Pelicans Coach Alvin Gentry:
On his first win as head coach of the Pelicans:
“I thought we did a good job, we started the game the right way and played extremely hard and had good ball movement. I thought it was our defense that really set the tone for the game.”
On performing well in the first half:
“I think we are a good team when we do that. We keep emphasizing the fact that we have to do it on the defensive end, so even after the start of the game it was the defense that got us going. I think we ended the half on a 20-4 run so that’s your defense, not really your offense.”
On Jrue Holiday:
“I thought Jrue did exactly what we needed him to do. He got us off to a good start and kind of set the tone for the game. I thought he was really good running the team and putting us in certain offensive sets that we scored on.”
Pelicans forward Ryan Anderson:
“It feels good when we execute the game plan. We played good defense today. Guys were just ready to play. We wanted it. Every night we wanted it, but we have had stretches where we weren’t so great. Tonight, I can say that we gave a complete effort the whole game.”
On continuing to keep the lead when Anthony Davis went out:
“Obviously, when he goes out, guys have to step up. We did that. Toney (Douglas), Ish (Smith), I mean, you go down the line, guys really just played their hearts out tonight. Our spacing was good. We just kind of shut them out of the game.”
On how to keep the winning going:
“We’ve got a long year. This is a small stretch of games, and now that we have a win, obviously, we want to move on past it. We have a winning mentality now. We know what we need to do. We are going to bring it tomorrow. We are going to be ready to go. Obviously, we have played this team. We played them before. For us, we have our practice, we have our game plan and we need to execute it.”
Pelicans guard Eric Gordon:
“(It is important) to play with high expectations. We are still in the growing process. It was just good to get that win.”
On stretching the lead in the third quarter:
“We played very well on both sides of the ball. We were moving the ball. Ryan (Anderson) took advantage of everybody on that team. They were switching on him, and he capitalized. He really gave us that boost in the second half.”
On starting the game fast:
“That is very important in every game, to get that fast start and create that tempo. We wanted to play fast. We just wanted to dominate on both sides of the ball.”
Mavericks Coach Rick Carlisle:
“Well we have to do a hell of a lot better. We just do, and they’re a quality team that has been getting sand kicked in their face like they did to us.”
On explaining the 0-12 start to the game:
“They were making shots and we weren’t. Their level of force was higher without question. A lot of this you have to credit them. They had a bunch of guys step up and play big. You know (Ish) Smith, (Toney) Douglas and (Ryan) Anderson had huge nights off the bench. We missed some open shots. By-and-large they out-fought us for the win. So I give them the credit and we are going to have to do a lot better. ”
Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki:
“We had some traction in the second quarter and had it down to three. We had other runs throughout the game; we had some great looks. I started off with three wide open threes and could not get going. AD made some tough shots in the first half and we left Gordon open a couple times. Overall, just not good enough tonight.”
On second quarter run:
“We fought back in the second quarter and liked where we were. We finished the half brutal, down 18. But you know on the road, anything is possible. We had to put some stops together and we did not do that. We were not good enough on the defensive end to get it done tonight.”
Mavericks forward Chandler Parsons
“We did not get it done tonight. We could not make enough plays and did not get enough stops to make a comeback. These guys were hungry for a win and they got it.”
On not playing as many minutes as normal:
“I have never played this little. It is very frustrating. It is difficult to get in a good rhythm. But I can’t just get back into playing 30+ minutes a game. It’s a long season so it is a process. I have been getting extra workouts and cardio in to get back into things.”