(On the game as a whole):
“Our team came out and moved the ball from one side of the floor to the other. I thought our spacing was great. I thought we set screens to try and get our teammates open. More importantly, offensively, we took care of the ball. When we don’t turn the ball over we’re a pretty good team. When we turn the ball over we have a lot of trouble. Defensively for 48 minutes we were pretty good. I thought that they gave effort for as close to 48 minutes as possible against a good basketball team.

We had a lot of guys play well for us. Delonte (West), his numbers are great, but more importantly, he ran the club tonight. Defensively, he did a nice job pressuring the ball and being really active. I thought Joe (Smith) came off the bench and gave us a big lift. I thought Andy came off the bench, even though he didn’t play that long, and gave us a big lift. Of course Ben was terrific throughout the time he was on the floor.”

(On Ben Wallace):
“I knew he was going to be able to go. An hour before the game we had him in the starting lineup and we said he could go through warm-ups and if he was able to last through warm-ups than he was going to start. He went through warm-ups and was fine. He gave us a big lift every second that he was on the floor.”

(On being patient on offense):
“We executed better. There were stretches where we got out of sorts just a little bit and didn’t execute, and if you do that against this Celtics team, they’re going to win nine out of 10 games. They’re a very, very good strong side defensive team. We’ve emphasized from day one that you’ve got to get that ball from one side of the floor to the other. You’ve got to move that defense and when you’re moving it, you’ve got to move it with a purpose. I thought our guys were poised and patient and did that tonight.”

(On the start to the game):
“It was unbelievable. Defensively we were in tune and offensively we knocked down shots. To be up 19 points after the first quarter, that’s pretty good.”

(On Ben Wallace playing tonight):
“It meant a lot. He was able to take advantage of [his defenders]. He got a few layups. He had nine points and nine rebounds. We expected nine rebounds but it’s not expected, sometimes, for him to get nine points. That’s a lift.”

(On his shooting):
“I haven’t shot the ball like I’ve liked. A win is all that matters. Every shot that I’ve taken, I felt that it was going in. I knocked down some key shots during the course of the game. But if I’m not making shots, I was able to still get four steals, three blocks and eight assists. I do so much more than just shoot the ball. It was key that other guys stepped up.”

(On Delonte West tonight):
“Delonte played extremely well. Anytime he knocks down shots, we’re very good. He stayed aggressive throughout the whole game. Every time Delonte is aggressive, we are a much better team.”

(On impacting the game without carrying the team offensively):
“I’m not a one-dimensional player; meaning that if I’m not making shots then I’m out of the game. That doesn’t deter what I can do. I’ve always been a guy who can rebound, assist and do other things. I can’t allow my shot to affect the way I play the game of basketball. I’ve got to continue to do the things that need to be done for us to win the ballgame. Tonight I was able to do that.”

(On if he felt the Cavaliers played as well as they could tonight):
“Yeah. I think that this is something we were all looking forward to. We all came hard and we felt like we had to play with a chip on our shoulder. We played aggressive and that was what we were really looking forward to doing and feeding off our home crowd.”

(On playing well at home):
“We just feel like that is something we are capable of doing. We came out and put on a great show. That is something we look forward to continuing on, we don’t want it to just be one night. We look forward to bringing that same type of intensity come Monday.”

(On their 14-0 run in the first quarter):
“It was big. It’s always big to come out strong. It played out exactly how you want to play the game…We came out and played the game the right way and that just continued throughout the rest of the ballgame.”

(On how they controlled Boston’s attack):
“We understood that they were going to make a run. We knew that they were going to make that push and try to get back into the game. We felt like in order to solidify the victory and continue they way we were playing, we had to continue to play defense. That’s what kept the lead and kept them at bay.”

JOE SMITH

(On putting the pressure on Boston early):
“That was key. We pretty much did the same thing in Game 2 in the first quarter but we weren’t able to hold on to it. Tonight, that is all we kept talking about. To come out and to be able to jump on them like we did in Game 2, and to try and whatever it takes to either increase the lead or try and maintain steady play where we can’t let them get back in the game.”

