Detroit: Maurice Cheeks | Greg Monroe
Oklahoma City: Scott Brooks | Nick Collison
(On foul trouble tonight, play of Nick Collison and Steven Adams in the fourth quarter): “It was offensive rebounding. When we had a chance to either close the gap or go up, they would get offensive rebounds for a score or kick it out to somebody else. We had a small lineup out there. Those guys are used to rebounding like that and playing like that. One time we had Kyle (Singler) boxing out somebody. I think (Serge) Ibaka comes in and gets a wide open offensive rebound for a dunk. I thought we played hard. I thought the guys played hard and just couldn’t make the shots when we needed to make them.”
(On the West Coast road trip): “I liked the way we played tonight. We played hard. We played aggressive. Going on the road it’s just again part of the NBA. When we talk about shooting, it’s part of the NBA. You’ve got to be ready. You’ve got to be committed to what you’re doing and you give yourself a chance; road’s always tough. It’s always tough to play and go win games. Like I said, if you’re committed to doing it the right way, you got a chance.”
(On status five games into season): “Obviously we can be better. I don’t think we’ve been playing horrible or bad, but like you said it is three legitimate title contenders. We were alright in all those games, but they just made that extra push at some point in the second half to put them over the top. I think once we get to that point where we have to force those runs; people always say in the NBA teams are going to make those runs, but those good teams force those runs. I think that we have to get to that point, I think we’re on the right track, it’s going to take more time.”
(On Jennings’ post-injury progress): “By him missing the whole pre-season he’s still getting to the rhythm that most of us got in during the pre-season. The more we play, in a couple more games, I think he’ll be ready, maybe even next game. I think today he showed what he can do and he looked very comfortable out there and I think that next game you’ll see us gelling out there a little bit more.”
(On second unit): "I thought they did a good job. Nick (Collison), Steven (Adams), Fish (Derek Fisher), Jeremy (Lamb) and Reggie (Jackson) did an outstanding job. It was a team effort and we did a great job of moving the basketball and taking care of the basketball."
(On fourth quarter): "I knew we needed a scorer with that lineup. Steven (Adams) and Nick (Collison) did a really great job of playing well with each other and understanding what needs to be done by protecting the pick-and-roll coverage and also the paint and rim."
(On interior defense): "Going into the game we knew a few things they do very well. They create turnovers and we want to take care of the ball."
(On defensive play): “Defensively, we've been locking in, making them shoot over us. We're encouraged by our play. We still have to get better, but we're encouraged with the start.”
(On overall game): “We just kept it simple and tried not to make too many mistakes. I thought we were strong on defense; we did give up too many open threes, but we locked in defensively in the second half. Some nights will be different than others, but our bench and our starters played well.”