Pelicans Head Coach Alvin GentryOn his take on the game:“Thought we started out playing at [a] great pace. Had good ball movement. Thought the second quarter, we kind of slowed down a little bit. Went to one pass, no pass, and taking shots. I thought that didn’t really get us in trouble, but it didn’t keep us in the flow of what we were doing. Then, the third and fourth quarters, when we needed to make shots, we couldn’t. We missed free-throws and they got two guys that are very used to closing games. When they needed the big shots, Dame (Damian Lillard) and CJ (CJ McCollum) made them and we couldn’t play good. They also hurt us on a couple of big offensive rebounds that we really needed that they got. I think that we played hard. We competed at a really high level. We just need to make those plays when it’s a one, two possession game. We’ve got to make the plays that keep it right there so we have an opportunity at the end rather than all of a sudden now it becomes a three, four possession game.”
On Julius Randle’s new career high in scoring:“I thought he played with great force. I thought he attacked the rim. Did a great job all night, he was playing against double and triple-teams. Thought he did a great job in just getting the ball to a position where he could score and he always… The one thing that we have to do a little bit better job of is that when he is getting double-teamed, we’ve got to make sure that we have an alley for him to pass out of. Sometimes if the defender is between you and him, he can’t see you. We’ve got to get them moving to a spot where he can find out.”
On Elfrid Payton’s growth through the season as well as on his third straight triple-double:“Well I just think he’s playing like we thought he was capable of playing. He’s doing a good job of distributing the ball. He’s doing a good job of getting the ball to the basket, but more-so than anything, I think he’s doing a great job of rebounding from that position. We just have to keep working. I mean, obviously, we’d like to win these games, but I think that as long as we are playing as hard as we are… It’s hard to win a game when you’re missing two guys that’s averaging almost 50 points. I mean, let’s just be real about it. But I love the way the guys are playing. To me the greatest thing is that I think, you know, the Frank (Jackson) and Kenrich (Williams), and guys like that, are starting to get better and starting to have confidence. I think Frank is really playing with a lot of confidence right now. I like what he’s doing. I think every night he’s doing a little more and playing with a little more confidence and I think that Cheick (Diallo) made some great defensive plays. He continues to get better too. We just got to continue to compete and understand that there’s a bigger picture that we have to look at.”
Pelicans Forward Julius RandleOn what got his game going tonight:“I was just being aggressive. They tried to guard me straight up, so I just tried to take advantage of it as best as I could.”On anything he noticed in the first quarter about how they were guarding him:“They were just guarding me straight up. They just let me get into a rhythm and let me get comfortable. In the second quarter, they tried to tighten up and take away the paint from me, and I had to adjust to that in the third (quarter). I was able to get going again.”
Pelicans Guard Elfrid PaytonOn the struggles with the season and how he has been able to play to the level that he’s playing at right now:“I feel good. I think I have a good feel for where my teammates like the ball for the most part. It’s just so unfortunate that I’ve missed so many games this year, so I’m just trying to finish strong.”
On his third straight triple-double if he views it as being a special accomplishment:“I think it’s kind of special. It’s just unfortunate that we didn’t win honestly…We didn’t win any of those games. I guess it’s cool.”