Detroit: Lawrence Frank | Tayshaun Prince | Brandon Knight Nets: Avery Johnson | Deron Williams | Shelden WilliamsPistons Head Coach Lawrence Frank
(On the Game)
“I thought our guys showed real character and grit. You look at three games in a row, fifth game in six nights, there were opportunities where it could’ve gone south but we kept on fighting and put ourselves in a position to win the game and hit shots to tie the game, but it didn’t work. Obviously second shots, especially in the first half, if you look at the first quarter I think half their points were second chance points. We just came up a little bit short.”
(On Brandon Knight’s and the rest of the team’s play)
“He fought his tail off. I thought our spirit was very, very good. What you want to do, whether you’re at home or on the road, especially looking at our last couple of games where we weren’t even competitive, is put ourselves in a position to win the game. We came up short and there are things we obviously need to do better, but we gave ourselves a chance.”
(On the team’s performance)
“To be able to have a chance, it felt good. It has been a while. Hopefully we can continue to have games like this where we can be in a one and two possession game, whether we are up or down where we can work on our situations.”
(On positives from tonight’s game)
“The positive is that we played harder than we’ve been playing throughout this losing streak. We have to continue to play hard. If we play hard good things can happen and we have to continue to do that, not let it become a once in a while kind of thing.”
(On the final shot)
“It felt good, but it didn’t go in. We ended up getting a decent look. It didn’t go as planned. We would like to be a little more open, but it did feel good.”
(On playing against Deron Williams)
“One-on-one with a guy like Deron Williams is very tough. Throughout the night it is a team effort. We started to blitz him and get it out of his hands, but it wasn’t just me trying to take an effort it was all of us.”
(On the Game)
“When I come into a game I am just expecting the unexpected. We thought that we had our line-up set. We thought we had nine. We knew that Anthony tweaked his ankle a little bit last night but we thought that he was going to be ready to play. Our doctors checked him out and said no go. I told them that they were the great eight tonight and that’s the only way you can look at it. I told them that before the game, I told them that after the game. We normally give a set of nets to the guy who is the “Most Valuable Player” of the game, but we just kind of cut it up into eight pieces tonight because each one of them deserved it. I can go on and on down the list, everyone contributed tonight. It was a tough game for both teams. Both teams have some of their key players out, we only had eight players. Great leadership by Deron down the stretch, Jordan Farmar had some big three’s, and Shawne Williams gave us a big boost in the first half with his three point shooting.”
(On Keith Bogans)
“Keith Bogans came in and had a big game for us. Deron and I were laughing because we haven’t had a cut like that to the basket all year. He made a big bucket for us. We tried to use him to slow Tayshaun Prince down. He did a good job on him, he’s a tough cover and we fortunately forced him into some tough shots. We needed to also win the rebound game, and tonight we did that. They were baiting us on switching our point guards, but we wanted to stay big on him. Our guys adjusted and did a great job defending the three-point line.”
(On beating a team that they were “supposed” to beat)
“Yeah, definitely. If you wanna be a good team, you gotta win the ones you’re supposed to. They had a couple of key guys out as well. It was an important game for us at home, we’ve been struggling so much, and this is a team that’s been struggling, so we had to take advantage of that.”
(On the win)
“I think any time you have wins like this you look at them, you keep fighting and you keep scrapping. We found ways to win. We missed free throws, but we got stops and that’s what’s most important.”
(On taking more shots when he’s hitting)
“I was just taking what the defense was giving me. My jumper felt good, so I was taking advantage of that. “
(On winning a close game)
“It’s big for us. With us having so many players out, for us to continue to find that fighting spirit and continue to do that. We showed that in Indiana but came up a little bit short. We wanted to have that same energy coming into our home town and play with that same energy.”
(On his mindset before the game knowing only eight players dressed)
“We all came out in a huddle, before we even stepped onto the court for the first time, and we looked around like, is this all? It seemed like everybody was dropping off, but that’s just the way the season is. A lot of teams are dealing with the same issue.”