(On the game tonight): “Obviously, we needed that win and to have a number of guys step up and play big. Again, I think the process for us to continue to get better on the defensive end is the most important thing, and I thought the last two games we’ve done that, especially tonight. Our energy and our effort were fantastic. It’s something that we’ve been teaching and preaching the last few weeks, and we’re starting to see a light at the end of the tunnel. We’re just going to keep working on it, but I’m proud of the way our guys played tonight.”
(On starting Jeremy Pargo at point guard): “The first reason I went with him is because of the defensive end. I like the way he picks up people. He’s a very good communicator on the defensive end. Tough, gritty kid. When you go in with that mindset, sometimes you have your best offensive game when you go in just thinking about the defensive end. I thought he did a heck of a job tonight on Jrue (Holiday), who’s a heck of a point guard. So again, that was my reason to go with him…I don’t think anybody expected J.P. to come in and play the way he did, but you have to give him a lot of credit. He works his butt off in practice. The last couple of games, he’s done what he’s supposed to do. Tonight, we talked about opportunities and he took advantage of it.”
(On controlling the lead down the stretch): “I told them to just get stops. The last three minutes of a quarter, we want to try and win those mini battles. We still had the lead. It’s just a matter of getting stops right now and executing on the offensive end. Defensively, I thought we were pretty good, but at the end of the game I thought our guys kept their poise. We kept our spacing. We made some big shots obviously, but we didn’t panic and I thought that was a good sign.”
(On the defense stopping Philadelphia’s runs): “First of all, the guys have a lot of confidence in what we’re doing. We understand that we’re not just going to win games on the offensive end. Most of the time in the huddle is always talking about the defensive end only. My last words offensively are just to go through it hard, be patient, take your shots when you have them but be aggressive. Defensively is where we have to make our name.”
(On how much of a weight was lifted off his shoulders tonight): “It felt like I took the building off my shoulders and the top of my head. I just wanted to get out there and let the game come to me. I knew I would be getting more time on the floor, so I wanted to get out and run, try to get to the basket and not force anything.”
(On the bench’s support of his play tonight): “It was a bigger thing for me to be able to help my team. Everyone has been encouraging me to keep trying, keep making plays and to keep playing hard. They’ve been great even though I’ve been struggling.”
(On what the team did right defensively): “Our defense was huge for us. Other teams have been shooting well against us and for us to come out and hold them to a low shooting percentage was the key to us winning the game. They had some stretches where they made shots, but we didn’t lose our focus.”
(On the team’s defense tonight): “We did a much better job on defense tonight and I believe that’s why we won the game. When we play good defense like that for 48 minutes, we give ourselves a chance to win games.”
(On the key to stopping the 76ers late run): “We knew what we had to do late in the game; we had to keep getting stops. (Jeremy) Pargo had a great night; C.J. (Miles) had a great night. Dion (Waiters) scored when we needed to score. Everyone played well on both sides of the floor and we moved the ball well, which was key.”
(On the game): “We dug ourselves a hole again. We won every other quarter. They shot lights out from threes. When you battle uphill like that, it will take a lot out of you. We beat them with points in the paint, we had more second-chance points than they did and the fast breaks were about even. It was the three-point line that decided it.”
(On Cavaliers guard Jeremy Pargo): “He is tough, very tough. He is hungry. He wants that NBA paycheck.”
(On 76ers slow start): “We have been starting games off slow; very, very slow. Tonight it seemed like they (Cavaliers) were scoring 15 points at a time. We fought back and scratched and clawed but we got fatigued and they won the game.”
(On Cavaliers guard Jeremy Pargo): “Pargo played the game of his life. It was like playing a guy in a video game, like NBA 2K.”
(On Cavaliers guard Jeremy Pargo): “I knew about him. I watched him in college (at Gonzaga), he can play. Obviously, he was going to come out with a lot of energy and he came out hitting a lot of shots and he was really good.”
CAVALIERS NOTES:
• Defensively, the Cavs held the 76ers to .360 (31-86) shooting from the field, marking the second time this season the Cavs held an opponent to under .400 shooting (Washington, .356 on Oct. 30).
• In the first quarter, Cleveland held Philadelphia to .167 (3-18) shooting from the field. The last time the Cavaliers held an opponent to .167 or worse shooting in the first quarter was 4/12/09 when Cleveland held Boston to .150 (3-20).
• The Cavaliers held the 76ers to .267 (12-45) shooting in the first half. The last time the Cavs held an opponent to under .267 shooting in the first half was 4/16/08 when the Cavs held the Pistons to .244 (11-45).
• The Cavs collected a season-high 55 rebounds, outrebounding the 76ers by 16 (55-39).
• Cleveland connected on 13 of their 23 attempts (.565) from behind the arc and held Philadelphia to .235 (4-17) from behind the three-point line. Tonight was the third time the Cavs made at least 10 three-pointers this season.
• In his first start of the season, Jeremy Pargo set a career-high with 28 points, including .578 (11-19) shooting, a career-high five rebounds, four assists and one steal in 39 minutes.
• Alonzo Gee added 14 points by shooting .556 (5-9), including a career-high four 3-point field goals made, six rebounds, two assists, one steal and three blocks in 39 minutes. Gee has now scored at least 14 points in five of his last six games.
• Anderson Varejao recorded his second straight double-double, his sixth of the season, by scoring 10 points and pulling down 19 rebounds in 34 minutes of action. Varejao has grabbed at least 15 rebounds six times this year and is averaging 13.7 rebounds per game.
• CJ Miles tallied 13 points, including shooting 3-4 (.750) from the three-point line, and three rebounds in 27 minutes off the bench.
• Dion Waiters added 16 points, a career-high six assists and four rebounds in 39 minutes. Waiters also hit two three pointers and has now hit at least one triple in each of his first 11 games.
• Tristan Thompson tallied four points and 11 rebounds in 25 minutes, marking Thompson’s third straight game pulling down at least 10 rebounds.