Jan. 2, 2009 at Madison Square Garden
Pacers 105, Knicks 103
PACERS COACH JIM O'BRIEN
(On tonight’s game) “It was a good win for us. It was nice to battle and come back from five down there. For those couple of minutes, Jarrett (Jack) was absolutely terrific. He carried us down the stretch. We picked up the defense when we needed to, to get that W.”
(More on tonight’s game) “They were really defending Danny (Granger) well. Jarrett was aggressive. We got them into the bonus and we wanted to see if he could do some things and he did.”
(On playing close games) “We won one in Philadelphia by one. We have won four games by two points or less. We have lost a bunch that have been close but our guys are getting plenty of experience of playing close games down the stretch. Hopefully we will be able to even things out with close games down the stretch.”
PACERS GUARD JARRETT JACK
(On the game winning shot) “The thing that popped into my mind is the Philly (Philadelphia) game. I was going against Andre Miller and he was sagging off of me. I knew if I would get that situation again I would reel him up and shoot my jump shot.”
(On calling for the ball at the end of the game) “At that particular time, I did. I wasn’t able to get the ball the previous two possessions but I looked over and said ‘Can I get a shot in?’ and luckily I was able to come through for my team.”
(On getting the win) “It feels great. We really kept our composure. The momentum swung their way with the two technical but we were able to stay together out there and pull out a big W.”
(On his relation to Chris Duhon) “Yeah he is my cousin so we will have something to talk about at the family reunion. He has been playing real well for them. Maybe he will hit one on me in the future.”
KNICKS COACH MIKE D'ANTONI
(On tonight’s game) “Obviously we didn’t play very well. Nate (Robinson) had success on the first one (one-on-one) and then he tried the second one and it didn’t go, he thought he got fouled. So be it. We did force it. Then Al (Harrington) forced one and then Chris (Duhon) forced one and that’s really the game. Again, we did talk before you are going to have to learn somehow finish it off and we just didn’t do that tonight.”
(On the end of the game) “Well those three plays I thought we were a little hectic and just put our heads down and then we had a great possession with Wil (Wilson Chandler) getting the dunk and the three-point play. If you watch that possession, that is kind of, you go and then you give it up, you go and give it up and you go and give it up. We have to learn to be able to do that. Not just at the end of games, but more during the game. We had 21 turnovers and that is hard to overcome. I thought our defense first half wasn’t good enough. Then in the second half they fought back, we really picked up our defense. Again that is a tough one to lose.”
(On different starting lineups) “I don’t know about learning anything new. We just try to find combinations that work that night. It isn’t sure, written in stone it works every night. It is kind of going by your gut and your feel of what is working and who isn’t and what kind of match-ups we have that might be working. We don’t have a per se throw it in the low post and we are going there no matter what the matchup is.”
KNICKS FORWARD AL HARRINGTON
(On tonight’s game) “It is just one of those games. We kept fighting, fighting and fighting. Jarrett Jack killed us. That shot is tough. He shot it with confidence. We take our hats off to them, they did a good job.”
(More on tonight’s game) “We are trying to win every game we can. We let one get away. This was one we definitely had. We have to finish those games. We played with a lot of energy and with a lot of spirit and had a chance to win on our floor.”
(On coming back) “Obviously when you have to fight back it takes a lot of energy. There were a couple of plays where we took shots and didn’t get a rebound. Coaches have been doing a good job of spreading minutes around so guys shouldn’t be that tired so we need to find ways to win.”
(On the turnovers) “21 turnovers is always going to be tough. That is what you call beating yourself when you do that. I had my fair share. We all did. That is something we don’t normally do so we are going to try to return to that.”
KNICKS GUARD CHRIS DUHON
(On tonight’s game) “I think we did a great job both defensively and offensively. Offensively, Al (Harrington) was kind of on a roll. We were able to get him going and keep him going. We played well defensively. I think we fouled a little too much, put them on the line and we had some crucial turnovers late in the game that hurt as well. One day you get tired of these moral victories but you also see we are getting better.”
(On defending Jarrett Jack) “I had five fouls so I really couldn’t pressure him during the game. At the end I have to do what it takes for the team. That was my fault.”
KNICKS GUARD QUENTIN RICHARDSON
(On tonight’s game) “Don’t take anything away from them, Jarrett Jack was unbelievable. I’ve known Jarrett for a long time. I have never seen him play that well. He played his butt off tonight, take your hat off to him.”