(On the game tonight): “For the first time in a while and I told this to the guys the exact same way, I thought we played selfish basketball. Offensively, I did not think we shared the ball like we shared it in New York and against a good defensive basketball team, you have to do the extra little things, make the extra passes and things like that, and I do not think we did that tonight. I thought we just played selfish ball and lost the game.”
(On the team’s play after Chris Paul left the game): “I think once he got hurt we seemed to take a big ol exhale like ‘now the game is going to be easy’ and they just got more determined and took it from there. They have a lot of veterans so we should have known that they were not going to all of a sudden lay down. I thought they just got much more aggressive. Offensively, they did a real good job of executing their plays and we could not stop them, and then on (our) offensive end, we just did not share the ball like we normally do.”
(On if he said anything to Chris Paul as he was being taken off the court): “I just said ‘we are praying for you.’ I do not know if he even heard me but right after we get out of here, we are going to go over to see if he is ok.”
(On what he saw when Paul got hurt): “I really did not see anything. I just saw him laying on the floor and then there was a timeout and we came over and I turned back around and he was still there. So then you start to get concerned. Then again, I did not see what happened to cause him to be hurt.”
(On Baron Davis’ home debut): “I thought it was a tale of two halves. Obviously in the first half he played great and in the second half he was kind of so-so. A little bit like our whole team it seemed like. From the start of the game, I did not think we came out with the energy and the effort that we needed from the start. We just were lucky that we were making shots and I thought as we went on in the second half that we got a little bit more selfish as a basketball team and we did not make the right plays and it cost us.”
(On what happened for the Hornets to go on a scoring run after Chris Paul left the game): “They went on a run. To tell you the truth, I don’t really know what happened. Their offense started to flow a little better and they were getting good shots while we were really struggling a little bit to get the shots we really wanted. I think that played a factor in it. Their guys stepped up to the challenge better than we did having Paul out.” (On if they let up after Paul got hurt): “I don’t think we ever let up. Knowing what the team has been going through all year, I don’t think we are in any position to let up. Everybody still gives a good effort. Offensively, there are some things we need to adjust, just some little things in practice tomorrow for future games.”
(On the loss tonight): “Overall, they just really out-executed us on the offensive and defensive ends. Tonight was one of those games where it just didn’t look like we had any type of rhythm. (Maybe) that is because guys are still getting familiar with each other. When you’re playing against a great defensive team like the Hornets, they usually hold their opponents under 100 points and it’s harder to get those shots and those open looks.” (On the tempo of the offense tonight): “I thought tonight we were just out of sync offensively and we didn’t really move the ball and play with a sense of urgency on the offensive end or the defensive end. We didn’t get any fast break points or points off of their turnovers. They didn’t turn the ball over at all. We just have to continue to focus and work in practice and hopefully (get better).” (On what the feeling was at halftime trailing by three): “We felt we could get this game. We had a good rhythm in the first half and we played with a lot of energy. Like you said, (in the second half) they controlled the ball and they controlled the pace. When we started playing at their pace, which is a lot slower tempo than we are accustomed to, I think it worked in their favor.” (On the reaction from the fans in his first home game as a Cavalier): “That was great. The fans are great here. I’ve been dying to play in front of this crowd. The fans have been great. With them standing up and the ovation like that, it just makes me want to play my hardest and win as many games as we can with this organization. I was happy. I was excited and it was an emotional time.”
HEAD COACH MONTY WILLIAMS
(On play of Hornets guards): “They’re getting a lot more consistent minutes and they’re being aggressive. When D (David) West has a game like that in the post, it opens up a lot. I thought Marco (Belinelli) hit some shots early and that opens it up. Those guys (guards) have been aggressive for awhile. Chris (Paul), before he went out, had 11 assists, so that means he’s being aggressive and guys are knocking down shots.” (On Hornets reaction to Chris Paul injury): “A situation like that is when you can circle the wagons a little bit. D West rallied the troops before we went out there and we felt like we wanted to win this one for Chris. At the same time, we played our game. We attacked the basket, guys knocked down shots, but we defended and held the team to 81 points. That made our offense a lot easier.” (On Cavs getting offensive rebounds and points in paint in first half and adjusting those trends): “I think they had nine offensive rebounds in the first half and four the rest of the game, so we took care of that. Guards had to rebound. That’s where they (Cavs) play-in the paint. They missed some shots. Watching the New York game (Friday), they knocked down shot after shot, Parker, Davis and Eyenga, and tonight, those guys missed a few shots. We were able to get out and run a little bit.” (On Chris Paul injury situation): “Chris is not the type to lay down. To see him flat on the floor like that, you just forget about a basketball for a minute and start thinking about him as a person, his fiancée and kid. It’s amazing how thin that line can be at times. You just worry about your guy. He’s not the type to lay down. I talked to him on the phone and to people in the room with him, and he’s in good spirits, talking and cracking jokes in the background. We’ll see what the doctors say.” (On Paul staying for evaluation): “We’ll see. You don’t want to take that lightly. Those are the football injuries that come back to haunt you if you’re not careful with it. We’re not going to do anything to put him in jeopardy. The doctors will let us know what we can do.” (On team reaction to Paul): “I think it says a lot about the group, about D West and his leadership. He doesn’t get a lot of recognition for that because he’s not a rah-rah guy. Also, Jarrett Jack. I pulled him to the side and said, ‘OK, let’s go’ and we didn’t miss a beat. We’ve been dealing with stuff all year. You don’t want to deal with this though, when a guy has a potentially tragic injury. This is not par for the course for us.”
DAVID WEST
(On Paul injury situation): “We’ve just got to fight. We’ve been hit with a few different things this year and guys are going to have to step up. Jack did a good job after he went down, just coming in and maintaining what we had. Again, it’s going to take a team effort.” (On initial reaction to injury): “I thought the wind got knocked out of him, but, when I saw he wasn’t moving, that’s when I called the timeout, just to make sure our trainer got out there. He was talking before he left the floor. We just hope that he’s OK and everything checks out. I said, ‘no letdown.’ Sometimes things like that happen and you can kind of get deflated. I thought we stayed engaged and just pushed through. We can worry about him now; we had a job to do while we were out there.” (On West playing with ankle injury): “I was just trying to get into a rhythm. We’re going to need everything from everybody from this point in the season to stay in the fight in terms of our playoff position, and continue to improve as a basketball team. I just wanted to come out and play aggressive.”
EMEKA OKAFOR
(On team reaction to Paul injury): “It was a team effort. When one falls, everybody else has to make up for it. When Chris went down, we didn’t want to be disadvantaged. Coach said, ‘Hey men, we’ve got to win this one.’ Coach really didn’t have to say it; everybody was thinking it. I thought he (Paul) was getting up. One of the coaches was talking about coverage’s; I saw a whole mass huddling around Chris. (I wondered) what was going on? I saw the stretcher and I started to get concerned.”