DETROIT PISTONS HEAD COACH STAN VAN GUNDY: (On the win): “My staff was saying it was the best win of the year. That was a heck of a win. Our guys kept fighting. There are a lot of things you can criticize us for, but through everything that has gone on this year this group has continued to fight. They continued to fight tonight. Even though he (Reggie Jackson) had a lot of turnovers, I thought Reggie really stepped up. We had a talk last night about him wanting the opportunity to be “the guy”, well “the guy” can’t be tired. Those guys play 36 to 38 minutes every night and have the ball in their hands every play, they have to make every play; they’ve got to take the responsibility. I thought he stepped up and was not the least bit afraid to take the game on his shoulders tonight.”
(On Andre Drummond): “He (Andre Drummond) carried a big load on the boards and he played well with five fouls down the stretch. I brought him back with seven minutes to go with five fouls, but we were down and it was time. It was a now or never thing. I thought he played well down the stretch. He played it smart and hard. I’ve been proud of this team a lot of times this year, but maybe no more so than tonight. That was tremendous. We have a tired group, but they fought it out and got a great win. It’s a happy group in the locker room.”
DETROIT PISTONS CENTER ANDRE DRUMMOND: (On Coach Van Gundy’s post game comments): “We fought hard. Fought real hard, we were down 15 with like two minutes left, and we played poised and played together. We got the stops that we needed to and came out with a great win.”
(On Reggie Jackson’s layup): “He took over. I talked to him throughout the game. He was a little down throughout the game and I grabbed him in the fourth quarter and I was like ‘Let’s get yourself going and take your time and play your game. We need you to play.’ The last couple minutes of the game he really did what he needed to do. He got himself going and he got stops on the defensive end and got that game winning layup.”
DETROIT PISTONS GUARD KENTAVIOUS CALDWELL-POPE: (On fourth quarter comeback tonight vs. Heat): “We turned it up on the defensive end. We got stops, grabbed rebounds, and pushed it in transition. On the offensive end we were knocking down shots, we got to the free throw line and made layups.”
(On guarding Heat guard Dwyane Wade): “I tried to make it tough on him. He’s a great player and you have to continue to play hard, I tried to crowd him, and not give him too much space.”
MIAMI HEAT HEAD COACH ERIK SPOELSTRA: (Thoughts on loss to Pistons): "I really don't remember a defensive stop other than the second to last play for the last five minutes. Obviously Reggie Jackson was tremendous going down the stretch. He made every big play and we just couldn't get a relief stop or a relief bucket going down the stretch. They just totally turned the momentum."
(On Miami defense): "It was tough - those turnovers. Trying to execute under pressure of the fourth quarter, getting the ball where it needs to go, making the right reads - obviously we fell short on that."
(On bouncing back down the stretch): "We're all very disappointed in this locker room right now, but there has to be a quick turnaround. This last stretch is about perseverance and endurance. Every team that is in our group right now is going through these emotions right now of tough wins, elation of big wins. So, we have to find a way to bounce back. Thankfully we play immediately tomorrow."
MIAMI HEAT GUARD DWYANE WADE: (Thoughts on Reggie Jackson): "Reggie made some great plays down the stretch. We made some defensive lapses that we shouldn't have made, but they just ran the offense. Reggie made most of it happen and got them back in the game."
(On getting over loss to Pistons): "It's going to be tough. It's a terrible loss. I can't tell you how. Obviously you have a game to play. It's going to be tough to get over this. There's no way we should lose this game."