HEAT Head Coach Stan Van Gundy

On the game:
“Obviously, the combination of their defense or our offensive ineptitude was the key their today. It was a defensive struggle. They were able to find enough points to win it, and we couldn’t get that done. The whole entire day we couldn’t get anything going offensively. Up to the first few minutes of the game, I can’t remember us putting together two good offensive possessions in a row. We would get a hoop, and then you wait three minutes to get another one.”

“The only guy who played well offensively for us was John (Wallace) of the eight guys that we gave minutes to. Honestly, if you are going to win a game like this, you’re going to need your better guys to play well. We got one, and he didn’t even get into the game until the second half. It was tough, we didn’t have any answers.”

“We couldn’t score on them. At times, it was tough to get good shots, and when we got those shots, we couldn’t make them. We couldn’t make free-throws. It was an offensive disaster. Give them a lot of credit, their defense had a lot to do with it. I don’t want to sit up here and act like we had a good shot every time down. If you could tell me that we could hold New York to 76 points and 41 percent shooting, and force them into 17 turnovers, I am going to say we have a great chance to win the game. We had a couple of shots to cut it to four or five. We missed a couple of threes, and then a couple of lay-ups on the fast break. You just figured it was going to turn, and it never did. When we when got opportunities, we couldn’t cash in. It was very frustrating.

On the play of Kurt Thomas:
“Kurt (Thomas) went seven for seven in the second half. He had a great second half, and he really lifted them. This was not a defensive problem. We are not going to hold too many teams to 33 points in the second half. Somebody is going to score. Stephon (Marbury) early in the game was going crazy. Our choice was on pick and roles to trap Stephon (Marbury) and make him give the ball up. Sometimes we got to Kurt (Thomas) quick enough, sometimes we didn’t. He did a great job making shots.”

HEAT Forward Brian Grant

On the game:
“It feels great to be back, but unfortunately, it was in a losing effort. They [Knicks] played a very good game. They really worked the ball a lot and hit their shots. Kurt Thomas was great from the outside. In the first half, we did a great job containing them. We were stepping up, but in the second half, they kept running the pick and rolls. Kurt [Thomas] then got their whole team going.”

“We shot poorly and it was very frustrating. They worked the ball and we didn’t. This was one of the first games in a while where we did not work the ball very well. It is a disappointing loss for us, but we have another game tomorrow and we need to focus on that.”

HEAT Guard Eddie Jones

On the game:
“Missing got contagious for us today. We missed a lot of open looks. You hate when that happens in such a crucial game, and we felt that this was a crucial game for us. Sometimes, you have a game where nobody can score. Today, we had one of those games. We have to get ready for tomorrow night.”

HEAT Forward John Wallace

On the game:
“We are fighting for a playoff spot, so this was a big game for us. Today, we came up short. It was a tough game. We played hard, but we just missed a lot of open shots and let them get too many open looks. It just didn’t work out in our favor tonight. It is a tough loss for us, a very tough loss.”

Knicks Head Coach Lenny Wilkens

On the game:
“At the start we went with a small lineup because of their (the HEAT’s) quickness. We changed that for a little while, but went back to the small lineup in the second half. Our defense had a lot to say. We didn’t let them (the HEAT) go where they wanted to. We involved everyone tonight because we had good movement.”

On the bench players:
“If you want to be a serious contender, you have to have a bench that scores.”

On Kurt Thomas:
“He finally got hot and had seven (baskets) in a row. I told him to run with his hands closed all week in practice.”

On Stephon Marbury:
“Stephon is starting to take over and run the show. Kurt had a hot hand and Stephon kept getting him the ball.”

On the impending trade deadline:
“Isiah (Thomas) is looking at everything. Until then, I just worry about the team we have.”

On recently traded players:
“We’ve definitely noticed that they’re gone, but our players have really stepped up.”

Knicks Center Michael Doleac

On the game:
“When you have a lot better feel, and everyone knows what to do, you have a better shot at winning. It’s easier to rotate and recover and help each other out. Coach is always stressing defense. We want to build our offense off of that. We’re running out transitions a lot easier and score. We can get guys crossing, get movement and get into our early offense.”

Knicks Forward Othella Harrington

On the game:
“I think we’re communicating better and we’re helping each other more on the weak side. The big fellas have been doing a great job.”

“I think Stephon (Marbury) and Keith (Van Horn) have been playing pretty good ball and other guys have been chipping in. A lot of guys came off the bench and helped us win the game. If we can be consistent with that every night we will continue to improve.

Knicks Forward Kurt Thomas

On the game:
“I couldn’t hit a shot in the first half. My teammates told me to come out in the second half and keep shooting the ball.

“We’re playing with a lot of confidence now. We’re really trusting each other and we’re defending. That’s the key. We’re clicking and we’re waiting on Allan to get back.”

On Lamar Odom:
“He’s definitely a tough cover. He’s a big guy who can put the ball down on the floor. He had nice moves inside and out and has a nice touch. It’s all about match-ups. He causes so many problems out there. I figured if I got beat hopefully someone would be behind me, and they were all night long.”