Postgame Quotes - April 18, 2012

“This was quite a reversal. One day you play like a king, one day you don’t. Atlanta was very, very good. This game was very disconcerting. It was disappointing to perform like this. We’ll have to put forward a better effort. Giving up 72 points in the first half and 200 points in the game, what can you say about that?”

“I don’t want to blame our performance on playing back-to-back nights. We were two different teams from last night to this. Tonight they came out and put it to us. They just got rolling early, and we couldn’t keep up. To come back and lay an egg after last night is disappointing. I’d rather get a W than score my career high.”

“I thought our guys came out and started the came with a lot of energy. That’s two games in a row, after a poor start against Toronto as far as energy was concerned, got off to a good start, really getting up and down the floor. We moved the ball really well. When we went to the bench, our bench guys came in and their energy was there as well. They did a great job of getting up and down the floor. Make or miss, we really ran tonight. We put a strong emphasis on getting out and really getting our transition game going, regardless of whether they scored a basket or not. I thought we did a really good job at that, and moved the ball extremely well. We were on point with everything we did tonight. We were able to sustain for four quarters. It was just a great overall performance from the entire team.”

“When we are good in that area (shot selection), we put so much pressure on the defense. At times, we can get a little complacent and take the first available shot. But sometimes the first available isn’t always the best shot. I thought tonight we did a really good job with that. Joe was really explosive off the dribble in getting into the paint, and getting to the basket.”

(On having balanced scoring): “It means a lot. Our depth is a big part of our team. Having our bench playing good right now going into the playoffs is really big for our team.”

“When you play defense the way we played defense, and get out and run and share the ball the way we shared the ball, it’s a fun way to play the game. And I think we did that tonight. We played unselfish, we played tough and hard on ‘d,’ and when you do that, you can have nights like this.”

“I was just being aggressive and attacking, and providing energy. I think it’s pivotal for us to get off to good starts like that. Executing on the defensive end equals good offense on the other end. That’s what we did, and we kept it up all night.”

“We provide a different kind of spark with the guys we have coming off the bench. Some of those guys could be starters on other teams, so we have veteran guys coming off that know how to play….we just provide great energy on both ends, and tonight that’s what we showed.”