See what the Brooklyn Nets had to say after their 123-109 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers.
STEVE NASH
On Kevin Durant:
"He was great night. Obviously they doubled him a lot, and he had 13 assists, two turnovers, his shot making was kind of his normal, incredible self. And so very well done, balanced game in short minutes. So he was huge for us."
On playoff experience of Durant, Irving and Harden:
"Well, it helps for sure. I don’t know if it supersedes or not. This is a game about harmony, chemistry, routine coming together and we’re going to have to do that in a short amount of time but we understand that. We accept that. We do have guys who are talented and have a lot of experience. So, hopefully we can rely on that as we find ourselves. But great challenge, great challenge for us to go out there and try to find who we are and play at our best level in a really short period of time here."
On Harden and Harris practicing this week:
"I think James will be fine. I think Joe might need a few days, I’m not really sure. I think it’s about monitoring the situation. But there’s a case where he may not practice the whole week, but that’s okay. He’s played a lot of minutes this year and we want him to heal up as best he possibly can and kind of not have to chase this thing through the playoffs and have it linger. So, we can resolve it. I’d rather he resolves it than practice this week. He can follow along and rehab and that would make me happy, but if he’s able to practice I’m sure he will."
BLAKE GRIFFIN
On team being healthy for playoffs:
“That’s the goal, you know. Obviously to win games and have a good seeding and have home court and all that, but health is the most important thing. I think our performance staff and our doctors and coaches do a great job of managing that and making sure that everybody’s ready to play. It’s great that everybody will be ready to go. Now we just have our work cut out for us in terms of preparing and executing.”
On believing team can be special in postseason:
“We have work to do as I just said. To be special, you can’t be special just by showing up. We’ve got work to do. We’ve got to lock in and really know our scouting reports know our game plans and execute. We have very talented players. We have guys who have given up something, who have sacrificed something to be here. That means a lot to everybody. When everybody knows that everybody has that one goal in mind it helps the camaraderie.”
On taking momentum into playoffs:
“Playoffs are different basketball. It’s a different brand of basketball. Once you’re in you’ve got to lock in. There’s a lot of mental toughness that goes into winning playoff games. Preparing for then throughout the game. Making the adjustments. All of that. There’s highs and lows in the playoffs and you have to be able to sort of ride that storm. We have a lot of guys who have played a lot of playoff games. Hopefully that will come in handy for us.”
KEVIN DURANT
On Irving joining 50/40/90 club:
"Well, I mean, phenomenal season from Ky. He’s a guy who can get it from anywhere on the floor at any time at that size is remarkable. Point guards that get 50/40/90 is just so much more impressive to me seeing Ky, Steph, Steve do it. I’m sure there’s more, but those three stand out to me as small guys that get to the paint, from middie, from three, free throw line. They can do it all, so I’m very happy for Kyrie, and I’m sure this won’t be his last time."
On what it means to clinch No. 2 seed and have momentum for playoffs:
"I don’t think we have any momentum. I mean, we just…whatever we did so far is out the window. We obviously have principles and a foundation we want to build on, but it’s a new season for us and I think that’s the mentality we all will have. We did some solid things throughout the regular season, but we just want to continue to keep getting better but realize that the regular season is over and it’s a new vibe for us. I’m looking forward to the preparation we go through, just the whole journey I’m looking forward to."
On looking at roster and believing it can win title:
"I really don't think about it like that. I mean, I look at it like we got a lot of talent on this roster, we play together, we play hard, and we’re healthy right now. So if we come out there and play desperate basketball and smart basketball to start, we put ourselves in good shape. But you never know what’ll happen, man. But every day is important and we just try to keep going.”