“I thought they responded perfect. I thought they were into the game from start to finish. Came out with some aggressiveness, focused, and we played hard. We played hard for 48 minutes. It’s good to have a win like this when Kyrie (Irving) doesn’t play well. Tristan (Thompson) was fantastic. I thought Kevin came off the bench and gave us a lift. I thought everybody else after that was really solid.”
What fueled Tristan’s game tonight? “I don’t know. I really don’t. I just know that he was really geared up to play tonight. I had a little talk with him yesterday after practice just on a few things. I don’t think that was it. But he came out tonight – maybe it was some of the things he said. ‘We have to come out and play like men’ – and I thought our guys did that.”
The Celtics comeback, the atmosphere, and if he was happy with the way his team responded: “Yeah I was; especially on the defensive end to just be able to hang in there. We gave them a couple of opportunities when we missed shots, they got back in transition. (Avery) Bradley had a wide open shot and missed it, but JT (Jason Terry) hit the one to cut the lead down a little bit more. They kind of regrouped, and our guys did a real good job of regrouping and just coming back and playing real solid defensive. Offensively we tried to allow Kyrie (Irving) to kind of get in the game for us and he wasn’t really able to knock down the shots like he is on a consistent basis, but he did a big one at the end. And obviously Tristan (Thompson) hit some big free throws towards the end.”
Thompson’s play against the Celtics this season: “I don’t know. He had these green shoes on today, maybe that was it. I don’t know. Again he was really focused this morning and he came with an aggressive mindset from the start and he held it for 41 minutes.”
Playing Boston tough as a whole:“I don’t know I think most of it is because they’re one of the better teams in the East. For some reason our young guys get up for the better teams. We played Miami real tough this year, we played New York real tough this year, we played Boston real tough this year, we split with Atlanta – all the playoff teams we played pretty tough. I think a lot of that is because we’re young and we see how good these guys are and we come out and we’re a little more focused and determined to go out there and have a good showing. Tonight was another one of those games where we came out and played well.”
On getting W even though he went 4-20: “Oh absolutely. My shot wasn’t falling but other guys were hitting shots and it felt good to be out there. Our defensive pressure was up and that’s all I can do. I was just trying to do everything possible to try and get the win.”
On Avery Bradley as a defender:“Oh yeah, I mean he’s a great defender. You know he threw a couple guys at me and they were up so high on the pick and rolls, you know they forced me into tough shots…give credit to the Celtics defense.”
On Tristan Thompson: “Well I mean playing 41 minutes, that gives him endless opportunity, and Tyler [Zeller] was in foul trouble so he was out there and he did a hell of a job rebounding and knocking down his free throws, and just being aggressive on both ends of the floor. You know, he was talking his butt off out there too, and that’s what we need on a day to day basis.”
On getting W here despite struggles being a good sign: “Oh yeah absolutely. We wanted this win really bad and you know, coming into the 4th quarter, we talked about it before then. We wanted to pick up our defensive pressure and I think we did that, and you know they're a good team. When they were in Cleveland they executed down the stretch and we just tried to guard them the best way possible.”
On non-stop motor: “Yeah, it was motivation. Ray-J, he’s a defensive monster. He’s a rebounding monster too so I wanted to come out with that same mentality, just rebound and Just play hard out there, and that’s what I did and you know, fortunately we got the win tonight.”
41 minutes didn’t bother you? “No, not at all. I give credit to our medical staff and trainers for getting us prepared and having our bodies be ready to play at night.”
On losing streak being over: “Yeah, of course. Whenever you can get a win, especially during this losing streak we had a lot of games where we should have won, and at the end of the day, took the L. Tonight was our game to win, so we knew we needed to take it and bring it back to Cleveland."
On Tristan Thompson's play:“I mean, he killed us. 29 and 17. And you think you’re going to win a game when Kyrie (Irving) goes 4 for 20. He did make two big ones I think down the stretch because that’s what he is. But I thought our guys played overall pretty hard; I thought we made a lot of mistakes. In the first half, the fouling in the first quarter just – when you foul that much and you put them in the penalty that early, I thought we had a chance to extend the game, extend the lead early and get away from them. And so that was disappointing.”
Jeff Green’s playing through foul trouble: “Yeah, but you know he’ll learn. He picked up a couple that you just can’t pick up. The fourth one, you know, was a breakaway layup. You’re not going to stop the guy. You’re the guy; you can’t pick up that fourth foul. And he did. And that hurt us. So I was happy with his effort, but those are the things he has to learn. You have to be smarter on those.”
Where Shavlik Randolph fits as Doc looks ahead to the playoff rotation: “I don’t know. He’s playing great. Just leave it at that; he’s just playing great basketball and we’re going to keep playing him.”
Shooting a high percentage in the first quarter: “Actually, second quarter we shot the ball well. The rest of the game we were pretty awful. I thought the beginning of the game, the first five minutes we shot the ball well and then the next seven we didn’t, and then when the second unit – that’s the unit that got us going. Because they started making shots and moving the ball. They also got stops, you know, with that group. And we just never could get back to it. Guys got the same shots. We missed a lot of open shots. But I also thought we settled. So I told Jeff, there were a couple times down the stretch where he got all the way to the basket and threw it out to the three, and I asked him why. Two points are good. And I think sometimes when you’re down seven or eight, in their minds it feels like 12 or 14. And maybe the way the game was playing it probably was. So, but overall, I was not upset. We got killed inside again.”
What were you able to take out of this one:“You know, we played up and down today. We were inconsistent at times. But I feel like we battled for the most part. You know, we’re missing our key players obviously, but we still fought hard tonight. We just got to keep improving every game. Getting prepared for the playoffs.”
Is there a silver lining in guys getting time who usually don’t:“I can’t really say that cause I don’t know who Doc’s going to play in the playoffs. We just got to guard and compete out there every single night.”
“I was just rolling to the basket and guys were finding me. It’s simple as that, I was getting good passes. Putting me in positions where I could finish around the rim. I wasn’t really making any tough shots. My teammates were finding me.”
Different mindset going into the game knowing you are playing: “Well, it’s the mindset I’ve had probably for the past six or seven games. I know I’m going to get in there at some point. I just have to play as high energy as possible, you know come in with that second unit and make sure that the energy doesn’t drop off from the starting unit. You know that’s what I’ve tried to do since I got here.”