Pelicans Head Coach Monty Williams
On struggling down the stretch
“We just couldn’t score. We couldn’t get into an offense. We kind of went away from the things that we’ve been doing, pushing the ball down the floor off stops. AD (Anthony Davis) had a really good game going and then they started loading the box and guys like Greg (Stiemsma) had opportunities to flash, Al-Farouq (Aminu) kept him company. I thought we took some really tough shots tonight. We had Zach (Randolph) in insolation to jack up the jump-shot. A couple of the 3’s we took down the stretch, we didn’t really need those shots, but with all that being said, for 45 minutes, we played well. The last three minutes we just couldn’t get a bucket. It would have helped us buffer the lead and they made the plays they did down the stretch.”
On the two failed sideline plays
“It’s tough because you lose your timeout, then you’re using up clock, and can’t even get into an offense. That was the biggest deal. We just had to use the timeouts then when they score at the end, then you don’t have a timeout to draw up a play. That stuff happens. Look, these guys battled. We’re missing Tyreke (Evans) and Eric (Gordon). We lose by 2 points. I’m thinking about what could we have done to post strength? That’s been the case all year.”
Pelicans Guard Austin Rivers
On tonight’s loss
“It was tough. We felt like we had this game won. We should have known better, they are a veteran team. They have been in this position a million times and in the playoffs. When you have a team down like that, you have to continue to execute. We made some stupid turnovers, some silly plays that we have to learn from and I have to learn from. And you can’t do that versus them. We had more turnovers than assists. They can’t happen. It was a tough way to lose. The whole game we fought hard, forty-five minutes of the game. In those last three minutes of the game we stopped, which is tough to do when you fight the whole night and in the last three minutes you don’t play well and you give the whole game away.”
On what to take away from tonight’s game
“This is the first time this group played together with that many guys out (injured) and guys in those situations. We have to learn from these mistakes. It’s tough to say this when you lose, but I take away positives from games like this. When you lose like this, the reads you make, the tempo. They are way more physical down the stretch, they put their hands on us, and we should have done it right back.”
Pelicans Guard Anthony Morrow
On his three point attempt to break the tie
“It was a good look. Obviously, I missed it, but it felt great. I was deep, but I knew that they were probably going to go higher on me, especially with Austin (Rivers) getting to the rim and maybe Brian (Roberts) getting to the rim like they were, so I just wanted to make myself available. But it was good. It was a tough, a tough loss. We fought really hard, defensively we played really well.”
On what contributed to tonight’s loss
“Obviously, when you are missing two guys who can average twenty points a night in Tyreke (Evans) and Eric (Gordon). We have some lineups out there that we really aren’t accustomed to. I think we didn’t execute like we could have down the stretch. We got a little bit too fast offensively when we could have been more patient. But you have to credit Memphis’ defense. They are a very good defensive team, they put their hands on us, and they kind of sped us up. But this is something we can learn from. We’ll get back in the gym tomorrow, get back to work, watch the film, and get ready for Portland on Friday.”