Pelicans Head Coach Alvin Gentry
On tonight’s win and if it was as grinding as it appeared:“Yeah, but you’re going to have to grind it out against that team. They play so hard and they’re so big and the things they do best is what we struggle with. Offensive rebounding – they ended up with I don’t know with what (looks down at final box score) – wow, we were better than I thought. It seemed like they got a ton of them, but I thought we did a good job overall of just staying in the game. We made a lot of good plays. We had two really, crucial turnovers there at the end that really hurt us. We had talked about the fact that (Russell) Westbrook had played the passing lane on that one and we just didn’t quite make that play. In the end, when we had to have the two stops we came up with two great stops. We were great getting the ball inside. I think anytime you can score 74 points in the paint, you’re getting the ball to the basket. That’s why we only ended up with four three’s for the game, but that’s okay if we’re getting the ball to the basket like that.”
On Anthony Davis, Jrue Holiday and Julius Randle combining for 86 points and if their performances were necessary to win:“Well, I mean, I don’t – it’s who we are. It’s not like we depend on them to carry the load. They are the load. It’s who we’re going to go to. I thought AD (Anthony Davis) was absolutely great tonight. I thought Julius (Randle) was really good. Jrue (Holiday) defensively, once again, was really good. I thought Solomon (Hill) probably did as good a job as you can do on Paul George at the level that he’s playing at right now. He’s playing at such a high level right now that you look and he’s got 25 points, but I just thought what Solo (Solomon Hill) did to him and how we were into him, we made the game a little difficult for him.”
Pelicans Guard Jrue Holiday
On his, Julius Randle’s and Anthony Davis’s production given the team’s injuries:“At that point, I feel like it’s just an opportunity. We’re hard to stop, especially when AD (Anthony Davis) has 45, so. I think with me and Ju (Julius Randle) just complimenting him and being aggressive – a little bit of a short bench, but I think people came in and gave good minutes. Andrew (Harrison) did. Frank (Jackson) did as well, but defensively I think we did alright. Still some things we’ve got to improve on, but from this win we can get better.”
On leading the league in points in the paint and how hard the team is to stop inside:“I feel like it’s always been like that. I mean I think with Solo (Solomon Hill) knocking down threes and you have Darius Miller, probably one of our best three-point shooters with Niko (Nikola Mirotić) and E’twaun Moore, I mean I’m getting in the paint. AD’s already in the paint and so is Ju, so to be able to stop that is pretty tough. (Jerami) Grant had four fouls in the first half.”
Pelicans Forward Anthony Davis
On the three days off helping the team recover from injuries and rest:“Hopefully it helps a lot. It’s a chance to recover, take some time away from the game and get back to it on Sunday. We’re going to let E’twaun (Moore) get healthy, Niko (Nikola Mirotić) and anybody else who is dealing with injuries. They’ll get a chance to rest up and let their bodies heal, and then get back out there. ”
On forcing turnovers:“They are the number one team in the West. They are a very hot team. Russ (Russell Westbrook) and Paul (George) can get it going. We just tried to get the ball out of their hands as much as possible and make other guys beat us and they made shotsbut it wasn’t enough to win. You know we are just trying to make sure that we keep competing. We competed at a high leveltonight and, when we do that, we are a tough team to beat.”
Pelicans Forward Julius Randle
On what changed on the defensive end tonight:“We just knew they were physical and tough. We had to meet that intensity from the beginning and I think we were locked infrom the beginning and doing that so. Like I said, we were locked in from the beginning. Had to keep them off of the offensiveboards. They are the number one offensive rebounding team so, once you finish the possession, keep them out of the paint,keep out of the offensive boards and then we were out.”
On how important it is to score in the half-court:“Our identity doesn’t change no matter who it is. Like I said, we are a versatile team. We got so many guys who can score andput the ball in the basket, so nobody really worries about shots and who’s getting shots and where it’s coming from. We justplay whether it’s in the fast-break or half-court. We are going to move the ball, work the ball from side to side, and, when we areunselfish like that, teams can’t stop us.”