NEW ORLEANS PELICANS HEAD COACH ALVIN GENTRY
On battling back and the game coming down to one free throw…
Yeah, but it didn’t come down to that. It really didn’t. You like to say that, but you know, games are not won on the last play of the game, it really isn’t. I just thought, the way we started the game, we didn’t start the game the right way. You dig yourself a hole and then you come back, and you dig yourself a hole and you come back. Well, eventually you get to the part where that comeback that you made that should give you separation is just getting you even. It has to be the perfect storm and perfect storms don’t happen in our league. I love the fact that we kept competing, but I thought that we were shooting ourselves in the foot with some of the plays that we made and some of the decisions that we made. Defensively, we just can’t let them come down and lay the ball in the basket. I don’t know how many transition points they had, but it really doesn’t tell the story. Eighteen, it says, but in our book, we had thirty-two, the way we keep it and that’s where you come down and all of a sudden you’re attacking the basket with one guy there. We did more damage to ourselves than they did. They’re a really good team, don’t get me wrong. They’re a really good team, excellent players. [Joel] Embiid should be an MVP candidate. Every night he does it and he gets the numbers and they’re winning basketball games. I was just disappointed in that. I would like to see US play to the level that we’re supposed to and then I think you can take that loss a lot better. Just believe me, it never comes down to the last shot of the last free throw. It never does, guys.
On Jrue Holiday and E’Twaun Moore’s performance tonight…
Jrue has been playing at a really, really high level anyway. I think he’s done a great job and he competes like crazy. At the end of the day, I thought he did a great job on Jimmy [Butler]. 5-for-15, that’s the absolute best you could ever hope for in guarding Jimmy Butler. I think the way he plays and the level that he’s playing, even since he’s gotten here, has been so great, but I thought Jrue did a great job on him. E’Twaun has done a good job for us the last two or three weeks, he’s played at a real, real high level. He’s got great disposition on the floor and he’s got a calmness about him that really helps his game, I think. He’s been playing at a great level. I thought Julius [Randle] competed and played hard. Obviously, A.D. [Anthony Davis] had a little bit of a tough night, just couldn’t get a whole lot going. Every time he pushed the ball down there’s one, there are two guys there, so he has to play the way he did and try to make plays for other people. I like their team, I think they’re a good basketball team. I think they’re going to be a problem for anybody in the east, west, north, south, wherever you play. I think they’ve got enough depth and enough veteran guys with the younger guys that I look for them to be a huge factor in the playoffs. And they’ve got a great coach. Brett [Brown] has done a great job here. He’s weathered all of the, I wish there was another word, but he’s weathered all of the [expletive] that he had to go through to get to this point. He’s done a great job of taking advantage of that and putting guys in situations to be successful.
On what Embiid does that gives the team trouble at the rim…
Have you seen the size of him and the skills that he has? And you say, give us problems, the last time I checked, he was the second or third leading scorer in the league, so I think he gives everybody in the league problems. He’s a big, strong, skilled guy. Not only does he have all those attributes, he’s also a very cerebral player. I mean, he’s a smart guy and got great footwork, so it’s not just us that he’s going to give problems to. I thought overall, we did a pretty good job on him, but that’s a compliment to the level he’s at right now, I think.
NEW ORLEANS PELICANS ANTHONY DAVIS
On what went wrong tonight…
We missed a lot of easy shots. That free throw I missed, gave a lot of points in transition. We were still in the game and gave ourselves a shot. It’s tough to be playing from behind the entire game, things kind of have to go right. It was a good game we played tough on the road, played tough against a team that never lost at home. Tough loss.
On coming back late in the game…
We defended, we moved the basketball, we made shots, finished around the rim, but we got to play hard though and get back even. We can’t put ourselves in a hole like that early in the game especially on the road.
On how important the next two games are on the road…
Very important. You know these two teams, New York and DC are playing really well. DC just won a tough one last night and New York gave us a tough one at home so we got to make sure that we go out there and win on the road. Going to any opponent’s arena is a tough game but we definitely got to play better than we did tonight, especially in the first half.