shots, I think we took all good shots.
On if his fourth-quarter run (nine points, 4-5 shooting) was the best he’s felt since he’s been back:
> Yeah. I would say so. But I think I also struggled there in the first and second quarter, just trying to find a rhythm. Again they play fast, but again, \[I was\] trying to push the pace, get into the paint and make plays for others. I think I knocked down a couple shots.
On what his mindset is going into this upcoming East Coast road trip:
> Same thing: win games. No matter if it’s our third back-to-back in a row, no matter what the weather that’s supposed to be coming, we got a job to do.
The Blazers begin that East Coast road trip with a back-to-back Monday and Tuesday against the Boston Celtics and Washington Wizards. Then they finish it up against the New York Knicks on Friday at Madison Square Garden.