(On the Win)

"We did a good job and the only thing that got us any kind of trouble at all was when we had a little stretch in there where we kind of went away from the game plan. We went under screen and rolls where we were supposed to go over, and we had a few turnovers. I thought, overall, it was by far our best performance. We shot the ball exceptionally well because I think we had good ball movement, and we got easy shots. We created easy shots for ourselves. Obviously, I think that Markieff did a great job, and we just seemed to have a pretty good flow going."

(On Playing with the Lead)

"I would like to be able to hope that we can start that way. We never dug ourselves a hole, so when we made those runs tonight obviously we went from being up to putting the game in a pretty good position rather than making up 10, 15 points where we are back to even. So I think that we can start the game and play that way when we are not playing from behind, and obviously it worked that way."

(On the Lineup Change)

"Well, first of all we came out ready to play, and I think that was the biggest factor. We had two new guys in the starting lineup, and obviously we were a little bit better defensively. They came out with a lot of energy, but honestly we can’t get excited about that game because Portland didn’t play their best game. It was a great win but we need to forget about it really fast."

(On Being in the Starting Lineup)

"I didn’t want to put too much pressure on myself, so I just came out and played hard. Just do what I do and not try to over-think the game; just play hard."

(On Defending LaMarcus Aldridge)

"I just stayed on him, stayed glued to him, roughed him up a little bit and just stayed on my feet. We definitely trapped him, so I got a lot of help from my guards. I just wanted to stay physical with him, stayed up on him, and made him shoot shots that he didn’t want to shoot."

(On His Team's Effort)

"It’s not all effort. It’s being mentally engaged. Its understanding personnel. It’s concept, philosophy, execution. One breakdown here, one breakdown there. I think when people talk about effort there’s a lot of mental effort that goes into sustaining a defensive possession and coming up with loose balls. It’s also communicating. If a team shoots 60% all night long then we didn’t do a lot right defensively."

(On the Difference Down Low)

"Chicago outscored us by 20 in the paint last game and we won. We’re not necessarily a team that’s going to get a lot of points in the paint. Phoenix is a team that’s top 10 in points in the paint. That’s what they do well. Whether its post-ups or offensive rebounds or transition. That is a strength of theirs and not necessarily our strength, so I did probably anticipate a differential but not 30 (rebounds)."

(On Feeling Ill)

"I was still sick from this morning and wasn’t sure if I was going to play or no,t so I tried tonight and I don’t feel very good. I still feel bad right now, but I guess I’ll rest tonight and tomorrow."

(On the Loss)

"It’s not a good way to start Thanksgiving with a tough loss like that. We have to move on and learn from our mistakes from this game and get a win against Minnesota."

(On His Own Performance)

"What stuck out to me was that I turned the ball over too much. There were probably some plays that I could have made faster. A couple times I probably could have been stronger with the pass. I thought I scored the ball well. I probably could have made a few more plays for other guys. That’s pretty much it. All that matters to me is that we got [blown] out. What we need to do is go back, watch film, and try to be better next game."