Damian Lillard Postgame Press Conference | 1.3.24

Damian Lillard Postgame Press Conference | 1.3.24

I guess just for you we talked a little bit about struggling to find your Rhythm a little bit against his Pacers defense just what you see tonight um I mean I thought I just didn’t I had some opportunities that I liked I just didn’t make them um you know I wouldn’t say it

Was struggle because of them you know I just I like I said I had opportunities that I liked it just didn’t go in that’s part of it uh third quarter for them 47 um I know it is like a 20 to6 start what changed to degree or what

Did they do to be able to really put that kind of point total together I think we just didn’t um come out to start the quarter with enough urgency you know I think um we had a pretty solid second quarter went into the half

With a lead and I think we just tried to seemed like we came out in the management type mode you know we came out a little bit slow and um knowing that they a fast-paced team they play even faster at home uh they played better at home and just they got right

To it and I think they just jumped on top of us and took control of the the game in that quarter and um you know once you let a team that that can fill it up and can really get going and that that plays at that pace once you let

Them start feeling good you know they can they can go on runs and I think in that quarter they um they put one of those Quarters on us Pacers have won four out of five maybe take advantage of to to come up with that record um I

Think uh offensively just their pace and you know how well they crash the glass they’ve uh outworked us on the offensive rebounding and you know we’ve given them second and third opportunities in each of those games that they won um the pace you know they kind of caught

Us sleeping with the pass ahead sometimes they pushing it uh to the point where we can’t get get our defense set sometimes us not sprinting back sometimes us just not finding guys and they get behind us or you know we not covering the gaps and they get downhill

And we end up sending them to the line or they end up getting end one or just getting a clean look cuz we don’t you know Sprint back and get matched up and um they just presented a lot of a lot of problems for us but um I think at this

Point in the season is just something that we look at and we know like these are challenges for us it’s stuff that we’re not good enough at and um in our games against them they’ve taken full advantage of and they’ve been able to beat us but um it’s just it’s a long

Season man and um I think one thing for us is we got to look at this and not just say oh you know it just went that way we got to do a better job of addressing it and just know that as the season goes on we want to continue to

Just be a better team uh than we are right now the same way the first 10 games of the Season we want to be a better team and uh look back at that now and we like man we look like a completely different team and I think if

We just keep on having that type of mentality and taking those types of strides you look up 30 games from now and we should be looking back at this like man that was embarrassing the same way we looked back at the beginning of the season but that’s the the growth

That teams go through and that’s um what you experience and and how long the NBA season is so um hopefully that’ll be what what it is for us but uh they I played us in four out of five games I think and um you got to give credit to

Them but we got to we got to keep uh moving forward we got to address the things that we haven’t done well I know it’s just the regular season but you said the word embarrassing I’m curious just what is your level of frustration to have a team beat you four times and

You know throw Al oops off the glass against you and kind of do some of that stuff I mean to me I I think the embarrassing part is because we so much better than what we showing it’s not the fact that we lost to them or you know

They threw the ball off the glass I mean happens this NBA some teams you know they got some younger guys um they kind of play a flashy style sometimes you know that’s their style um that’s just part of the game so I I wasn’t you know that’s not the part that’s embarrassing

I just think that we so much better than what we’ve shown in the games against them is what I mean by that um but it’s you know I also don’t look at it like oh it’s just a regular season you know we wanted to win these games but I’ve also

Had this experience before where a team just had our number you know in my career it was like man they just you know they kind of kicking our ass and we were a better team and a different team at the end of the season and we ended up

Playing them in the playoffs and it was completely the opposite so I mean um experience plays in our favor in that way but we can’t just think it’s going to happen we got to continue to to become a better team when speaking of experience we know you have a lot of

That with back-to-back games how tough are these back-to-backs especially on the road it’s tough you know especially coming off a a loss back toback losses I think our first backto back uh losses of the season but but um it’s a good it’s a good test for us I think a lot of these

Things that we’re experiencing right now are good for us cuz there’s stuff that we got to grow through um and regardless of what the result is in in these moments it’s not the the end of the world or the end of our season so um we

Just got to embrace it tomorrow is a new game uh we got to think about this though you know we got to watch watch these games and we got to um address the things and be accountable for you know what we just aren’t doing well enough all of us individually and collectively

And we got to take that that energy and that mentality into the game tomorrow night and just try to continue to build um the best teams are the ones that don’t ignore what happened tonight and the other night and in these games that we haven’t played well but they don’t

Let them you know weigh on them to the point where we can’t move on and do what we got to do so um I think that’s what our mentality has to be I know you are you know in preparation for the game itself as a whole but Wy I know that

You’re a fan of individual players I’m curious if there’s any excitement for you to see him in person play against you guys unlike last time I mean he’s a an extremely um unique talent and um you know I think all of the the media coverage and everything the hype around

Him I think is he’s worthy of it you know just from when I’m watching him how versatile he is all the things he can do you know he’s a special talent and um anytime you can be on the floor with a you know a guy like that you know up and

Coming and get to see him up close you know it’s always fun

Damian Lillard speaks with the media following the loss to the Indiana Pacers at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.

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