SONICS COACH NATE MCMILLAN:

On the game:
We built the lead in the first quarter and then we got really loose with the ball and allowed them to get back in the game. Defensively we didn’t stop anybody all night long. They outworked us on the boards and second opportunities. We knew that would be big, keeping them off the boards and out of the paint and we didn’t do that. Offensively, we looked hesitant with our attack and our shots. And not enough movement. We flat got outworked tonight.

On Steve Francis' play:
Whenever a guy like that gets hot, it’s tough tot stop him. For the most part, late in the game, we had guys covering him right in front of him and he was able to shoot over Luke (Ridnour) most of the time. It’s tough top stop a guy like that when he’s rolling.

On where the Sonics go from here:
We going to try to get out of here as quickly as possible and get to Washington and get some rest and get ourselves ready to finish this road trip. This team has played well, they played hard. Tonight we didn’t execute and we had no presence defensively. We put this game behind us and move on.

On missing Reggie Evans tonight:
The rotation has been there, and it’s the first time we’ve really been without a starter. We had a different rotation and basically had guys doing something a little different. We needed to stop this team defensively and keep them in front of us and we didn’t do that.

On using Ronald "Flip" Murray off the bench:
We needed to try and get a rhythm. Rashard (Lewis) had a tough time getting his shot off and we needed to rest (Vladimir) Radmanovic and Ray (Allen) and see if we could get somewhere in there that could give us some offense. We knew it would be a match-up problem defensively, but mainly trying to rest some of people and get a spark.

FORWARD RASHARD LEWIS:

On the game:
The Magic made some adjustments in the second half and Steve Francis caught fire - that was the main thing. In the first quarter, we played a good game but they didn’t play too well. They were turning the ball over a lot, and I think that is what hurt them in the first quarter. In the second half, Steve Francis caught fire and got hot and basically hit almost everything he put up.

On what went wrong for the Sonics:
I think tonight was just one of those night where we didn’t put a whole 48-minute game together. We jumped on them early in the first quarter and they got back in it in the second. They basically took away the momentum coming out in the third and the whole second half they had the momentum going their way.

GUARD ANTONIO DANIELS:

On the game:
Tonight it just wasn’t there, and that is going to happen sometimes. We are going to lose games - it’s not about how you lose games, it’s about how you respond. Hopefully tomorrow at Washington we can come out and play with the same intensity and hunger that we’ve been playing with so far this year.

On playing on the road:
We haven’t made excuses this whole year and we are definitely not going to start now. This has been a very successful trip for us so far and we’ve played well up until tonight. We can still make it a successful trip if we go up to Washington and playing like we are capable.

GUARD RAY ALLEN:

On the game:
Steve Francis got hot. In hindsight it is easy now to say we should have made adjustments and maybe put a bigger body (on him). Luke played good defense on him, but he got hot. He carried the team in the second half, and they scored every time down the floor. Other than that, I think Reggie’s presence definitely was missed tonight. He has his own and unique way of playing and battling underneath the glass. In the overall scope of things, we didn’t have a good defensive effort just based on pure numbers.

ORLANDO COACH JOHNNY DAVIS:

On the game:
I thought that was perhaps the best defensive effort we’ve had all year on a 48-minute basis. Everyone committed to playing defense and helping one another and I thought it all started yesterday in our practice when we really focused in on not just the strategy involved in what we’re doing but what happens if the worst thing happens and someone gets broken down and needs help. That’s what good defense is; it’s helping people, it’s containment, it’s rebounding, it’s contesting shots, it’s making the game difficult for the other teams best players and we did that tonight.

On how important this win is to the Magic:
Tonight we played toe-to-toe with one of the best teams in the league. Their record is phenomenal, they play very good basketball and for us to come out tonight and just meet them head on and not blink, I think, is a huge step for us. We’ve beaten some quality teams but the common denominator for our success against quality opponents is defense. When you look at the teams we’ve beaten that have good records, that’s been the difference and I thought that was the difference tonight. Hopefully we’ll build on that and understand that we have enough scoring, we need to lock people down.

On what the Magic did well:
Every game should be played with an edge - not just show up and play the game. It should be played with an edge from an intensity standpoint and I thought we had that tonight.

On the Magic coming behind from a big deficit in the second quarter:
We talked about it all the time. It’s a 48-minute game and just stay the course. Just continue to play as hard as you can while you’re on the floor defensively and then execute and take care of the ball on offense. We did those things, we got the stops we needed, the ball began to move and hop on offense. Our screens were solid and we started once again, playing with the confidence that we played with earlier in the year.

On Stacey Augmon's role:
Stacey is a huge factor for us both on the floor and in the locker room. His emphasis, his focus, is coming out and shutting people down and that’s what he does. He did that for us again tonight. He brings a defensive mindset to us which obviously we needed. Having struggled on the defensive end the past few weeks or so, I thought the commitment again was there and that’s who he is.

On Steve Francis' play:
Steve was huge for us. He made big plays throughout. The other part of that is our guys were setting tremendous screens to free him up and it goes hand in hand. Steve was the finisher on the play but our big guys were getting him open and the other guards were delivering him the ball in a timely way and that’s what execution is.

2004-05 Postgame Quotes/Notes Archive