Pelicans Head Coach Alvin Gentry:On what stands out most from tonight’s game:“I thought we did a really good job defensively. We say that, and (James) Harden gets 40 (points), but that doesn’t bother us because we knew that that was a possibility. I thought we did a good job everywhere else, but we just didn’t quite get over the hump with making a few plays down the stretch. We missed a couple of really easy shots, and they make a three-pointer. It’s just the way it is, but I was happy and thought we competed at a real high level. Their team shot 44% for the game. Even (James) Harden’s numbers, he was 10-for-24 (from the field). That’s the best you can hope for. We’ve just got to continue on. I am, and no one is going to make me believe that we are not going to get it turned around, and we are going to get some guys back healthy. Like I said, we’ll get guys back in the roles they’re comfortable in. There’s still a lot of basketball left to be played, and I think we are going to be okay.”On the effect of this game being a second night of a back-to-back:“It did affect us. We played AD (Anthony Davis) and those guys so many minutes last night. It was a game that we had to try to win, and then tonight, we had the plan to try to give them rest. We couldn’t maintain where we were when we take them out of the game. You know, we go down nine or ten (points), so now it’s such an uphill battle. It was tough on them after playing all of those minutes last night in such a tough game. I like the effort that we played with tonight. I liked the urgency that we played with. We did a good job and got good shots. We couldn’t quite knock them down, and like I said, Harden was terrific. Right now, he’s making a strong push for MVP the way he’s playing.”
Pelicans Forward Anthony DavisOn what went wrong in the final few minutes:“We had a lot of good looks. E’Twaun (Moore) had a three. Jrue (Holiday) had a three. I think somebody else had one and we just missed it. You know they – James (Harden) made some shots. He got to a lot of his shots that he’s been, you know, making with a lot of confidence lately – the step-backs – and got to the line 14 times so that kind of hurt us. But Danuel House came in and his 15 hurt us. You know I think we did a good job on him (Harden) overall, but he’s playing with a lot of confidence and he kind of fueled them, but I think we got a little tired towards the end. You know, we battled so much last night.We stayed in the game. We had a chance to win the game, you know, late in the game, but we had some good looks we just missed.”On trying to make an impact when the Rockets were forcing the ball out of his hands:“Well, find another way to do it. I was setting screens. I was just baiting guys and trying to kick the ball out to the shooters. Do it on the defensive end. You know, do it with intangibles. That’s how you make an impact on the game more than scoring.”
Pelicans Guard Jrue HolidayOn where he felt the game got away:“I think I feel like I have to go back and see the film. I thought we fought hard, thought we had a lot of good shots, a lot of wide open shots. Again, you’ve got James (Harden). He’s been averaging 40 for like the last, I don’t know, 10 games and that’s what they do. They shoot corner threes. Guys know how they can attack the basket. I mean they always had Eric (Gordon). They have Austin (Rivers) now. PJ (Tucker)’s been shooting it well so. Again man, we were in the game. I think sometimes you just need to figure out a way at the end of the day to really be able to close it out.”On whether he feels like the team is continually close to turning the corner:“For sure. I mean yeah, but I’d rather be there. I’d rather be there than losing by 10, 15 points or getting blown out or feeling like we gave up. But man we never give up, and I feel like I can always rest my head at night knowing that we are always going to play hard.