See what the Brooklyn Nets had to say after their 117-113 win over the Miami Heat.
KENNY ATKINSON
On attitude in fourth quarter:
“I thought the whole game we had great energy, great effort. It just comes back to, the game will reward you when you play with that kind of grit and passion and energy. I thought that it was maybe one of the highest intensity games we’ve played all year. I think our backs were to the wall a little bit against an excellent team – real credit to the guys. I thought our defense was outstanding in that second half. Twenty points in the third and then 24 in the fourth and a lot of guys contributed. A lot of really good signs from our young players and guys off the bench.”
On benefit from winning game like this:
“Definitely. Before the game I said, if we don’t compete with these guys physically and energy wise, it’s going to be tough to even have a chance, quite honestly. So I think they did understand that message. I do think that our two days—good practice yesterday and Ky (Kyrie Irving) coming back and kind of having a good practice with us yesterday. The spirit was real good yesterday in practice. I’m kind of corny, I think that stuff carries over. I thought KD (Kevin Durant) coming out and being in the huddle and talking, it’s just a collective energy with the group. And you know how that can go, it can go the other way. When you face adversity, we became even more together, tighter as a unit. So that was bodes well for the future.”
On Spencer Dinwiddie's decision-making:
“Your quarterback, your guy that’s running the team, you have a lot of discussions. I think with Spencer he’s trying to find that perfect balance with getting his teammates involved but still being aggressive. He’s really trying to find that. At the end of the day, I’d rather him be aggressive. I’ve really come to that conclusion. I had a good talk with him the other day. We need him to be aggressive. I think that’s helped us keep afloat and keep our head above the water when we were playing really well. We need him. It’s just that clear. I can live with a couple bad shots. I think he’s continuing to improve in that area and tonight was a good example of him balancing, doing a better balancing act.”
CARIS LEVERT
On back against the wall going into game:
“Like you said, we always do – especially at home – we like to protect home court. We haven’t been doing a great job of that. And we had a great defensive effort in the second half. We have got to keep that going.”
On confidence from fourth quarter shots:
“My confidence never wavers to be honest with you. Miss shots, make shots, it happens. I think I was like 1-for-7, so in my mind, next seven are going in, you know what I’m saying? So it was good to see them go in, good to get the win. But like I said, it doesn’t really waver for me.”
On team needing him in fourth quarter:
“Absolutely. I love those moments. I love playing in those moments. When coach put me back in, I relish those moments. It wasn’t just me. Everybody made huge plays. Joe with that rebound and the timeout, that was a huge play. And we had huge defensive stops. The zone really worked late in the game. It was a team effort.”
TAUREAN PRINCE
On the difference in fourth quarter:
“I think it was communication, from timeouts, from everybody talking, everybody sharing what they see, coaches giving us a great game plan and putting us in position to execute. The five guys that were on the floor were communicating as well and doing what we had to do down the stretch.”
On benefit from winning game like this:
“Yeah, to be honest, we didn’t talk too much about what they did or what we lacked last game. It was more focused on us. Like you said, we’ve been on a losing streak, so it’s more what we can do as the Brooklyn Nets to improve. I don’t think there’s necessarily anything that other teams have done to really allow us to lose those games. I think it’s things we can correct and things we can get better at. It’s not that teams are outright better than us, so that’s great going in next day after knowing that the things that you can control are the reasons that you win or lose a game.”
On staying together through losing streak:
“We’re all pros. We know there’s a lot of games and you can’t dwell on the past too much. Only thing we do is turn negatives into positives and I think we as players carry that on and off the court and keep pushing, putting our work in and trust the work.”