(On his success in the game tonight):
“I just got some good looks. I went out there tonight and told myself to just be aggressive and when I’m open to just take the shot. Make or miss, to just stay aggressive because we have to do something to take some of that pressure off of LeBron. I feel pretty comfortable with knocking down that shot and tonight I just went out there and told myself to be aggressive.”

(On the team’s good play and helping LeBron):
“That’s key. It’s the playoffs and when you play against tough defensive teams, they are going to try to do whatever they can to take (LeBron) out of the game. He’s our leader out there on the floor so they feel that if they take him out of the game, we are not going to be as effective. I think he did a great job of getting everybody involved and everybody pretty good looks. We did a good job of moving the ball and getting everybody better looks. I think that was key, making them move on defense instead of letting them focus on one side of the floor.”

(On the Cavaliers’ performance at home):
“You’re more comfortable [at home]. Even though LeBron didn’t shoot the ball well, he made a lot of basketball plays in Boston. Tonight he did both, but the other guys made shot. Wally Szczerbiak to start the game was huge for them and Delonte West was huge for them. When you get those guys going with LeBron and with Ilgauskas, it’s going to be a tough night.”

(On the Celtics’ slow start):
“We were not comfortable. Early on they did a nice job helping off of Rajon and [Perkins]. We got great shots to start the game, but when we started missing them, and instead of being the solid defensive team we’ve been, we got down because our offense was down. That took a bit out of us and they made shots. ”

(On losing after going 2-0 in Boston):
“This is the NBA. Nothing surprises me in this league, and I didn’t think this would happen but it did happen. As a team we just have to be ready for Monday night.”

(On the Celtics’ struggles on the road):
“In the last two games Cleveland has come out with more energy to start and gotten off to great starts, and we’ve talked about that we were lucky we were at home in Game 2. (The other team) get off to a good start and you’re at home you can come back. You do that on the road, it’s very difficult to get back in the game and tonight was a great example of that.”

(On being unable to comeback from the deficit):
“I thought we had a lot of chances. We had it down to 14, and we came out of a timeout and got what we wanted and the shot went up instead of the ball movement…We refused to play together offensively tonight and that’s the only thing that alarms me from Atlanta…We didn’t take what we want from the offense. We fouled Ben [Wallace] and he missed two and they got the offensive rebound…Those are hustle plays and we need to be better.”

(On Rajon Rondo):
“He has to be more aggressive. The number I always look at for Rondo is not the 3-for-10, it’s the zero assists. We have to get him to be more aggressive and be a playmaker.”

(On Ray Allen):
“I’m not concerned. He’s a great shooter and he’ll make shots. We have to work on getting him better shots. We like the matchup but we haven’t gotten what we want out of it.”

(On not being able to come back):
“We just couldn’t come up with the big play whether it was an offensive rebound, giving up a three pointer or turning the ball over. We couldn’t get the stops when we needed it the most. That’s not the team that we’ve been all year back. We’ll look at the tape and clean things up defensively so they can’t come out and shoot 50% across the board. We didn’t do a good job for our big men or covering them when they went to help. It’s the little stuff, but it’s big for our defense and we’ll adjust for Game 4.”

(On the start of the game):
“It’s pretty frustrating, obviously you don’t want to start a game like we started tonight. We just can’t spot a team 15-20 points and try to dig ourselves out of it. We talked about it in the locker room that we need to play with the same urgency like we have at home. We can definitely play better and we will.”

(On not being able to come back):
“We can’t take any credit away from the Cavs. Delonte West stepped up and had a big game, Joe Smith had a great game and Ben Wallace was very active and effective on the boards. That was something that was missing from the first two games. I thought Paul guarded LeBron pretty well, but we over-helped and then broke down. We got it to 12 points and didn’t help and didn’t execute. We’ll make adjustments for Game 4.”