VIDEO: Blazers’ Terry Stotts Praises Defensive Effort vs. James Harden

The Trail Blazers secured a solid 110-101 victory over the Rockets on Saturday. In the win for Portland, James Harden had his five-game 40-point scoring streak snapped. After the game, coach Terry Stotts had plenty of positive takeaways from the hard-fought victory over the surging Rockets.

Here is the video from Stotts’ press conference:

• Stotts jokingly suggested that holding Harden under 40 points should be considered a win by itself.
• Jusuf Nurkic’s patience and ability to exploit the Rockets’ switch-heavy defense garnered praise from Stotts. Nurkic finished with 25 points and 15 rebounds.
• Harden secured 38 points, but Stotts was satisfied with Al-Farouq Aminu and Evan Turner’s effort on defense. According to Stotts, the duo made Harden ‘work’ for it.
• In the end, Stotts was happy with a ‘really good win’ against a ‘really good team’.

The Blazers will be searching for another win when the Knicks visit the Moda Center on Monday.