On tonight’s game:
“I thought we played hard. We didn’t know until we sat down and talked to Kyrie (Irving) that he wasn’t going to play, and the players didn’t know that, but I thought they came out and gave a heck of an effort. Starting the fourth quarter, down by five, I thought we did a pretty good job, especially on the defensive end. We just turned the ball over way to many times tonight.”
On Kyrie Irving:
“He said he was fine. He said it was a little sore, and I said that’s the key word, it’s sore. So it’s my call, you are going to sit down tonight and then at the end I told him to trust me. He said he did, and I told him okay good, so you are not playing tonight.”
More on Kyrie Irving:
“We don’t play again till Tuesday. It gives him a chance, which he did, to get some treatment during the game. He got some treatment during the first half; he’ll get more treatment tomorrow. I know Max (Athletic Trainer Max Benton) is giving him some other stuff that he has to take, and Monday is the same thing. He won’t practice, probably get out there and get some shots up. Gives him another day of rest. Tuesday is the same thing, all the way up till Tuesday night. Hopefully resting it today, tomorrow, and the next few days, the soreness will be gone.”
On Donald Sloan:
“I like what I saw. I really did. I thought Donald did a real great job running the show, getting guys the ball when they needed it. Being able to break down defenders and get to the basket. I was real happy with the way he played and very happy with the way Lester (Hudson) played. It was his second game just being with us for the last couple of days; I thought he did some real good things as well.”
On J.R. Smith:
“I am trying to learn everybody’s game right now. Last night he struggled but he bounced back big time tonight. That is how we need him to play coming off the bench. He has the ability to score points. I just need him to be active. I thought last night, in Atlanta, he was sluggish. Tonight he bounced back which was nice to see.”
On Jeremy Lin’s injury:
“They don’t like to see their teammate go down like that. Jeremy is a big piece of our puzzle. They do understand the reality of it all. Somebody else has to step up and play. I thought Baron (Davis) was pretty solid tonight. Toney (Douglas) gave us some positive minutes. This is eight games in 12 days for this ball club. The last two games we really have looked sluggish. It could be fatigue. I thought tonight was a total team effort. Everybody did what they had to do to get the win.”
On tonight’s game:
“We gutted it out. It was one of those nights. We came off a tough one last night in Atlanta so we wanted to bounce back and we were able to hold them to 75 points.”
On the defense:
“We were more focused in that area. Tonight was one of those nights we just wanted to win.”
On Jeremy Lin’s injury:
“It is tough. I didn’t know until today. For him to be out for six weeks and to have to have surgery…we want him to take care of that. This basketball stuff comes second.”
On the team’s injuries:
“Keep going. We just have to keep coming together as a team. Get healthy…that is the most important thing. Take it one day at a time and one game at a time.”
On J.R. Smith:
“We need J.R. to play like that. For him to play like that, it gives us a boost especially coming off the bench. Coming down the stretch, we need him to play like that.”
On tonight’s game:
“It was a great win for us. Eight games in 11 days is always tough. To come out and get this win is always great.”
On Jeremy Lin’s injury:
“You feel for your teammates. No one wants to see anyone go through surgery especially a young player like Jeremy. He was playing so well. We have to keep the boat floating until we get him back.”
On J.R. Smith:
“He had an incredible game. He shot a high percentage, got a lot of rebounds and had five steals. He was all over the floor tonight.”