HEAT Head Coach Pat Riley

On the Game:
“As long as we can keep the train moving and guys are jumping on and doing things they have to do to help us win . . .obviously, Shaq was huge tonight. He just seems to keep getting healthier and hungrier and, to be honest with you, more humble. I think the fact that he’s doing these things now every single night, maybe with the backdrop that some people doubted that he could do it, is making him feel good about himself. I just like what we’re doing, like what he’s doing. Everyone is rallying around the defensive concepts and we are winning.”

On Shaquille O’Neal’s footwork:
“We talked a little bit about that. He’s got a different number of shots now: the jump hook, the turnaround bank from the left box; he can make the jump hook off the board and he still can get under the basket and go up and dunk over people. He not just trying to back in. If he gets real deep on somebody he’s going to rise over the top of the rim. Then when people start to sag and come he throws it out, they hit a timely three or get a timely cut.”

On the performance of Jason Williams:
“We needed it. I’m still trying to get comfortable with doing more things for him other than just pick-and-rolls or letting him find shots randomly. I do think he’s a good catch-and-shoot player. We can put him in those situations but we need it from everybody.”

On winning the upcoming home games:
“We have to do it now. I think if we have any thoughts at all of catching the top two teams, we have to win now to be in a position around April 1st to see if we can overtake these teams. We’ve got to win now as much as we can to put ourselves in position to really do something at the end of the season.”

HEAT Center Shaquille O'Neal

On the game:
“We are just playing pretty good basketball right now. We just have to keep it up. We have to stay balanced and keep our focus.”

“Coach (Pat Riley) asked me to step my game up and take most of the scoring load. The last year and a half, two years I’ve been the second option, which has been fine. Our first option is down, so now it’s time for me to step up.”

“I feel good. The knee is not really giving me that much of a problem. We have another day off tomorrow so I look to have a lot of energy on Sunday against Washington.”

On his first quarter offense:
“I knew they weren’t going to double. They really like to play straight up. I was just trying to get it in there.”

HEAT Guard Jason Williams

On the HEAT’s defense:
“I think it’s been big. Guys haven’t been shooting the ball well against us, but our defense has a little bit to do with it. We’re rotating and covering for one another, and getting out and finding the easy basket.”

On the third quarter:
“We were just trying to come off picks. They weren’t showing very well and the big guys kept taking a couple steps back, so I just have to take those shots.”

HEAT Guard Eddie Jones

On the HEAT’s play:
“I think we have a ways to go. I always believe that you have to keep working at it. It’s good right now, but we need to keep working.”

On Shaquille O’Neal’s play:
“He was amazing tonight. He was 13-for-16. He created things for our offense. Defensively, he was getting out and showing. He did everything tonight. He did everything the coach asked him. It was a tremendous game.”

On the beginning of the third:
“At the end of the first half, we let them climb back into the game. I think we were up 10 or 11, and they came down and hit a couple shots. With that long break, you need to come out very, very aggressive and try to take control of the game. That’s what we needed to do, take control of the game and just run with it.”

HEAT Forward Antoine Walker

On his game:
“Our defensive effort is at a season high right now. We are doing the little things on the floor. We are playing the game well. We are playing our game well.”

“We have a lot of catch up to do. Now we are trying to hit our stride. The collective effort and Shaq’s leadership is at an all time high. He wants the ball. When he gets double teamed, he passes out and gets guys open shots. We can’t ask for more then that.”

Minnesota Timberwolves Head Coach Randy Wittman

On the Game:
“Shaq (Shaquille O’Neal), when he gets it going like that you have got to make decisions, and early on when I felt we didn’t want to double him in the first half. We were right there at the halftime. Jason (Williams) got going making some shots. I thought that really stretched us out there, and that kind of hurt us.”

“They shot it well. I thought our guys fought in this game. If Jason doesn’t go on his binge of shots, this could be a different game even with Shaq’s 13-for-16 (shooting).”

“Our guys fought. Absolutely, no question.”

On Shaquille O’Neal:
“He’s back in shape and ready to go it looks like. We talked about that before the game, and obviously he proved that tonight with his performance tonight.”

Timberwolves Guard Ricky Davis

On the game:
“They were hitting threes, coming up with loose balls and making hustle plays. We came out and turned the ball over way too much.”

On making the playoffs:
“We brought it tonight, we just didn’t bring it the right way. Like I said the turnovers killed us tonight.”

Timberwolves Forward Kevin Garnett

On Shaquille O’Neal:
“The Shaq of old? What’s the difference? He was aggressive, he was explosive, he was dominant. We should have helped Mark (Blount) a little bit more in the post. He caught the ball in places he was comfortable and we never took him out of his comfort zone.”

On the game:
“The last couple of games I don’t know what we are doing. We are being aggressive and we are not getting the calls. We are going to the basket. We are trying to get stops and trying to get consistency. We are running out of games to try and get back into the race. I felt we should have helped Mark a lot more. They made the right passes on our rotation and they were hitting the outside shot.”

On making the playoffs:
“The last six teams, it’s like a juggling act. It’s all about the consistency. We just have to get something going. It is not just going to happen. We have to be consistent on what we are doing on the defensive end. The offense is going to be night in and night out but the defense has to be something we need to do consistently. We are not going to be anybody if we don’t do that.”