HEAT Head Coach Ron Rothstein

On the game:
“I said to [the team] ‘How coachable are you?’” They performed flawlessly. Our passing was extremely sharp, our ball movement was great, we were hitting open people, and we were making shots. We were quicker than them, and we jumped on them really good. That is the most we’ve run in a really long time. This is a great game for us in every single way. The only thing I didn’t like was free throw attempts. If we could bottle this one up we would keep it.”

“I thought we played well defensively in the first quarter. I thought that was key to getting stops and getting us out in the open court. Anytime you can do that, you get a rhythm and you gain confidence.”

On having a 20-point lead:
“I hate it. I absolutely hate it. I will take it but I hate it. You know that they are going to make a run. But that first quarter was flawless basketball. I would rather be up 28 than down 28.”

On Gary Payton and Jason Williams:
“They said they were okay and I said go. Tonight they were up to the challenge. Jason Williams was feeling it. I tried to take him out at one point and he said, ‘I am okay.’ When he spots up and he raises and there is no drift on his shot he makes those.”

“I wanted Gary’s (Payton) defensive out there from the beginning. I wanted him after people and to help us get going.”

On Dwyane Wade:
“I found out right after the shoot around that he couldn’t go. Regardless of the outcome tonight, if he is not ready he is not ready.”



HEAT Guard Jason Williams

On the game:
“Anytime we get a win it’s fun.”

On his shooting beyond the three-point line:
“I didn’t really notice where I was. I was open so I shot it. The way we were playing, we had to take all open shots.”

On his knees:
“There is always going to be some soreness. I’m getting old. That’s just how it goes.”

HEAT Center Alonzo Mourning

On the game:
“I think that when we bring that type of energy to games, the end result is what you saw. I think everybody here understands their roles. Defense fuels our offense. We are tired of losing. We are tired of waiting on people. We have to do it ourselves. We can’t sit back and wait on Shaq or D. Wade. Whoever is out there has to step up and play. I’m proud of the guys who played tonight. They went out and bust their butts and did what they had to do to win the ball game.”

“We guided ourselves and altered their run with a run.”

New York Knicks Head Coach Isiah Thomas

On the game:
“I warned them and warned them and tried to tell them that they were going to come at us hard and they were going to compete. We didn’t compete. We didn’t respond to competition. This is the first time that I have been with this group that we didn’t show up. By the time we showed up the game was over. I told them they had to compete. There is no strategy for being down 29-3. As professionals and as men you have to step out on that floor and compete against the other player you are playing against. When you start competing, strategy and everything else come into play. There is no strategy for lying down and taking it. I feel as though we just didn’t show up in the first quarter. Again, this is the first time that I have been with this group where we didn’t show up to compete. Maybe respect had something to do with it. I thought the HEAT were phenomenal but the way we played tonight it was easy to look phenomenal.”

Knicks Forward Quentin Richardson

On the game:
“We don’t have the luxury of taking anybody lightly. We’re not that good. This is the NBA, if you come out and you down play well and you don’t play hard then that’s what happens.”

Knicks Guard Jamal Crawford

On the game:
“We weren’t ready to play for whatever reason. We had a golden opportunity and let it slip through our hands. Obviously, when you have their two best players out you have to take advantage of that, but unfortunately that’s when guys step up. They got out to such a big lead; we were playing catch up the whole game. We were in quicksand the whole game. I’ve been on some teams that weren’t the best and I’ve never seen anything like that. Tonight was inexcusable.”

Knicks Forward David Lee

On the game:
“It’s very disappointing and it was everybody collectively. Quentin (Richardson) hits a good three to start the game and then they went on a 27-0 run. That’s just unacceptable. Were they hitting tough shots? Yeah, but they were also getting easy ones as well.”

“I don’t care if they didn’t have all five of their starters, if you give someone that kind of lead you are not going to come back from it unless you play a perfect game. We cut it to seven and then Jason Williams hit two shots from half court and then we ended up losing. It’s going to be a long ride home tonight.”

“It seemed like the court was tilted like they were running downhill shooting lay-ups and making threes. We were going uphill just to get the ball across half court to try to get a shot off.”