Rockets Owner Leslie Alexander on Making the Playoffs

On how nervous he was at the end of the game:
LA: This was an amazing game. It was back-and-forth, back-and-forth. They looked like they had us dominated, then we came back and won it. It was a great game. It was a lot of fun to be in.

On if he feels like having a full building and a crowd like this will give the team extra momentum heading into the playoffs:
LA: Winning always gives you momentum, so hopefully this does. There's nothing like basketball, because it goes back-and-forth, back-and-forth so many times in a game, so it's great.

On how he feels right now:
LA: I feel elated that we're in the playoffs.

On how difficult the last two weeks have been:
LA: It was gut-wrenching, and you didn't feel good. It was just hard to read the sports pages and that kind of thing.

On if he lost confidence or got nervous at all during the course of the last two weeks:
LA: Well, I got nervous - obviously. You want to be in the playoffs, you want to do well, and losing one after the other is just hurtful, if that's the word.

On the how hard it was the last four years after missing the playoffs every year:
LA: Let's talk about the first five years (he laughed). The year that was tough was when we had won 47 games and it was the most wins ever by a team that wasn't in the playoffs, and that was really tough. We had a really good team, but the West is always tougher than the East. We won 47 games and were better than a lot of teams that were in the playoffs, so that was very tough that year.

On if this is everything that he had hoped for:
LA: Well, not everything. Everything is a championship. We haven't got everything.

On if he has a preference on who the Rockets play in the first round:
LA: No. You don't know who is going to play well in the playoffs or what is going to happen. You have no idea until you get there.

On how nice it is to have a spot locked up with three games to go:
LA: It should have been done 10 games ago, but it's nice. It's nice that Portland lost tonight and Utah lost last night. We're probably going to get the seven seed, so that will be nice also.

On if he thinks the Rockets will be in the marquee matchup in the first round no matter who they play:
LA: I think we're going to be a marquee matchup. I don't think we're going to be the marquee matchup.

On if it seems like it has been five years:
LA: It's been a loooong time. (It has worn on me) a lot. A whole lot.

On what he thought about Steve Francis tonight:
LA: I thought he was fabulous tonight. It was his best game of the season by far. I thought he was great at both ends of the floor and was great on the fast break, which really helped get us back in the game.

On how the team has had some key additions this year:
LA: I think (Jim) Jackson was real key. He's the glue of the team, he's so tough. You see the kind of defense that he played on Carmello Anthony tonight. Carmello had a tough game because of him. If it wasn't for him, who knows what the game would have been like. He's always trying every second on the court. He makes the guys better and is a team leader. It think he is the glue of the team and is just fabulous.