SONICS COACH NATE MCMILLAN:

On LeBron James' performance:
I really do believe that he will be a great player someday. He does so many things. He’s young, he’s got a lot of confidence in himself and he’s just a great player. If he stays healthy, his numbers will be such as what we we’ve seen tonight throughout his career.

On the Sonics 23 turnovers:
That is thing that we’re not pleased with. We won this game and definitely are happy with the win, but we didn’t play well. I didn’t think we did a good job of controlling the boards, we didn’t do a good job of taking care of the ball, and to have 23 turnovers in the game and still be in the game, you’ve got to be lucky to win the game, and definitely lucky to just be in the game. We’ve got to do a better job of taking care of the ball. We have been in past games but tonight, 23 turnovers I don’t even know how we were close.

I think we’re playing in traffic. I think we’re doing too much pounding of the ball, too much dribbling, as opposed to moving the ball. Teams like that have good defenders on the ball. (Jeff) McInnis is a great defender on the ball, Eric Snow is very good, (Ira) Newble is good, LeBron James is good on the ball. So you can’t attack those guys off the dribble. You’ve got to set screens, move the ball from side to side, allow those guys to relax and then hit them with a screen. We were trying to beat them off the dribble.

On how the Cavaliers defended Ray Allen tonight:
They’re playing him aggressive. They’re not leaving him; they’re bodying him, being physical with him. We knew this would come. He’s had a very solid season and they’ve got to find a way to stop him. What he has to do is be patient, and he has to trust in his teammates.

On Vladimir Radmanovic's role off the bench:
Vladimir came through, he played big. He boarded tonight as well as knocked some big shots. He made some big plays and we need him to do that.

GUARD RAY ALLEN:

On what the Cavaliers did with him:
Defensively, they made sure they didn’t leave me. There was a guy on me when I went to the hole. There was a body always right there. It was frustrating, but those are the situations where you have to find the right play. I thought I had some early turnovers but when I get the shots I have to take them and make them. They did a good defensive job on me tonight.

On the fourth quarter:
The fourth quarter is my time, I feel. Whether I make them or not I’m going to do something. I’m going to be heard or seen in the fourth quarter. I’ll have some type of imprint on that game. That’s just how I’ve always played.

On defenses focusing on him:
Now with Rashard (Lewis) out it’s double-time. If I was coming in here and see Rashard out I would say, “Take Ray out and don’t let him shoot the ball. Make the other guys beat us.” At the end of the game, they’re keeping me from going to the free throw line and shooting free throws. But I've got Luke (Ridnour) who shoots as well or better percentage-wise. I told LeBron, “You should be double-teaming Luke and let me come to the ball because he shoots it better than I do.” So he went and knocked down all his free throws. So the next play down the court he runs and doubles Luke and A.D. (Antonio Daniels) gets it. And I said, “Well, he shoots it at 86 percent too.” So you’ve got to pick your poison.

FORWARD DANNY FORTSON:

On James:
He’s going to be a great player. He’s a great player now and he’s going to get better as he goes along. I could see him doing a couple different sports, not just basketball. He could play wide receiver. He could do a lot of different things other than pro basketball.

CLEVELAND COACH PAUL SILAS:

On the game:
Rebounds 50 to 31 and second-chance points. That’s really what jumps out right away. They just outrebounded us. That’s all I can say, they were going after it and we weren’t. The turnovers that we made were careless turnovers. Jumping up in the air and just turning the ball over.

On the Sonics:
When they are penetrating and kicking out, that’s their game. We know what they do. You have defensive concepts and you have to stay with the concepts. You have to hope they get contested shots.

On Drew Gooden's foul trouble:
He was having a good night offensively you know. When he picked that foul up, I had to sub for him and it hurt us some.

On the Sonics slowing James in the second half:
I don’t know. He got 35 points. I don’t see where they handled him that well.

FORWARD LEBRON JAMES:

On the game:
They got a great contribution off the bench from Vladimir. They just got great production off their bench. They outrebounded us by 20 rebounds and that was pretty much the game.

FORWARD DREW GOODEN:

On his foul trouble:
I don’t know what to say. It might be this West coast trip or these Western Conference refs or what. It’s been tough. I done had 17 fouls in the last three games. I mean you are only allowed 18 in three games and I got 17. It has been tough. It has been frustrating. I have to suck it up and take it like a man. I just have to try to get in a rhythm as much as possible.

On Fortson:
I think he brings energy and aggressiveness. I mean, he is a load down low. There were a couple of plays where I could have helped out on the drive but I was more concerned about getting in his path of the offensive rebound. You have to keep aware of where Danny Fortson is.

Notes: