Pelicans Head Coach Alvin Gentry
On what the team did differently tonight:
“We started the game the right way and we played well. I thought we played a really great first half. The third quarter we started a little stagnant. Also, you have to understand that team is a great team. They’re not just going to lay down and die. They made a run at us. I thought the best thing about the whole game was we found a way to compose ourselves, then go back to what we were doing and find a way to win.”
On what he told the team when Cleveland took the lead in the third quarter:
“I just said I thought we had gotten away from what we were doing, that got us the lead. I thought we had great ball movement and great people movement. I thought we started to just stand around a little bit. After the timeout, we went back out and started back on the pace that got us there. We kind of recovered and were able to hold the ball.”
Pelicans Guard E'Twaun Moore
On controlling the game:
“First of all, it started on defense. We made them try to earn everything, staying between them and the rim. And once we got started, we were able to get out in transition and easy buckets.”
On what led to him tying a career-high in points:
“Transition and getting threes. Jrue did a good job pushing…Cousins did a good job. They were trying to give him the double. He was kicking out, so I give a lot of credit to those guys.”
On the team improving each game:
“I think we just keep getting better every game, and that’s our goal. Just keep going up, not taking a step backwards.”
On what led to a good defensive performance:
“Us just all talking and making them see five guys. LeBron is pretty tough one-on-one, transition, posting up. Same as D Wade, so we were just trying to make it tough for them.”
Pelicans Center DeMarcus Cousins:
On what is attributing to his level of play:
“Just playing basketball. Same with my team. We were locked in at the beginning. We feel like we can battle with the best of them. We are starting to understand what it takes to win games. Still learning how to play with one another, but the ball movement has been good lately. Defensively, we’ve been good. Still got some things we need to work on. Communication isn’t where we want it to be. Still have some breakdowns. We are in a good rhythm right now.”
On sharing the basketball:
“We are just starting to understand what it takes to win games. Everybody on the floor is touching the ball, it’s not being stuck on one side of the floor. That was kind of our issue in the beginning, especially when it came to random situations. We would just keep it on one side of the floor and it made other teams’ job easier to guard us. So, we are understanding that and we are in a good rhythm.”
On Cleveland’s run to start second half:
“We understand that teams are going to go on runs. Something that Coach Gentry has been preaching is no matter what the momentum of the game, just stay even-level. So, that’s what we are starting to do. Every team makes their run, but we’ve always got to make sure we come back with one of our own.”
On the play of Jrue Holiday:
“Jrue playing at this level makes us an even better team. We all believe in him. We know how talented of a guy he is…We have been barking at him all year. We want him to be aggressive. I want him taking 20 shots a game. So, when he is playing like this, he takes our team to a whole other level.”