Postgame Quotes - April 1, 2013

(You found a way to win): It looked like it was going to go the other way. In the fourth quarter, we started with the 15-2 run. They responded, Gay hit the three and they took a one point lead. That fourth quarter group was tremendous. They had really good spacing and played very unselfish basketball. It was a game where both teams struggled defensively. That fourth quarter group really impacted the game.

(Thoughts on Jose (Calderon): I thought he was good. He played 43 minutes and had a great floor game. He shows his energy throughout. For teams in similar boats we were able to gut it out. I liked the spirit we had.

(Did Jose jeopardize the future receptions he might get here?) No, no. The Toronto fans are very classy. It is good to show the appreciation because Jose is a first class guy. I was happy for him because I know how much he loved it here. This is not a guy that has anything negative to say about Toronto. He always embraced it and speaks very positively about it. There is no bitterness. I thought the fans were first class.

(Thoughts on the game): We did a good job of withstanding their runs today and responding with our own. Guys showed a lot of fight. They definitely made some tough shots, some big shots. But guys responded and everyone kept their composure.

(Thoughts on the way Khris Middleton finished the game): Khris is definitely playing well at both ends of the court. He is doing a very god job and can match up with anyone. Tonight he took the challenge, and he was hustling, making plays, a lot of hustle plays getting us extra shots.

(How did it feel?): It is hard to explain but it felt great. I think it is going to be one of the better moments in my career for sure. Just not the beginning, when they showed the video with my different times as a Raptor with longer hair, shorter hair, less hair, more hair. It was a lot of great moments that came to my mind and I was thinking about it. It was a tough one because it was during a timeout and I didn’t know if I should check the board, the coach was talking or just say thank you. It was great thank you very much.

(Was it a hard night?): It was. Like I said the other day I played against them two days ago, nothing similar it was just a game. It was fun because it was my teammates on the other side, but tonight I had that weird feeling from this morning and coming to this place. It was better than expected, it was amazing.

(The camera caught you going up the wrong tunnel at halftime?): I went to the wrong tunnel, yes. They called me out really quick so it was just like three or four steps that’s all.

(Did you cry?): It was emotional, I don’t know no tear was out but I was close.

(You missed nine straight shots in the third quarter but found a way): It was good tonight, a good night. Everybody was sharing that ball, moving and getting the stops at the end six of the last eight or something like that and we needed them. They beat us two nights ago, we played better. When we have chemistry, when we are playing as a team we have a lot of guys who can score the ball. We were running the same play the last five or six minutes and everybody, different guys were getting shots. It was great, it was nice to see.

(Is Amir (Johnson) okay?): He went to block (Greg) Monroe and twisted his knee. That was a big play for us. When Amir is not healthy or playing at full speed it hurts us. Again, tonight’s game is about defence. The first team that played defence was going to win the game, and they played it first. We were trying to get defence into the game the entire night. We were going back and forth. It was a game of runs. We need to close out these games. Offensively, it was a great game by Rudy (Gay). We have to close out these games.

(Officially, the team can no longer make the playoffs): It hurts. Our goal was to knock on the door and get into the playoffs. A couple of weeks ago we saw that light, but it faded when we could not take care of games against Washington, Cleveland, and Milwaukee. Unfortunately, it is over now. It hurts. We still have games to play, and we have to compete. We have a good group of guys that will do that.

(Thoughts on the game): It came down to execution at the end of the game on the offensive and defensive end. This was a game we could have come out with a “W” if we would have executed. We had a little lapse early in the fourth quarter. We came back from that, and we could have had the game.

(Is it frustrating because you beat this team recently on their home court?) It is but not because we handled them the other day. It is because they are professionals and they are capable of beating anyone. The fact that we had this game in our grasp, we had the upper hand and we let it get away.

(Thoughts on the fourth quarter): We did not execute on the offensive end. We got caught with a couple of turnovers, and we messed up a couple of plays that we did not execute the right way. We could not slow them down when they got it going.

(Is it frustrating because you beat this team recently on their home court?) You cannot underestimate anybody in this league. Anyone can come out and play hard, you just have to be up to it. They played a tough game last night against Chicago, and they played them until the last minute. You knew they were going to come out hard and they did.

(Thoughts on playing against Jose Calderon): It is definitely weird, but I wish Jose all the best with the rest of his career. I am glad the crowd game him a standing ovation. That was big and I was happy about that.