JAZZ COACH JERRY SLOAN
(On the game) “I thought that was a heck of a ballgame. Every time we got a little bit of a lead on them they came right back at us and that’s the strength of their team. They just wouldn’t give up. We had to make some plays; some big plays in order to win the ballgame.”

(On if he ever felt comfortable with the lead tonight) “I never feel comfortable playing this team after we played them the last game of the season. We had them by 18, 19 points in the regular season game and they came back and did the same thing. They kept coming at you, coming at you. I think their team plays really hard, they don’t give up.”

DERON WILLIAMS
(On the game) “This whole playoff series against them has been a defensive battle. Not much offense going on. It’s not the way we really like to win, but it’s the way things are going.”

(On his dunk over Battier late in the fourth quarter) “Coach just made a great adjustment at timeout, Coach Johnson and Coach Sloan. They were doubling me pretty hard on the pick-and-roll and it made it hard for me to get a shot off or to get it back to Booz. So we kind of faked the screen and just let me take him one-on-one, and I was able to get by him (Alston) two straight possessions and score.”

(On McGrady not knowing how to pronounce Deron’s name) “It doesn’t matter man. There’s a lot of people who don’t know how to pronounce my first name.”

CARLOS BOOZER
(On the game) “We played good defense and they played good defense. It’s been four games playing each other. We are very familiar with each other so sometimes on offense they’re going to be crisp as usual as we get down to the wire. Great game by everybody, we shot the ball a lot better from the free throw line, and we got stops when we had to.”

(On Memo’s rebound) “Huge. I didn’t expect D-Will to miss it. Memo was right there, went back up strong, got fouled, and knocked down two free throws. Big play.”

RONNIE BREWER
(Being so familiar with Houston’s play) “It comes down to which team can execute the best. We know each others’ plays and we know what each player can do. It comes down to the little things, and I think that is what helped us tonight.”

(The spectacular play) “I went baseline and thought I had an open basket. I thought I was going to be able to dunk it. Battier came over and I jumped. I had to hang in there because he tried to block it. Fortunately it went in. I knew I was going to be able to get up there. I just had to get the ball on top of the basket.”

ROCKETS COACH RICK ADELMAN
(On the game) “You look at the game, and obviously, it’s really a tough loss for us. Guys really battled, again, they battled the whole game. Battled back at the end, had a great shot. We shot poorly, but still it was a two-point game at the end. We just have to figure out how to be a little more efficient offensively and get ready for the next game.”

(On what they were doing to try and get back in it) “The thing about this team is that they don’t quit—they never give up. We did what we had to do. We were looking to push it up and get the first shot we could get, see if we couldn’t close the gap on them. The one thing we didn’t do is keep the ball out of Korver’s hands, because he’s the guy you don’t want to shoot. He doesn’t miss free throws. But they do a good job of finding him, and it was a tough game. We just have to come back and regroup, and get that game back in Houston.”

(On what they need to do in the next game(s)) “That’s an excellent question. We’ve got to find a way in these next two days to be a little better. Actually, there were times I thought we did a better job. We have to find a way where somehow, someway, they call a little bit closer with the guys guarding Tracy. ..Their whole game plan was to beat him up the whole game and be very physical with him. I really have a hard time understanding some of the things they can do to him out on the floor. That hurts us when it’s that physical, but we’ve got to find a way to respond to it. We did it at times.”

TRACY MCGRADY
(On the game) “It was more physical in this game. They were bodying me up and that’s their game plan. I was still pushing through it, getting my shot. We put ourselves in a great position in the 4th quarter. Getting some key stops.”

(On the rebound that Okur got at the end of the game) “I came from the weak side. I hit the ball off the glass and Carl just mistimed it. Okur came over and got the rebound. It was a big rebound we didn’t get. That was the point where Dikembe and those guys should have been in the game, because we would have called a timeout had we gotten the rebound.”

SHANE BATTIER
(Were you limited in any way out there?) “…Nope. I was fine. I got the Celebrex and other stuff working. I was fine.

(What do you take away from this game?) “We had our chances. Good golly Miss Molly, we had our chances. And we put pressure on them, and we got the plays that we needed them to make, missing free throws, and turning the ball over and just couldn’t capitalize. We had our shots. Missed free throws.”

BOBBY JACKSON
(On the game) “…We had out chances. That’s the bottom line. We didn’t capitalize on, you know, at the end. He [Deron Williams] missed two free throws, and, we had our chances to get that, come down, and get a play for Tracy [McGrady]…That’s the way we crumble sometimes. We know they’re the best offensive rebounding team on the free throw line, so we kind of kept that in mind. We fought hard, and we didn’t play our best basketball, but we still had a chance to win it.”