On Chris Paul: “He really got it going there in the second half.  In the third quarter he just dominated the game.  We tried giving him a couple of different looks, but we’re going to have to be much more sound in our defense.   We can’t let him get out of our traps.  We have to make him play more defense then what we made him play tonight.  He had a great game, he led his team to victory.”

On the game: “If this was single elimination, we would really be disappointed.  We’ll got back and watch the video.  We know this is going to be a tough, long, grind-it-out series.  Fortunately, there is a Game 2.”

On play in the second half: “Between settling for jump shots and turning the ball over….the momentum swung.  We had the momentum in the first half, they had the momentum in the second half.”

On his team’s shooting: “Dirk’s going to see double teams pretty much the whole series.  If we continue to shoot the way we did tonight, we’re not going to be very good.  We’ve got to make some more shots on the back side.  We’ll take a look at it and see how we adjust in Game 2.”

Mavericks Forward Josh Howard

On the game: “We didn’t play great second half defense. {Chris} Paul is an offensive player so you know he’s going to get his baskets for the most part. We knew they were coming back, it’s what they’ve been doing all season. We’ve just got to play better in the second half.”

On his shot: “I’m not worried about my shot, we’re just trying to win games, man. I’m going to do what I’ve got to do to win; I don’t give a damn if I’m shooting five-for-twenty or seven-for-seven. I just want to win the game.”

Mavericks Forward Dirk Nowitzki

On the game: “It’s one game. They playoffs are a game of adjustment. I thought we played a decent first half defensively, moved the ball some and got our running game going. In the second half you’ve got to look at what they did. Paul was phenomenal early on making shots. When we have to take the ball out every possession, it’s hard to get our running game going. In the half-court, they were really sitting on our stuff and we couldn’t really score. Offensively, we couldn’t really score enough to win the game today. The team that loses has to go back, adjust and find ways to get it done the next game.”

On the atmosphere: “We knew New Orleans is a tough place to play. They played great all year long at home. Their crowd is great, especially when they made that run in the third, it was really, really loud.”

Hornets Head Coach Byron Scott

On the game: “It was playoff type basketball as expected. I thought our guys came out a little anxious to start the game, but by the second quarter we calmed down a little bit and stayed disciplined on what we were doing on the defensive end and did an excellent job of guarding their actions and rebounding.”

On the play of Chris Paul: “I thought Chris did a great job of staying aggressive and we did a good job of maintaining our spacing and I thought our discipline on offense and defense was very good in the second half. Chris did a great job of getting in the lane and creating havoc. That is just what he is so good at. It is just a matter of him staying aggressive for 30-35 minutes.”     

On coming out in the third quarter: “I told the team to relax and remember how we played all season long.”

David West:
On winning the first game: “We wanted to do what we could to get this first win. We felt like this was really the most important game of the series, so we wanted to get off to a good start.”

On first half: “We came out a little tight. I thought they executed a little better than we did, we were in a little bit of a hurry. As soon as we settled down, we were able to get into our game. We attacked them defensively and it paid off for us. I don’t think it was nerves, I just think we tried to hard to get off to a good start in the game. I think we had a few turnovers and some guys missed some shots. We just were not taking our time. I think we were anxious to make sure we got off to a good start. We has some miscues, both offensively and defensively.”

On the third quarter play: “We were able to attack them on the defensive end limiting them on some of the things they like to do. It allowed us to be in a position to get close and cut the lead down and eventually take the lead and push it open.”

Chris Paul:
On preparing for the playoffs: “I was really looking forward to this opportunity…I talked to a lot of people, my teammates, my coaches… and they said to just play your game and have fun and let everything else take care of itself. The biggest thing that I have learned about the playoffs in one game is the preparation for it. I think our coaches did an outstanding job letting us know what sets we were going to see. I’m sure they (Dallas) did the same thing. What enabled us to get around in the third quarter was our defense. We picked up our defensive intensity. We’ve been saying all year that we are at our best when we defend, rebound, and run. That’s what we got the opportunity to do in the third quarter.”

On the increased intensity in the second half: “He (Coach Scott) told us to come out (after halftime) and be aggressive. The most aggressive team always wins.”

On what the team needs to improve on by Game 2: “We still have to do a lot better in transition. Jason Kidd is one of those guys…I think he had nine rebounds tonight. Anytime he gets a defensive rebound, it’s a one-man fast break. They do a good job of getting out in transition. We have to slow them down. That starts with me, personally. We’ve got to keep them off the foul line a little bit, too. We got a lot of fouls. They made free throws. I think they’re the best free throw shooting team in the league. We’ve got to try and contain them a little bit and execute a little bit more on the offensive end.”