Postgame Report: Pacers 122, Hawks 118 090410

April 10, 2009 at Atlanta
Hawks 122, Pacers 118

PACERS COACH JIM O'BRIEN

“We just didn’t have enough to beat them tonight. When they made their run, we lost our concentration. We turned the ball over and didn’t challenge any shots. At one point in time, we only challenged two of 16 shots, and that’s not going to help you."

"They have a great backcourt. When you look at (Mike) Bibby and Joe Johnson’s statistics, it’s a great combination.”

PACERS CENTER JEFF FOSTER

“Hopefully we’ll be able to come back next year and get our franchise back on top."

"Our intentions were to win this game, although our playoff chances were very slim. These last four games we’ve been trying just to see what happens, but unfortunately we’re not in the same position the Hawks are in. They closed the door on any hopes we had to make the playoffs tonight.”

PACERS GUARD JARRETT JACK

"We came out and worked hard and fought hard tonight. They’re an athletic bunch, and coach warned us is that the third quarter is when they make their runs, and we weren’t able to withstand their runs tonight."

"Of course we wanted to come in and spoil their celebration tonight. I see a lot of these guys in the offseason, the Hawks have worked hard all year to put themselves in this position, and you can see that it has paid off."

"This is definitely the highlight of my season coming back to Atlanta and seeing a lot of familiar faces.”

HAWKS COACH MIKE WOODSON

“I couldn’t be more happy for a group of guys who stuck in there the whole season. Some predicted we wouldn’t make it to the playoffs, but they fought all year to get to this point. It started back in camp about being in the top four spots, and it held true. I’m so happy for that locker room. We’ve accomplished that, and now we need to stay focused for these last two games, and start preparing for the playoffs.”

“I will start to rest guys, but they have to understand that they need to stay in top shape in practice, and take care of their bodies on and off the floor.”

“This team is different than last year. We had to fight just to get in and made a series out of the first round. This year is a lot different and it started from day one. We are playing good ball. We have won 12 of the last 18 games to put us in this position. I’d like to win these last two and give some big minutes to the guys who may need it.”

HAWKS FORWARD MARVIN WILLIAMS

“It felt good to get back out on the floor. We had a complete team effort. It had nothing to do with me personally, but I’ve been out more than five weeks, so it was good to get back out there with my teammates. I haven’t run in a few weeks, but it felt good.”

“I’ll tell you who had a great game- Josh Smith. You could see the look on his face when he walked into the arena, that he was going to have a good game. We all knew coming in that we wanted to clinch the fourth spot, and it showed tonight.”

HAWKS FORWARD JOSH SMITH

“Words cannot describe how I feel. Personally for me, when I came into the league we won 13 games, and now being able to clinch the fourth spot is special. Even last year making the playoffs, people were counting us out saying we weren’t going to even make the playoffs this year but we proved them wrong.”

“We needed this game. We knew the teams we were playing the last few times did not have a winning record, but they were playing hard in the games before coming here. I knew it was important for us to come out and establish ourselves early and it led to a win.”