(On if tonight was a measurement): "I don’t think one game gives you a true measure of anything at this stage but you’re playing one of the top teams in the last decade and a half. Obviously, if you show the ability to play with them and possibly win the game, that’s a good sign. That’s the positive of the night but at the end of the day you want to win the game. You got to do the little things to win a game and if that’s a measure, then tonight we didn’t do that."
(On being outscored in the last two minutes of each quarter): "You could say that’s a measure or indication of our inability to close quarters or you can say it’s an indication of their ability to close quarters. They’re pretty good at that. That’s why they are champions. Obviously, we had a little foul trouble and we had a few lineups in there that were not our normal quarter closing lineups and we paid a price for that."
(On problems caused by Boris Diaw): "He’s a lift four. He’s going to play out on the perimeter when pick and roll action takes place. That really stretches your defense and forces you to rotate a little bit differently if you want to stop the ball at the point of entry or at the point of pick and roll. That’s one of the great values of Boris, he can play out at the three-point line and facilitate as the soccer assist guy, the pass before the next pass, or to make the pass himself and occasionally he’s going to make shots for you. That’s the challenging part. Honestly, I thought we defended very well tonight. There were some breakdowns, but that’s going to happen in an NBA game. But overall, I thought we defended very well and I thought that we gave ourselves a chance to win because of that. It was more so the turnovers and as was mentioned before, the end of a couple of quarters that lost our lead and lost our momentum."
(On the final sequence): “They missed a free throw and I looked up at the scoreboard and had about eight seconds and I went behind my back and just lost it. It went off TD’s (Tim Duncan) foot. It was just a turnover that you can’t have at that point. That’s just how the ball rolls sometimes. I’m not too upset about it.”
(On the Spurs togetherness helping them close quarters): “That comes with experience. You get more and more games and you understand how important it is to close quarters out. They did a great job of that. We were up 11 and they closed the quarter out in the second quarter so, like I said, all four quarters they did (that). You get that experience and you understand how those momentum minutes at the end of the quarter are very key.”
(On looks the Spurs were giving him): “The same looks they always give me. Kawhi (Leonard) is a really, really good defender and TD is kind of always protecting the paint. They want everybody in the paint. They just tried to make it tough on me. They did a great job of kind of forcing me to some tougher shots that didn’t go for me. For me, if I’m out of rhythm, as far as scoring, then I just try to implement my way and try to help the team. Like tonight, I was trying to get other guys involved and get some assists and get some rebounds as well.”
(On Tony Parker’s lack of impact): “I think this is a game that I am happy about. I’m never happy about a loss, I hate to lose, but I’m happy about the progress we made tonight. It’s totally different from Monday. We came to play. We competed for 48 minutes and if you give yourself an opportunity to win, that’s all you can ask for.”
(On handling Tony Parker): “It was more of a team effort. We were just trying to make his touches tough, just trying to stay in front of him. He is a great guard in our league, one of the best to ever to do it, a true Hall-of-Famer. I have nothing but respect for him. We were just trying to make his touches tough tonight.”
(On coach’s remarks of the best defensive game of the season): “It was just a conscious effort of just staying in front of the basketball on pick-and-rolls and staying aggressive and getting back in front of Tony (Parker). Once he gets going downhill, he’s so great at finishing over the bigs and making passes out of a double-team, so I just made a conscious effort tonight and game to game I just have to have that consistent effort.”
(On what to take out of a game like this): “Me, Kevin (Love) and Bron (LeBron James) and the other guys weren’t making the necessary shots we usually make. That’s part of the game. We got defensive stops when we needed and gave ourselves a chance to win and that’s all you can ask for. It started on the defensive end. That’s what it’s going to really boil down to – having the consistent effort on that end.”
(On tonight’s game): “I thought we played a better game in the second half. I thought we were very passive and sloppy in the first half at both ends of the court, but in the second half, I thought our aggressiveness and physicality increased significantly and the defense was better. It kept us in the game.”
(On what sealed tonight’s win): “We executed a couple of plays – the layup from Manu (Ginobili) was executed pretty well and the defense down the stretch was pretty good, I guess. But I don’t think either team played that great, to be honest with you. Both teams were sort of feeling each other out and are getting used to their new guys…I didn’t think it was a well-executed, crisp basketball game. Either team could’ve won it.”
(On David Blatt and his team): “We’ve spoken. We’ve known each other for a while. I’ve seen him from afar, too, while he was doing such a great job overseas for so many years. What you see now (from the Cavs) you can multiply by two or three (later in the season). They’re going to be one hell of a team. But it’s a new system, new bodies and it doesn’t happen quickly. I’m glad we played them now. They’ll be a whole lot tougher later on in the year.”
(On tonight’s win): “It’s a good win on the road. I don’t know if it does anything special for us. We’re trying to kind of get firing on all cylinders right now because we (haven’t been). But every win is a good confidence builder in kind of getting that rhythm back to where we want it.”
(On LeBron James): “He’s a heck of a player, he’s a competitor and we’ve seen him evolve into a real leader, so a lot of respect for him for what he’s done. A lot of respect for him for coming back here and building a team up again. Obviously, he’s one of the best players in the league for a bunch of years now so I respect him for that too.”
(On guarding LeBron during the game’s final play): “I tried to make him change directions and then I was going to chase him from behind. But I think it was a little bit of a bad move by me. I should’ve run backwards, but it worked out. It was so quick, so amazing – I just was there.”
(On the importance of games like tonight’s): “(The Cavs) need time to play together and go through a lot of games like this. I think this type of game is huge for them because you know that at the end of the season, they’re going to be top four for sure in the East. They need to gain experience as a team.”
(On the Cavs): “(They are) one of the best teams in the league. They have a lot of talent. They’re scary. Some shots you see from Kyrie, you say, ‘how the hell does he do it.’ Then you have LeBron attacking the rim, Kevin Love getting hot (from the perimeter) and Varejao rolling to the basket. They are a great team and it’s very important for us to get a win here.”
CAVALIERS NOTES:
- Cleveland’s defense forced 16 San Antonio turnovers and held the Spurs to an opponent season-low 92 points.
- The Cavaliers dished out 23 assists. It was the fifth time in the last six outings that the Wine and Gold recorded 20 or more assists this season.
- The Cavs had four players notch double-digit scoring nights (Varejao – 23, Irving – 20, James – 15, Love – 10).
- Anderson Varejao recorded his first double-double of the year by scoring a game and season high 23 points on 11-16 (.688) shooting, to go along with a season-high 11 rebounds and a pair of blocks in 37 minutes. It was the first time Varejao notched 20 points in a game since December 18, 2012 against Toronto (22 points).
- Kyrie Irving has now scored 20 or more points in five straight games after he registered 20 points, while adding a 3-4 (.750) mark from three-point range, four rebounds and a team-high three steals in 37 minutes of play. It is the fifth time in his career that he has strung together five straight 20-point games. Irving has now connected on three or more triples in five straight games and is shooting 18-31 (.581) from long range in that span. Irving also swiped three steals for the third time in his last four outings.
- LeBron James went 2-3 (.667) from behind the arc and tallied 15 points, nine assists, six rebounds, one steal and one block in 34 minutes. It was the third time this season James recorded those totals in a single game.
- Kevin Love posted his second straight double-double and sixth of the year by recording 10 points, a game-high tying 11 rebounds, a season-high tying five assists, one steal and a block in 35 minutes.