Pelicans Coach Alvin Gentry:
On number of second chance buckets factoring on the win:
“Well yeah I think so too. Obviously, you know we turned the ball over. We just had too many turnovers, too many live ball turnovers, where all of a sudden they’re rebounding and then they’re running out. That puts you in a tough situation, you can’t get your defense set in that situation. The turnovers were probably the biggest factor. I mean obviously the second chance points were big; 24 to seven, but I just thought so many things happened with the turnovers. I thought the turnovers hindered us more than the second chance points.”
On what the Clippers did well to defend us:
“We had some shots that were very makeable shots that we didn’t get in the basket. A couple times we took a tough alley to the basket and couldn’t quite get it there. You have to be able to execute, and get the ball to the right person and then they have to be able to get it in the basket. I thought we did a great job of pushing it without taking the timeout. We got Anthony a layup that just didn’t get quite to the basket because we had to save the last timeout.”
Pelicans forward Anthony Davis:
On if there is progress being made with the team:
“There is some progress being made. I think we’re doing a great job defensively, we’re doing better. Tonight they just hit tough shots, there’s nothing we can really do about that. There were a couple of plays where we could have been better down the stretch, and played better throughout the course of the game. We had a chance to win, we had it tied up.”
On if the game was frustrating:
“It’s frustrating but we have to stay together. That’s it. We have to do it together. During games we either make some big plays, or don’t execute toward the end. We just have to figure it out. It’s frustrating to lose, but we put in work every day trying to get better, but we’re playing hard in the games but it’s just not coming out the way we want it to.”
Pelicans guard Jrue Holiday:
On if the game was frustrating for him:
“I think we did everything we could have. We put ourselves in a great position to win the game, but when it comes down to it we have to execute at the end of the game. I had two key turnovers, one I tried to pass to AD, but it think DeAndre tipped it. When it comes down to it, I have to execute better. That’s pretty much it. ”
On the first half lead:
“I do feel like we got a little nonchalant and that’s when they started coming back. Even though J.J. had their first eleven points, he was the only one scoring. The second team came in and played well and pushed the lead back up.”
Clippers Coach Doc Rivers:
On the game and Luc Mbah a Moute:
“Defense all game. You know it’s a great example and we talk about it all the time. Your offense is going to let you down and you have to be prepared for that. We had great offense all year and tonight they let us down. We couldn’t make shots, but we won the game because we dug in the entire game defensively. It won’t say statistically, but Luc was the star tonight. Luc guarded (Anthony) Davis as well as you can guard and doing that allowed everybody else to do their thing. So it was nice.”
On J.J. Redick, DeAndre Jordan and Chris Paul:
“J. J. Redick was in a grove for a while. He was the one that guided the score for us. He has been great. The last play for Jamal (Crawford), the timing of that and DJ sets a great pick, that’s execution and belief. CP is struggling and he knew to try and get someone else involved and that was a great pass play for him as well.”
Clippers guard Chris Paul:
On the win:
“It was very important. We kept talking about it and we had every excuse tonight to pack it in. I think this was our fifth game in seven nights. This was a good win for us, especially with the long flight going back. We showed a lot of perseverance and we did it together. It wasn’t like it was one unit. We got out to a rough start. The second unit came in and got it going. It was a total team effort.”
On his shooting:
“I knew sooner or later, it’s got to go in. All of the shots I shot early felt like they were going in, but my legs were a little heavy tonight. The guys on the team kept telling me to stay aggressive, keep shooting, and it went down when we needed it.”
On winning without Blake Griffin:
“It’s big. It’s big for our confidence and our team morale just doing it. But we are a much better team with Blake.”
Clippers guard J.J. Redick:
On the bench effort and playing without Blake Griffin:
“I think our rotation has been better. The bench has given us a lift, not just scoring, but with their energy and their spirit which has been really good. It’s hard to make any broad proclamations because we are going to need Blake Griffin for us to do what we want to do. It’s great to win these games without him, but let’s hurry up and get him back on the court.”
On the start of the game:
“We were dead. This was the fifth game in seven nights, out on the road. Five different cities. We talked about during the first time out, sitting on the bench. We said let’s just keep it close for a while. We will get our energy and get our rhythm. We just didn’t have it at the beginning of the game, so I just wanted to be aggressive and get us going offensively.”