OPENING STATEMENT:
“It was all about the defense, simple as that. Until our guys understand how important that is we’re going to have these ups and downs like we did tonight. The first quarter was a prime example of coming out and almost feeling sorry for ourselves because we don’t have [Anderson Varejao] and Tyler [Zeller], we turn the ball over - 16 turnovers, 30 points [off turnovers], to me it just all boils down to defensive effort first of all.”
ON THE EFFECT OF LOSING ANDERSON VAREJAO:
“I don’t know. I don’t think that has anything to do on how hard you play on that end of the floor and you focus on the offensive end with turnovers again. They got easy buckets so I don’t know if not knowing that [Anderson Varejao] not being able to go really messes your psyche up that bad.”
ON MISSING ANDERSON VAREJAO TONIGHT:
“Andy [Varejao] is the type of guy that is obviously going to make a difference but we had a good mindset coming into tonight’s game and wanted to come out to win. I was obviously under the weather and that’s no excuse but we just started out the first quarter really badly and had to climb uphill all game.”
ON PLAYING TONIGHT UNDER THE WEATHER:
“It was the worst thing I’ve ever done. I’ve never really played under the weather like that. It was tough… I tried to get out there for my teammates and still compete. I was sluggish in the first quarter. I started to pick it up once I got warm but it just wasn’t enough tonight.”
ON TRYING TO GET BACK INTO THE GAME:
“We knew we could get back in the game when we were down, we just had to get a few more stops and really run them and see where our conditioning was at. That’s what we did in the second and third quarter and it just got away from us going into the final few minutes of the fourth quarter.”
ON HARRISON BARNES:
“He’s definitely letting the game come to him. He’s with a good organization that will let him grow. He’s started the right way and to do that as a rookie is definitely an accomplishment. He’s definitely getting a lot of experience starting in this league at his position, playing against the best every night. I’m really looking forward to seeing how he progresses.”
ON THE ABSENCE OF ANDERSON VAREJAO:
“We are talking about opportunity. Andy [Varejao] had to miss a game and that gave other guys a chance to step up and play big for us. We did our best out there tonight. We tried to get back into the game and that’s the biggest thing.”
ON TONIGHT’S STRUGGLES AGAINST THE WARRIORS:
“They gave us our fair share of problems. We had an opportunity to come back. We just had to come up with some key shots but unfortunately everything that they were throwing up tonight went in. We just have to do a better job on the defensive end next time.”
ON THE GAME TONIGHT:
“It was a thing of beauty the way we played offensively. I liked the pace especially. I told them the last day and a half about how we want to push the basketball. We went through our offensive sets, but in the best case scenario we are pushing the basketball, creating openings and getting shots. I thought out guys did a great job of reading and reacting while being unselfish all night long. We had four guys with five plus assists - 28 assists as a team. We were sharing the basketball and when we do that we are especially tough to defend.”
ON DAVID LEE AND JARRETT JACK PLAYING TONIGHT UNDER THE WEATHER:
“Both of those guys did a great job. Neither guy did anything this morning and we didn’t even know if they would be physically able to play. David (Lee) really battled. We went to him down the stretch and he made plays. I asked him at some point if he was OK and he said ‘No’. That shows the character of these guys and (Jarrett) Jack was the same way. We needed another ball handler in there down the stretch and he did a great job of running the show – also defensively.”
ON LOSING THEIR 17-POINT LEAD TO THE CAVS:
“I told them all along, even when we were rolling that we had to put this team away. When you look across at the other bench they have a special player in Kyrie Irving – who wasn’t playing well early. I told them ‘he is good enough to carry them at some point’. And he certainly did. I don’t like giving up leads but at the same time, it shows a lot about the character of this basketball team. We are not going surrender, fold the tent and we’re not going to quit. We buckled down and made the proper adjustments. We separated ourselves – it was a great win.”
ON CARL LANDRY:
“He’s having the time of his life. He’s been great for us. He’s a guy that can flat out score on the block, won’t settle, very crafty and tough to defend. He’s given us a lot both defensively and rebounding. I’m very comfortable down the stretch playing through him because he is unselfish and does a great job reading and making plays. He’s been quite a find for us and a big time backup four and five.”
ON INSIDE OUTSIDE OFFENSE:
“In the half court yeah but coach tries to emphasize to really push in transition. We had a lot of transition buckets in the first half and that really sparked our offense to not just walk the ball up and run sets. We still have speed and talent on the wings to run. Our bigs run pretty hard too, we have to use that to our advantage when we get in the open court.”
ON PLAYING KYRIE IRVING:
“He’s tough. He was rookie of the year, deservedly so. The way he can attack pick and rolls, get bigs off balance with his change of speed and direction, he’s tough. You just have to try to keep him in front and make tough shots. He made a lot of them tonight. We just try to limit as much as we can.”
ON PLAYING WELL WHILE FEELING ILL:
“Very surprised. I felt awful as of last night and that I was not going to play. Woke up today and was throwing up again and feeling awful. By this afternoon I felt a little better to at least give it a shot. As a Captain of this team along with Steph (Curry) and Andrew (Bogut) guys are looking up to me and seeing how I handle myself when I’m not feeling your best. I wanted to play tonight and show that. Then I went out there. It seems like when you’re not feeling your best the ball bounces your way a little bit.”