DETROIT PISTONS HEAD COACH STAN VAN GUNDY: (On the loss): “We couldn’t contain Isaiah Thomas. We could not keep him out of the paint. We couldn’t stop him one-on-one on drives or on pick-and-rolls when our big guys tried to trap him. Thirty four to 10 in free throws was also a huge part of it. When you get outscored by 27 at the line and have 19 turnovers it’s going to be tough to win.”
(On number of turnovers): “Yeah, 19 turnovers. It makes it hard on your defense because you have to get back in transition against quick people like him (Isaiah Thomas). It’s tough. We’re asking a lot of Reggie (Jackson) to create plays so he’s in their tight. We’ve got to find a way to get to the line more. To have 48 shots in the paint and only get to the line 10 times, we’re going to have to look at that and figure out how to get to the line more.”
DETROIT PISTONS FORWARD TAYSHAUN PRINCE: (On scoring his 10,000th career point as a Piston): “To be among eight guys to do it, (I think) there would be more guys to do it if they were in a Pistons uniform as long as I have. I’ve never been a guy to go out there and put up big numbers on the offensive end every night. Obviously due to how many years I’ve been here, and obviously coming back, I had the chance to accomplish that.”
DETROIT PISTONS FORWARD GREG MONROE: (On getting to the free throw line): “I think guys were attacking. I don’t remember every play but I guess we do have to be more aggressive.”
(On Isaiah Thomas’ game tonight vs. Pistons): “We have to do a better job containing him. It’s pretty simple, running pick-and-rolls, we have to do a better job containing him.”
BOSTON CELTICS HEAD COACH BRAD STEVENS: (On Isaiah Thomas): "He was great. He's great with the ball. He's a really skilled player. The groups that he was playing with were really skilled groups. He was able to get to the rim and get his own shot. He's excellent off those pick and rolls.”
(On Isaiah Thomas's scoring): "I thought the first week back from the back injury, he was very tentative. He's really playing more like himself. We need him to be good. We don't need him to score 34 every night, but we need him to be good and he was good tonight."
BOSTON CELTICS FORWARD JAE CROWDER: (On win tonight versus Pistons): "It was a big game. We made runs, they made runs. We responded when we needed to. We held our poise and got the win. We got stops when we needed to."
(On Isaiah Thomas): "He's just playing. They didn't make too many adjustments in the first half on his pick and roll. He let the game come to him. His shots were falling tonight."
(On team play versus Pistons): "We’re just playing within what we do - letting the game come to us and playing at a great pace. We executed all the plays that we wanted to. It was good."
BOSTON CELTICS GUARD MARCUS SMART: (On team performance versus Pistons): "It was one of those nights where guys just played unbelievable."
(On playing against Monroe and Drummond): "It's really important for us. We have to be aggressive. We can't let those guys determine the type of shots we get and control the game on the inside. No matter how many threes we hit, or jumpers we hit, we've got to win the game in the paint."