SONICS COACH NATE MCMILLAN:

On what changed the momentum of the game in the fourth quarter:
We talked at halftime that the first team to play defense would win the game. We were shooting 60 percent and I think they were shooting 63 percent at the half. We played no defense. For three quarters, we didn’t play we on the defensive end of the floor. The fourth quarter, we got our defense into the game. We hung around for three quarters and then in the fourth quarter started making some shots. We needed someone to step up tonight and I thought Nick Collison came off the bench in the second half and really did a good job on (Pau) Gasol. This was a great effort by the guys. They didn’t give up; they didn’t quit. Antonio (Daniels) had a huge night making big shots. Luke (Ridnour) had some big shots. Ray Allen was Ray Allen.

On what the Grizzlies were doing on offense:
They were just penetrating by us. We were aggressive, but too aggressive. We were out of position and they were scoring any place they wanted to off their half-court sets. We got a little bit tight when they got aggressive on us. The fourth quarter we found a way to make some big shots.

On the fourth quarter:
The fourth quarter, we only gave up 13 points and scored 34. It’s a 48-minute game, we talked about that. We were down 16 at the start of the fourth, so we just wanted to slowly get back into the game. Get a stop, score, get a stop, score, and that’s exactly what we did to get back into the game.

GUARD ANTONIO DANIELS:

On why the Sonics won:
Defense. We actually started playing it. That was the difference in the game. We started playing defense in the fourth quarter. The first three quarters it was flat-out run-and-gun. We started taking advantage of the mismatches we had on the offensive end.

On his shooting:
I can’t afford to be concerned with that. I have to just play, try to be aggressive and try to make things happen. Sometimes it’s going to fall and sometimes it’s not. You have to continue to play and continue to be the player you are.

GUARD LUKE RIDNOUR:

On starting 5-0 at home:
At the start of the season, we wanted to make sure we take care of the home court. Last year we didn’t do that and it hurts you.

On what the Sonics are doing:
Everyone has stepped up and that’s been the great thing about this team. We’re not playing for the name on the back of the jersey but the name on the front. It’s fun basketball. I know it’s early but we need to keep going and keep playing hard.

On his shooting:
I’m just not thinking about it. Shots are going to go or not go, so I just have to keep playing. It’s not really my role to hit shots, but when I have them, I have to hit them. I need to just play hard and keep getting everyone involved.

GUARD RAY ALLEN:

On going on the road after tonight:
I think we’ve learned a little about how we want to play. We have to continue to do those things which make us successful. It’s basketball. It’s five-on-five. We have to continue to beat our opponents out there.

On Daniels:
He stepped up big. He made a lot of big shots and took a lot of pressure off of Rashard (Lewis) and me. From their point of view, Rashard wasn’t scoring and I was on the bench for a while, so they figured they had the game under their control. But AD stepped up and made those big shots.

MEMPHIS COACH HUBIE BROWN:

On the game:
With us up 21 points, they scored on 22 out of their last 29 possessions. We had six turnovers in the first three quarters and then had six turnovers in the last quarter. Most of our foul shots were in the first three quarters and we couldn’t get a call going to the basket to break their momentum. Now, in spite of all that, we still should have won the game.

On his team down the stretch:
We missed two critical foul shots. We miss a couple of easy shots inside the paint, then we missed a pass for a dunk when there was nobody with us in the paint right in front of the rim. I thought our lack of execution down the stretch was very discouraging.

On the Sonics:
You’ve got to give them credit because you can’t score on 22 out of 29 times without excellent execution. Daniels and Ray Allen did an excellent job for them and played well. I give them a lot of credit. They did an excellent job coming back and executing under pressure. They executed and they made their foul shots.

On the Grizzlies start to the game:
We got the lead and we dominated for three quarters because we kept attacking the basket off the dribble. Our execution was outstanding. That was the best three quarters that we have played this year on the road. We were scoring because we were moving the ball and we ran our stuff extremely well.

FORWARD MIKE MILLER:

On the game:
We just didn’t execute. They outscored us 34-13 down the stretch. We turned the ball over and didn’t execute down the stretch. You've got to execute … that’s the bottom line.

The bottom line is that we didn’t do what we capable of doing in the fourth quarter. You just have to give them credit, they finished off the game and we didn’t.

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