Pelicans Head Coach Alvin Gentry
Thoughts on tonight’s win
“Just a good basketball game between two good teams. I thought we did a great job defensively in the first half containing Kyrie (Irving), but you know that is not going to last the entire game and at some stage he’s going to try to take over the game and he did. I thought we hung in and really were terrific. I thought DeMarcus (Cousins) did a good job. I thought Ian Clark probably played his best game for us. Down the stretch Jrue (Holiday) was great. We came up with stops when we absolutely had to and then we were able to make some plays down the stretch that was the difference in the game.”
Concerned Anthony Davis was too contained by Celtics to get the win in 4th quarter?
“I think they did a good job on him, but also he had played a long stretch of minutes and I think that he was fatigued more than anything. We were trying to find a way to give him a few minutes rest, but it just wasn’t there to be able to do. When we needed him (Davis) most and when we needed Jrue (Holiday) most I think they came through and that’s the big thing. We beat a really good team and especially defensively. At the end of the game, it’s really, really hard to score against this team, they are so good defensively, individually and from a team standpoint. They do a lot of good things defensively and we were still able to come up with some big plays.”
Ian Clark
On tonight’s win
“I think this was one of our best performances of the year. We played together, but it started on the defensive end. We executed the game plan really, really well. Obviously in the 3rd quarter they kind of got lose, but we knew we were going to make a run. I think for the most part we played the way that we are capable of playing.”
Describing the team overcoming to win in OT
“It shows the growth of our team. We’ve been talking about it all year, the level that we can play at and I think we showed it tonight. On this road trip especially. Obviously, we have one more tomorrow and we are going to make sure we close it out the right way and we are taking the right steps.”
Anthony Davis
What did you like the most about tonight’s win?
“It was a great win for us. They tested us, we were up, came back made a run, guys made shots: Jaylen Brown, Kyrie Irving, and Al Horford. Those guys made plays and took it to overtime and we just wanted to keep battling, keep fighting. We knew it was going to be a tough game for us. These guys are the best team in the league so to come in here on their home floor and get a win definitely did a lot for our confidence. We will just try to go out tomorrow and get another one.”
What Jrue Holiday did at end of game to help win
“Coach set up this play where he came to the sideline, pick and roll and he was just making reads. They kept worrying about me so much diving to the rim and Jrue was just able to make little jumpers. Took it to overtime for us, got some separation for us and we were able to come down and get some stops. He had a great defensive play on Kyrie (Irving) and we just got the rebound. It was a big time win for us.”