Pelicans Head Coach Stan Van Gundy
On the strong finish to this game:
“I thought we defended really well down the stretch. I thought we defended and rebounded. I thought really the whole second half, Eric Bledsoe doing the job he did on Tim Hardaway Jr. was important because Tim killed us in the first half. Bledsoe went on him and just got into him and made it a lot tougher on all of his shots. I thought that was key, but then down the stretch, everybody really got into it and guarded and rebounded. At the other end, we didn’t turn the ball over. We got good shots, and we knocked some down – a total difference in the last six-and-a-half minutes from the last six-and-a-half minutes from last night. We’ve said this before, but we came off of the collapse against Phoenix, and we had the huge comeback against Boston. Then, we had the huge collapse in Portland, and a few days later, we had a game going down the stretch in Denver, and we do a great job in executing the win. It’s not consistent yet, but our guys are trying hard. They understand what has to be done, and tonight, the last six-and-a-half minutes were really good.”
On having to grind it out to get the win tonight:
“Rick (Carlisle) is a great coach, obviously. Not having (Kristaps) Porzingis and Luka (Dončić) and playing the second night of a back-to-back, they walked it up every time and called a set play every time. It was a slower game, and that always is going to make it more of a grind-it-out affair. He did a great job with those two guys out, giving them a chance to win, and our guys finished the game really well.”
Pelicans Forward Zion Williamson
On Rick Carlisle saying he is ‘a Shaquille O’Neal type force of nature with a point guard skillset’ and whether that is an
accurate assessment:
"No. It's an honor to hear my name in those categories, but I am who I am: Zion. I'm trying to be the first and only Zion. That's all there is to it."
On what he was seeing during the closing stretch making plays:
"Honestly, I was just making reads. If the driving lane was there, I was going to go, but I also used that to my advantage when it came to passing, because I’ve got great shooters around me who are very confident, so I made the pass and they executed off of it."
Pelicans Guard Nickeil Alexander-Walker
On Zion scoring or assisting on the Pelicans’ final 14 points:
"I mean, every read, he's just making the reads and of course he's doing Zion things. At this point in time, we're not – I’m not surprised. He’s a great player and very unselfish, and he made winning plays tonight."
On hitting three pointers at a high rate lately and whether it is something he's doing differently or if it is just about the
repetition:
"I say a little bit of both as far as keeping the same routine and sticking to the routine, but also being confident in myself. Not really worrying about the next shot, trying to see if this will be the one. Just shooting them and trusting my work, and allowing it to come."