DETROIT PISTONS HEAD COACH STAN VAN GUNDY: (On being outscored 65-21): “Well, I thought there were three things in the game; our bench was not good. The second quarter was really where the game was decided. Everything else was competitive and obviously their threes and our threes.”
(On going into the game wanting to defend the 3-point line better): “No we wanted to keep the ball out of the paint and we did a better job of that, they knocked down some threes. Smart hit a couple early, Theis hit a couple; those are two guys shooting 29 and 30 percent. They knocked some in, they shot six more than us and made seven more than us. I thought we had some really good looks at threes and didn’t knock anything in. I thought those were the three things; second quarter, the bench and the 3-point shooting.”
(On the team’s collective energy) : “I thought early in the game we were really good. I thought we struggled in the second quarter but I thought in the third quarter we played really, really hard, got it back to four. I think we were fighting hard. I think we’re fighting hard and we had that one stretch, I don’t know what we were down at the time, but we got those three threes within about 30 seconds. One in one possession, Bullock got two on one possession wide open couldn’t make them, those are things that turn the game around.”
DETROIT PISTONS ANDRE DRUMMOND: (On defense) “When you’re playing a guy like Kyrie Irving ,getting Terry Rozier, the guys that really attack the basket, and that’s what they’re known for, it’s really kind of tough to take them out of their game because they can beat you anyway; take you to the basket and shoot the open threes. I think we did a pretty good job the first quarter and earlier in the second quarter but we were down and they kind of wore us out the rest of the game.”
(On second quarter) “I think we came out with no energy and they played harder and wanted it more and the scoreboard showed that.”
BOSTON CELTICS HEAD COACH BRAD STEVENS: (On tonight’s performance): “I thought after the first quarter, we looked a little slow reacting in transition, but I thought after that, we were pretty good. Our bench was good all night on both ends, our starters came back and ...”
(On Marcus Smart tonight): “He’s been antsy to play. Two days ago, same thing. I guess the silver lining was him being off of his feet for a few weeks, so he should have plenty of energy.”
BOSTON CELTICS FORWARD DANIEL THEIS : (On the play of the bench tonight overall): “I think the bench gave us a good push overall, a good defensive push – especially on defense, and we tried to protect the ball on offense.”
(On how Marcus Smart impacted the game): “It helped us as a team because he’s another ball-handler on the pick-and-roll. He shares the ball, he looks for the pass and then when there’s no pass, he wants to score. He was great for us today.”
BOSTON CELTICS GUARD MARCUS SMART: (On how it felt to get back out there): “It felt good; I’m not going to lie. Before the game, I was actually a little nervous – it felt like my first game of my NBA career. But it felt good to be back out there.”
(On if he got into a rhythm): “Definitely, it was like I hadn’t left and that’s a good feeling for any player. To come back from an injury, right back and try to get right back ASAP, it’s a big for a player – especially for me, and especially for this team.”