(On the game): “I really thought we came out and competed. You saw a team that was together, despite missing 50% of our normal rotation. I thought that, against a very good team, we had our chances to win the game, which we missed. Certainly it was a good effort. We were together in fighting and we’re a team that had a chance to win, despite the losses we suffered in terms of injuries.”
(On Kevin Love’s injury): “His back tightened up on him. I don’t know too much more than that (right now).”
(On how team rebounded with such a positive performance after poor play against Detroit): “Some good-hearted soul searching and talking and leadership from within. (This is) the kind of grit that we should have as Cleveland people.”
(On the play of Kyrie Irving tonight): “Kyrie took responsibility (tonight), understanding that we had some scoring issues. I just thought (he) played his heart out. The kid is just a wonderful young man who understands what this is about and is doing everything he can to impact (us) in a positive way. I just think the world of that kid.”
(On his back spasms): “This was just one of those things where (my back) just locked up on me. It happened previously in a game back in November. I thought the guys (still) played extremely hard in the second half fighting back.”
(On if his back got worse during the game): “I came out with about ten minutes left in the third, and I tried to go back in with about two minutes left. I felt okay, but I told (our trainers) at halftime it wasn’t feeling too great, so that’s when we decided to take me out. I had one game earlier this year where it spasmed on me, but I was able to come back and play the next night. I’m hoping that it’s the same thing.”
(On if there is anything good to take from the game tonight): “Obviously you don’t want to lose, but we kept fighting and cut it to two. There were a few plays that could go either way. We kept on to the end. But we can’t hang our heads. We have a game against a good (Milwaukee) Bucks team tomorrow, and we just have to be prepared for them.”
(On facing a defender like DeMarre Carroll all night): “He’s going to challenge me and I have to be up for the challenge. I had to be aggressive since we had some guys down. I just had to take open shots when I saw them. Tristan (Thompson) and Kevin (Love) did a great job in setting screens for me to get me open. Tristan got some good looks, too. I turned the ball over a little too much tonight, but this is just part of us growing up as a team. I have to be smarter in running our offense and settling us down.”
(On the game): “Nights like tonight can be really hard for a lot of reasons. Our group finding a way to win the game is something that is important. It obviously wasn’t our best or our prettiest game, but they (Cleveland) played well. Kyrie Irving was really, really hard to guard. He put them on his back, and other guys around him were making shots. So give Cleveland a lot of credit for the way they played and the way they fought. Our guys found a way to make enough plays to win.”
(On Paul Millsap): “Paul made a lot of plays down the stretch, getting to the basket, being aggressive and being decisive. Between he and Jeff, they both made plays that allowed us to make it home.”
(When did you know Horford wasn’t available?): “During warm-ups, he started not feeling well. Literally two or three minutes before the horn goes off, before the national anthem. We’re fortunate that we have bigs, and we have depth in Elton (Brand) and Mike Scott. All of those guys helped us. Obviously we miss Al, and he’s a big part of us, but it was last second, unforeseen, no warning. Hopefully he will be fine.”
(On effective guard play): “Hopefully that has become something where each night, different guys are stepping up and making plays. Even if one of them hasn’t had a particularly good game or a particularly good couple of games, I think we all expect them to play well every night. Dennis bouncing back after a couple of tough games is a great sign for him. He put in good work the past couple of days. It’s a credit to the assistant coaches, keeping him confident and keeping him aggressive. Kyle is Kyle. He’s going to make shots. We’re probably spoiled that way. It’s always good when those guys are efficient.”
(On setting franchise record for wins in a month): “I think we’ve just been really consistent with our approach to the game. That’s really encouraging. It’s a long season and there are going to be ups and downs, but if you can continue to bring the energy and be focused every night, you can do a lot of things in the NBA. We have good players and good coaching too, obviously. Our approach has been good. We keep getting better at what we’re trying to be, as far as a system and as a team.”
(On reacting to the last minute roster changes): "This is what happens. A lot of games are won and lost in the first quarter when you come out and take a team lightly or you have an extra edge coming into the game. The first quarter is really important, in how you approach the game. They had LeBron (James) out, Kevin Love was out. It’s easy to be like, ‘It’s going to be an easier game.’ But if you come out and have a bad first quarter, now you’re in a hole. It’s the same thing. Al’s out. We knew we had to pick it up a little bit.”
(On Paul Millsap down the stretch): “He scored eight points in a row. He played well. That’s what we expect out of him. He stepped up tonight in the clutch.”
(On the 14-win month): “We’re just playing together. We believe we can win every game. Tonight we came out and played hard together and as a team, we played defense.”