Head Coach Kenny Atkinson, Brooklyn Nets
On what the difference was in the fourth quarter:
“I think we cut it to two, right? I think it was 83-81 and I think we had a turnover, missed shot and they came down and I think they scored off our turnover, (Ron) Baker hit that three and then Frank (Ntilikina) came down and hit the pull-up three. I think they went on an 8-1, 9-1 run. We fought back, didn’t play very well, but that was kind of the knock-out punch. They took us out in the beginning of that fourth quarter and then dominated us the rest of the quarter.”
On if he looks at the three losses to the Knicks as unique or if there were a lot of similarities:
“Oh, very similar, very similar for some reason. Their bench comes in and kind of dominates us, and that’s not usually the case with us. Our bench is our spark plug. But give them credit. I thought their bench, again, made the difference. And I think that was the similar story in all three games. I wish I could say it was different but that was pretty clear.”
On if he felt like the Knicks took away the paint:
“I thought they did a great job waiting for us at the rim on our drives. But we do have to do a better job of kicking it out. If they have two guys waiting for us at the rim, we have to make that extra pass. I think we’ve regressed in our ‘making the extra pass’ philosophy and against this team, that’s flood the rim all the time with two bigs, you have to make that extra pass.”
Caris LeVert
On the difference in today’s game:
“I feel like we played defense for three good quarters and the fourth quarter we kind of let up a little bit and that led to their breakaway in the fourth quarter.”
On the change in their defense in the second half:
“We’ve just got to move the ball better on offense. They’re a good defensive team and we missed a couple guys on open shots that we usually pass.”
On if New York’s length gave them problems:
“No, I wouldn’t say that. We’ve just got to play harder as a team and do better on the defensive glass. I
feel like we did good for three quarters and like I said the fourth quarter we kind of let up.”
On missing shots and getting better shots:
“I mean, a little bit of both. We missed some open ones but like I said, we shot some tough ones as well.”
On if there is a common thread between the three losses to the Knicks this season:
“A little bit. They’re a physical team, a good offensive rebounding team and a big team. So we’ve just got to play better and play harder.
On the discouragement of missing 3-pointers:
“I mean obviously everybody wants to make shots. But that’s not why we lost the game. I feel like we can control the game with our defense and we let up in the fourth quarter.”
Rondae Hollis-Jefferson
On the difference in the fourth quarter:
“It’s tough man. We were doing a lot of fouling I would say. They go to the free throw line a lot.”
On what was successful in the first three quarters:
“I think we did a better job at rebounding the first three quarters, the first half especially. I feel like we could have done a better job at keeping them from driving in and fouling them, too.”
On what the Knicks were doing that was giving them the most problems:
“I would say, they always play aggressive and pressure the ball, so I would just say that’s being more in control of us, and drives and people staying in space. They’re a big team.”
On whether they needed more open looks or if there were open looks and they just didn’t hit them:
“That’s just part of getting back in the gym and just putting up more shots at the end of the day because
sometimes you’re going to have days like that where you’re not getting shots. It just happens. That’s the
way basketball is. You just keep working.”