Damian Lillard Talks Refs, Turnovers After Game 1 vs. Nuggets

Damian Lillard made sure to speak his mind to the refs during Game 1 of the Portland Trail Blazers’ second-round series against the Denver Nuggets. Lillard finished the night with 39 points, but his team also fell into a 1-0 series deficit. After the game, Lillard talked to reporters about his team’s busy night speaking with the refs (via ESPN’s Royce Young):

“I think it was a little bit more of that, probably more than we needed,” he said. “Maybe we needed to not say as much. Any time you see guys wanting it that bad, you’re going to say stuff sometimes, but we might’ve had a little too much of that tonight.”

Lillard was also displeased with the six turnovers he accumulated in Game 1. Portland as a whole finished with 18 turnovers:

“That was a huge part of it. I know I had six myself,” Lillard said. “As much as I have the ball, I’m responsible for valuing possessions. On the road, against a team that plays much faster, much better at home, especially when they get out in transition and shoot 3s and get the ball moving, just gave them too many opportunities. Twenty-three points off turnovers, that’s always going to hurt you.”

You can read more from Young’s Game 1 dispatch here.

Game 2 of the series with be in Denver on Wednesday at 6 p.m. PT.