(On tonight’s game): “I got a great friend who coached with me at Maccabi Tel-Aviv for a couple of years and he once told me, ‘never underestimate a win’. I don’t know what ugly means and I don’t know what not pretty means, but I know we beat a team at an away game that we needed to start our road trip. Despite a lot of things we didn’t do particularly well, we did the right thing at the right time and we won the game.”
(On Kyrie Irving): “Obviously Ky (Kyrie Irving) had a spectacular performance tonight, it’s plain as day. I’m not making news by saying that. What I really like is that he’s been playing both ends of the court. He’s consistently played as a high level two way player and that’s what you want from one of your lead guys.”
(On the team’s performance): “I don’t want to be elected as the MVP giver of all the games. Obviously Kyrie (Irving) was the outstanding player of the game. It’s not about one player, it’s about a team. Some nights you have to have someone who can lift you out of the doldrums or can carry the team when some of the other guys or most of the guys don’t have it going. What I really liked is that in the second half we held them to 34 points. That’s a great defensive half and that’s what won the game for us. Kyrie was the best player on the court, no question.”
(On guarding Carmelo Anthony): “In some ways it was an off night for him but we forced them into tough shots. They were able to change the pace and slow us down but in the same way we were able to force him into double teams. We know that is not Carmelo but at the same time we defended him well at times.”
(On tonight’s game): “The first three quarters weren’t pretty but the last six minutes of the game was pretty good.”
(More on tonight’s game): “Tonight the ball could have gone either way. We were 2-9 or 2-10 in 50/50 balls. In the second half we were grittier. We hit our free-throws and Ky (Kyrie Irving) hit a big shot in the end. We have a big test in Toronto tomorrow.”
(On tonight’s game): “We have to continue to get better. It is a process for us. We are a young group as far as our experience together. We will continue to build.”
(On Kyrie Irving): “I took over the point guard duties as far as distributing the ball and he took over the scoring. We needed it.”
(More on Kyrie Irving): “I read the game. I saw Kyrie got it going. You feed the hot hand and you make sure everyone else gets involved.”
(On the defense): “In order for us to be great we have to play defense and we have been doing that the last couple of games.”
(On guarding Carmelo Anthony): “I always enjoy. I take as much pride on the defensive end as I do on the offensive end. To be able to guard one of the best scorers in our game is always a pleasure.”
(On his play tonight): “I wasn’t as aggressive as I should have been. I will always be satisfied with my mistakes when I am aggressive. I felt out of rhythm. I felt like I didn’t play a great game. To be able to make an impact when you aren’t in a rhythm is always great.”
(On Shane Larkin’s floater at the end of the game): “I wish I could predict what kind of shot we can get every time down. We had a floater right there…it went in and out. Those are plays where we had a good opportunity to get the lead. I think that was a good enough shot in that situation.”
(On Quincy Acy guarding Kevin Love): “Quincy did a good job competing. Kevin is a phenomenal player. Kyrie (Irving), tonight, had it going so they didn’t go to him as much. He (Quincy Acy) put a great effort out there on both efforts on the floor.”
(On calling timeout at the end of the game): “I think they (the referees) are trying to watch the action in the game. It is something that many coaches are concerned about. They want us to not walk out there but I don’t know you can get a timeout if you don’t. It doesn’t look great on television but you want to make sure you get a timeout called.”
(On his shot at the end of the game): “I got a good look at it. It rolled in and out. I will take a good look at it.”
(On Cleveland’s defense): “I don’t think they made any adjustments. They stuck with their schemes. We got whatever we wanted out there. We got in the paint. I thought Shane (Larkin) did a good job of using the pick-and-roll. For the most part, everyone played well. I wish I played better. I know I can play better. I wasn’t there for my team offensively.”
(On his shooting): “One of those nights. Same looks I get every game…I didn’t make them tonight. I wasn’t there for my team offensively.”
(On the lack of free-throw shots): “We have to continue to run our offense and playing and attacking and getting to the free-throw lines. Some games we shoot a lot of free-throws. Tonight we didn’t shoot a lot of free-throws. It is going to be like that.”
(On the defense): “I thought we did a good job of getting some stops especially at the end. Kyrie (Irving) did a big time play driving and shooting with the left over two guys. That is a big time play. For the most part I thought we got the stops defensively…we couldn’t convert offensively.”