Dec. 2, 2008 at Conseco Fieldhouse
Pacers 118, Lakers 117
PACERS COACH JIM O'BRIEN
“What a great win for our team and our fans. To beat those guys on a tip in at the buzzer…what a great night. That’s special. It’s a great, great feeling for everyone who is a Pacer. It feels great whenever you pull out a win against a great team. To see our players rewarded for their hard work makes me feel great. It’s good we’ve had two of our last three close games, we’ve won against very good basketball teams."
(On Troy Murphy’s tip in) "It seemed like an eternity. It was bouncing, bouncing, bouncing.”
PACERS GUARD T.J. FORD
(On the game) "Basketball is a game of runs and we were able to withstand their runs and mount a couple of our own. In a lot of games in the past we have let get away from us. We must keep our composure and stay in our game plan as we did tonight."
"We are still learning each other because we have not been together as a team that long. We are learning more from each other night in and night out and this is building confidence in us."
"It was good to get the win. Our fans were behind us.”
PACERS CENTER RASHO NESTEROVIC
“A win is a win but this was special. We were down a bunch of points and were able to come back, stay in our game plan, execute making open shots and getting some stops."
"We must continue to play this way and focus on becoming more familiar with each other and executing on both ends of the court."
"We have some tough games in front of us and we must be ready.”
LAKERS COACH PHIL JACKSON
(On getting outrebounded 19-8 on offensive boards) "Things were going their way. There were shots that went awry and they were able to capture the ball down in the corner a couple of times. They just out hustled us."
(On scoring only 16 points in the fourth quarter) "Turnovers. I think you have to give their defense credit. Indiana played well. But we started getting lackadaisical a little bit. They turned the pressure up and we didn’t respond."
(On the way the Pacers scored on the final possession) "Fortuitous."
(On missing 12 free throws) "I’ve always worried when we travel three times… We just don’t seem to function right. I was a little bit aggressive with the team tonight because I didn’t think they functioned right. They didn’t react well defensively. As a result, Indiana hung around and found a way to win it. "
(On losing their lead to start the fourth quarter) "I didn’t like at all the way we started the fourth quarter. They came out and fiddled it away. We were one for eleven on the first eleven possessions. You can’t do that on the road. That gives more momentum to the home team.”
LAKERS GUARD KOBE BRYANT
(On the Pacers’ comeback) "They did a great job on the offensive boards and our turnovers created momentum for them and their three point shooting kept them in the game."
(On the last shot of the game) "I knew it was going in by the way it was bouncing on the rim. I was just hoping that it would fall straight through so that it would leave us with at least a second or so to have the ball."
(On Pacers’ good offensive game) "Their penetration hurt us a lot. They kept the floor spread. The penetration particularly by their guards, they were able to get into the paint and create opportunities for their teammates."
(On coming back after a loss like this one) "I think we do a pretty good job with handling our wins and losses, do a good job adapting. The team we play tomorrow night (Philadelphia) is going to play us just as hard as these guys. The good thing is we get to get back on the floor tomorrow.”
LAKERS FORWARD PAU GASOL
(On Pacers’ offensive rebounding) "It hurt us, especially in the fourth quarter. They were shooting a lot of long shots but that’s pretty much how they play. They are a perimeter oriented team. We weren’t able to box out all the way to the free throw line and when the rebounds were long, they were able to run them down and get a lot of extra shots."
(On if the fourth quarter was a letdown) "We were able to get it up to 16 and when the number one team came back in, we were still up eight; but we didn’t put our foot in their heads when we had the chance. But give them credit, they kept playing, hustling, shooting and they did a good job to get back in the game. If we had one or two more defensive rebounds or one or two more actions on offense, we probably win the game. We also missed a lot of free throws…that hurt us.”