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Pelicans-Bulls Postgame Quotes 1-14-17

Pelicans Head Coach Alvin Gentry:

On the loss:
“I think it’s pretty obvious that the rebounding was the difference in the game. Our defense was solid, even with the rebounding struggles we had. They still shot 42 percent, but you can’t give up 21 offensive rebounds and expect to win the game. You can’t do that.”

On cutting their deficit to one point:
“Actually, we played good defense and completed the possessions by coming up with the rebound. That’s how we got back in the game. We held them out, but we went through a stretch there again where they shot, missed, got it back, shot missed, got it back. We gave up two offensive rebounds on the possession…then something bad is going to happen. They’re either going to score a basket or get a foul. But something bad is going to happen. We just got to do a much, much better job of rebounding. They ended up with 63 rebounds, 21 offensive. I just don’t think that you can give up 21 offensive rebounds on the road and have an opportunity to win.”

On the tough shooting night for Buddy Hield and Jrue Holliday:
“I just think it was an off night. It happens in this league. I think they were struggling and that’s why we went with E’Twaun out there. E’Twaun played really solid basketball; he shot well from the perimeter. Unfortunately, he got a second foul early on and we had to take him out when he was going pretty good. At then end of the day, when they needed it, Dwyane Wade and Jimmy Butler stepped up and they made big baskets.”

Pelicans Center/Forward Anthony Davis:

On their rebounding:
“We just need to stop stargazing. When the ball goes up, we all just kind of stare at it, instead of finding a body and going and getting the rebound. If we do that and put bodies on players, it makes rebounding a lot easier. When you’re just stargazing, you just give the offense the chance to get the rebound.”

On the missed layups in the first quarter:
“It was throughout the whole game. They made their shots that they normally make. We still shot 46 percent, so I think it’s the rebounding that hurt us. We definitely make those shots—we win the game. We had a lot of great looks, executed a lot of our plays and our wide open shots that we missed, we need to move on.”

On Chicago’s run in the fourth quarter:
“Offensive rebounding of course killed us. It’s just tough. Our defense was good—they shot 42 percent. When you give up 21 offensive rebounds, it’s tough. We started containing Jimmy (Butler) in the second half. So, we did a great job. We just need to find a way to rebound the ball better.”

On Chicago’s shooting:
“It’s just something you have to live with. They made them. They’re NBA players. We just need to move forward and focus on our next game.”