Game Quotes: Cavaliers at Boston Celtics - April 10

(On his fourth quarter substitutions): "We came in with a very specific idea of how we wanted to play the game minutes-wise and I was just remaining true to that regardless of the score."

(On what he takes away from tonight's game): "First of all, it was a good game for us. The Celtics played well. Credit to them. We got a chance to play some guys that haven't seen the floor a lot. We really wanted to do that and at the same time give our starters some significant rest in the game without sitting them all together. Kyrie (Irving) not playing as planned, and honestly, that was a last minute thing. He came in after the morning shootaround and he was a little sore in the hip. We just decided to see how he felt at game time and he did not feel better so I decided to shut him down. That was not the plan originally. So him not playing made it a little more difficult but we got real good performances. I thought Mike (Miller) came in and looked great. Perk (Kendrick Perkins) did a nice job for us as did Shawn (Marion), and that's good. Those guys got a chance to see the floor and those are all good players that work hard every day. You never know when you're going to need one of those guys and all of them are making sure they're ready for what's coming up. So those are the takeaways from the game."

(On if his team is worried about who will get the No. 7 seed): "No. Honestly, we're worried about ourselves right now and about trying to deal and balance to diametrically opposed things. One is to keep guys in shape and the other one is to rest them. The result of the games are a little less important because we've finished in second place in the Eastern Conference and we've won the division, and that's not going to change one way or another. Those are the only two things to consider. Our guys lived up to the challenge that I felt we should finish in second, but whoever we draw in the playoffs, that's not something we're planning for or trying to arrange. That's not at all a thought in our minds. Our thought is how to play this period of time and keep guys in their rhythm. At the same time, we want to rest them and come to the first playoff game in the best possible shape."

(On balancing rest and maintaining rhythm): "I think we did a good job of that tonight with the guys that were in. We gave what we had tonight. We had a few guys out. You have your practice days, you have your shootaround days as well, going down the stretch to stay in the rhythm."

(On if it's tough to sit in close games): "Being a competitor, for sure. For me, being a 12-year veteran, the bigger picture is always what's important. For us, what's important is for us to stay in rhythm. I think we got some really good minutes out of the guys that were in the lineups – the big guys that played the bulk of the minutes and also to stay healthy. We came out of the game and everyone was healthy, that's the main thing."

(On Mike Miller playing tonight): "I think it's good for anyone to see the ball go through the net – no matter how great of a shooter you are like Mike Miller and James Jones and those guys. To see the ball go through the net and meaningful minutes like it was in the third quarter, it was big time for himself, I know it as well. I was happy to be out there with him."

(On David Blatt's minute setup): "It was a great thing. Most everyone got to log minutes. Shump (Iman Shumpert) took a big hit last game to the leg and Kyrie (Irving) got some rest. So I think other guys were able to step in and try to find some sort of rhythm which is going to help us moving forward."

Tristan Thompson

(On the Cavs' 12-0 run in the third quarter): "When LeBron is out there driving and you've got (Kevin) Love, Mike Miller, Dellavedova and J.R. Smith or James Jones out there, that's four really good shooters. Any of them can hit three in a row at any time, and that's scary."

(On the Cavs' third quarter): "(LeBron) and Love really got it going in that third quarter. They don't have to show me what they're capable of. First of all, I watched it on TV for years, and then I saw it firsthand the last time we were here. We took a pretty good punch in that third quarter."

(On the Cavs' third quarter): "I thought Evan (Turner) and Jae (Crowder) tried to make it as difficult as possible…He's such a hard guy to cover. When he wants to get to the rim, he can. That's why you have to be back in transition. You can't be running with your guy, because you need five back to help stop him."

(On if Boston's blowout loss at The Q in March weighed on them going into tonight): "It weighed a lot, especially after we went through that game. All we talked about was coming back here and trying to redeem ourselves. We just wanted to give it our all out there tonight."

(On the absence of LeBron James and Kevin Love in the fourth quarter): "We weren't paying any attention to that. We have one thing on our minds, and that's to keep playing. We had a feeling that they weren't going to play that much, especially in the fourth quarter. But our goal was just to focus more on our team. If they're out there, they're out there. If they're not, they're not."

(On Boston staving off the Cavs' third quarter comeback attempt): "We knew the first five minutes were really important. We just tried to keep bouncing back. I think with our rhythm and tone, the way we started, we were ready to withstand anything they gave us."

(On the key to winning if the Celtics face the Cavs in the playoffs): "I think we have to set the tone, play hard and press our tempo. They've got three of the best players in the world and a lot of great role players. It might be a rough night if you go along with their tempo as we've already seen."

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