See what the Brooklyn Nets had to say after their 133-118 win over the Chicago Bulls.
KENNY ATKINSON
On Brooklyn offense and shooting percentage:
“I thought we got out in transition and got a lot of easy buckets. They (Chicago) are the sixth-best defense in the league. They do a phenomenal job, but I think our goal was to get it up the floor before they could get that defense set. They still turned us over 20 times. Obviously, Kyrie (Irving) – vintage performance. I can’t imagine a more efficient game on only 23 shots. Really, really impressive. And then I think Spencer (Dinwiddie) was right behind him, super efficient. But give Jarrett Allen and DJ (DeAndre Jordan) and our fives screening for them. We did a good job – 31 assists I think—getting it out, moving it. But having those two guys play at a high level like that, that bodes well for us in the future.”
On not forcing shots:
“I don’t think about all the plays we’ve gone through offensively. It’s very rarely where I’ve said, ‘man, that’s a selfish play.’ And that’s weird for a scorer like him to take a lot of bad shots. Spencer (Dinwiddie) too. I thought they shared it. I thought they kind of got their points the right way, if that makes any sense. But a really good offensive performance. Defense was average.”
On Jarrett Allens' 5 assists and behind-the-back pass:
“He told me he wants to, if I’m OK with him taking more risk. So I think that’s part of that. And I said yes, I want you to take more risk because I think that’s how you get better. It was in the context of a different situation, but we need him to take some risks, especially when there’s so much pressure on our ball-handlers, he’s got to make plays for us. The talent’s there. I just think he’s got to get the confidence to make plays like that. But very, very talented guy.”
KYRIE IRVING
On what was clicking and motivating him:
“We need it. We need every game we can get right now. It’s just the task at hand. We have goals that we set for ourselves as a team, and we just want to accomplish them with whatever it takes. I’m just happy we came out with the win. My teammates were in the right spots, they were being aggressive. When they’re being aggressive like that, it makes my job a lot easier.”
On the offensive efficiency:
“We’re just reading the defense. I think when you make the right play, you can come out on the high efficiency side after games and I think that we’ve been doing that. We’ve just gotta keep building consistency — that’s the difference between a good and a great team – so we’ve just gotta keep building, keep building. I think the guys in the locker room are doing a great job of listening and really just being aggressive on the defensive end, and that’s leading to our offensive capabilities.”
On if there was a shot where he knew it would be special game:
“No. In the first quarter, I was just feeling out the game. I should have probably had three turnovers in the first quarter just throwing the ball around, but it came right back to me. I was just staying aggressive, end of the shot clock attacking (Luke) Kornet and really just getting downhill as much as I could. It was the hockey assist tonight that was really clicking for us. It was getting in the paint, making the extra pass, making your teammates feel good, then getting back on the defensive end. Even though in the second half I don’t know how much we gave up, but we gave up a lot of points. It was one of those games, but we extended our lead and I’m happy we came out with this win.”
SPENCER DINWIDDIE
On Kyrie Irving:
“He was on fire. Ten-for-ten in the first half; 19-for-23 for the game, right? Only Mike (Michael Jordan), Wilt (Chamberlain), and Ky did it, so we just witnessed history.”
On five players in double figures:
“Obviously, a little bit was making shots. But in terms of back-to-backs, it’s all about taking care of your bodies, being locked in, kind of mentally pushing through some of the fatigue because everybody’s going to have it, and just keeping that focus.”
On 31 assists:
“Some of it’s a product of how they play defense. They’re very aggressive. They blitz, so at the point of attack, unless you’re Kyrie, you’re going to have to pass the ball a little bit just because of their blitz. And then that creates closeout situations so everybody’s got to drive-and-kick and just do the whole thing and what leads to the added assist numbers.”