Brown

On the added enjoyment of preparing to play the same team several games in a row
“I don’t look at it like it’s extra enjoyment. It’s a different kind of mindset. It seems like, from game to game, you have to make decisions and adjustments, because your job is to help your team and put them in a position to win. I love practice. I love competition. I think this is the highest level in our sport. When you get to the NBA Playoffs, it doesn’t get any more competitive than that. When I look around, I see guys like Derrick (Coleman) and Tyrone (Hill) and Monty (Williams), and even Allen (Iverson) now and Aaron (McKie) … as many times as you think you are going to be playing for the championship, all of a sudden you find you don’t have many shots left. I don’t take that lightly, especially with some of the older guys.”

On his comments about New Orleans being the best team in the Eastern Conference
“I think when you get into the playoffs, teams are supposed to be pretty good. They are a step above. I’m not playing psychological games. I was trying to be honest. I felt that New Orleans was the best team at the beginning of the year. Unfortunately, they had some injuries. Now they are healthy. I have not changed. (Jamaal) Magloire has really improved. They have added Kenny Anderson, which I think is a huge loss for Boston and a big gain for them. George (Lynch) finally figured out he can contribute in his role. And then they have Stacey Augmon. So, they have depth, they have experience, and they have defense. They have more than one scorer. When Baron (Davis) was out, (David) Wesley was (scoring) in the twenties. Jamal (Mashburn), you know can score. You know Davis can score. They have great role players. I think they have great coaching. I believe they are a real challenge. But, I hope that they would look at us and saw, ‘Hey, that team is a challenge for us, as well.’”

Iverson

On his view of the match-up with New Orleans
“I feel like it’s going to be a tough match-up. I feel that, regardless of what team we have to play, it is going to be tough, just because it’s the playoffs. It’s a whole new season. Nothing is going to be easy. It’s never easy in the playoffs.”

On losing three of the last four games heading into the Hornets series
“It’s the playoffs. We won our last game, so we’re coming in with confidence. They won their last five, so they are going to be confident. It’s a whole new season. Nothing else matters but the next game. That’s the only thing that’s going to matter is Sunday. You’re not even going to think about what you’ve done in the past. The only thing that matters is the game that we are going to be playing.”

On Coach Larry Brown’s comments that this has been Iverson’s best year in the NBA
“It might have been my best year just because I played all 82 games. It is something that I have wanted to do. When the season was winding down, I had opportunities to sit out a game and try to get my knee better. For a personal goal, I wanted to play all 82 games. Fortunately, I was able to do that. As far as it being my best year, I think it was my best year as far as making everybody around me better. Just trying to do everything on the basketball court, just working hard on every aspect of my game. It was one of my best seasons. I had my ups and downs, but you are going to have that in every season.”

On what is a tougher task for an opponent, stopping Jamal Mashburn or himself
“Their team trying to stop me. It’s as simple as that. I feel like my energy level is going to be so high. Just getting back into the playoffs and having another opportunity to win the championship, I’m going to bring everything I’ve got. That’s not just trying to score, that’s trying to create for my teammates, as well. Once this series starts, I’m going to demand a lot of double- and triple-teams. Hopefully, I can get a lot of open shots for my guys. Not taking anything away from Jamal Mashburn – that’s going to be one of the toughest assignments that guys have had all year. But it’s just as important for us to make it a group effort and not just put that pressure on one guy to try to stop Mashburn, because one guy can’t stop him. It’s hard to stop any scorers in this league one-on-one. It has to be a group effort.”

Thomas

On his becoming more comfortable with Philadelphia after being traded from Houston
“(I am) not as comfortable as I want to be. It was a hard transition coming in here – I had never been traded before. The first month and a half or so, it was kind of difficult just coming in and being the new guy. Just the whole change. I think I adjusted kind of well.”

On the team losing three of its last four games
“It’s over with. The regular season is over. The second season is starting right now, so we just have to get focused for Sunday.”

On whether he prefers to guard Jamal Mashburn or Baron Davis
“It doesn’t matter to me. I am going to accept the challenge. If I have to guard (Mashburn), I am going to guard him. If I have to guard Baron (Davis), I’m going to guard Baron.”

Van Horn

On the benefits of playing in the NBA Finals last season with New Jersey
“Experience is everything in this league, especially in the playoffs. We have a lot of guys on this team that have a lot of playoff experience. (We have) guys that were here when the Sixers went to the Finals a couple of years ago, guys like Derrick (Coleman), who have been on a lot of playoff teams. I like the experience-level of this team. I think we are all confident going into the first round.”

On the importance of becoming a second scoring option to Allen Iverson
“I think that it’s very important. What we saw in the second half against New Orleans the last time we played them, they really focused on Allen. I don’t think we did a good job of moving the ball and getting everyone else involved. I think the key for us this time is, when they focus on Allen, to put in some sets like we did today that create a lot of ball movement and get a lot of other guys involved so they just can’t focus on one person.”

On the Sixers up-and-down season
“I think that right now, we have to go out there and prove ourselves. I’ll stay with that statement. If you look at any team in the Eastern Conference, I think any team can win here in the playoffs and any team can lose it. That goes for teams one-through-eight. We are included in that group. That’s what it’s all going to be about – who’s playing the best basketball, who’s playing the best team basketball, and who gets on a roll going through these rounds.”