Pelicans Coach Monty Williams
On the game: “We missed a ton of shots. In the first quarter I thought we got good looks. Guys just missed shots. I didn’t think we ran the offense tonight. I thought we were just existing on offense. Then we started to get it back in the second half, but then that last group didn’t stop anybody. We gave up 38 points in the fourth quarter. For whatever reason we’ve hit a bit of a bump here. We have to work our way through it.”
On difficulty of guarding the Hawks’ penetration:
“It’s just basketball. You’ve got to guard the ball. A lot of this stuff is schemes, but more than that, you have to be able to guard the ball. (Jeff) Teague lived in our paint tonight. I think in the first half they were 12-for-15 at the rim. That’s not a percentage we’ve been accustomed to. Our defense wasn’t bad until the fourth quarter, when we gave up 38 points.”
On if the teams’ struggles this week alarm him:
“No, I’m not. When we share the ball and play hard, we give ourselves a chance to win. I didn’t think we ran (our) offense well, and then we didn’t knock down our open shots. A couple of our shots were just way off tonight. That happens. When we had a chance to cut (the lead) we came out with a big burst in the third quarter, but then they came right back and got a big three-point play. That kind of stuff hurts you on the road.”
Austin RiversOn how team has played the last two games:“We just have to figure it out. We just have to play better. Our energy was down. And I have to come out and be a way better defender. We’ll get it together. We shot the ball terribly tonight. But we have another opportunity tomorrow. That’s all I can look forward to. I’m not going to dwell on it, because it’s not going to do you any good. If we can get it back tomorrow, then we’ll be back above .500 going back home and try to get a big win (in Washington). We have to take it one game at a time. Tomorrow is a big game for us.”