Detroit: Maurice Cheeks | Greg Monroe | Brandon Jennings
Indiana: Frank Vogel | George Hill | David West | Paul George
“I thought our perimeter guys did a great job of guarding Paul George and all those guys. Guys like that, the greatness that Paul George is right now, you just try to limit their touches right now and challenge all their shots. I think that’s what KCP (Kentavious Caldwell-Pope) and Josh (Smith) did. (On cutting the lead from seven to two) It’s great that we won a game like that after having a game against Portland like that. But in the NBA there are going to be games when you lead in the game. You have to be able to hold that lead and you know they are going to come back. The way this team (the Pacers) has been playing, you know they’re going to make a run and were going to come back. It was just a matter of what time in the game. We just held our composure, made shots, made foul shots, and won the game.”
(On how it feels to win after last night’s tough loss): "Definitely feels good to beat the team with the best record in the NBA. It’s a good win, especially on the road coming in off of last night’s tough loss. Josh (Smith) came in and controlled the game for us. Tonight was a character game. We had a chance to win last night, so we knew tonight was going to be a test against a tough team and we were able to get the win. I thought we wanted the ball more tonight. I thought we were the more physical team and we were able to set a tone early and it carried through the game.”
(On what it feels like to win after last night’s tough loss): "This is the NBA. You always have a game the next day or the next day after that. This is not like the NFL where you have to sit around all week and wait. It was hard for me to sleep last night. We just came here tonight and kept playing basketball. (On holding off the Pacers in the last few minutes) The last five minutes of the game coach wants the ball in my hands, not necessarily to shoot it, but to make plays for my teammates and just be aggressive. I love it. He’s putting a lot of pressure on me because the last five minutes is basically the game. We had a lot of confidence coming here tonight. We played Portland last night in a game we should have won. And tonight we knew we were playing the best team in the Eastern conference and we were able to give them their first home loss.”
“They (the Pistons) played a good basketball game, especially on a second night of a back to back. Clearly we didn’t keep them off the glass. Some of it was bad bounces, some of it was we weren’t hitting people. We’re not playing our best basketball of the year. (On Paul George) It’s a long season, just a couple of games. We didn’t play well enough in the paint in the first half. (On Josh Smith) When he’s making long twos and a three he’s going to be tough to guard. He played a great game. They made timely shots every time we made a run. (On Luis Scola) He gave us great energy and kept us in the game.”
“They just played better than us. They did everything better than us. They share the ball, they crash for rebounds. They just played better. (On Detroit’s energy) That’s a good team in their locker room. Anytime we play, we’re going to have a target on our back all year. We’ve had some success so far so we’re going to take everyone’s best shot, and today we just didn’t come to play. (On the rebounding totals) Coach told us before the game that that was going to happen if we don’t box out. That’s what happened. We have a lot of things we need to work on.”
"We didn’t compete tonight. We didn’t come ready to play. They were more aggressive and took advantage of our errors. They were a much better basketball team than us tonight. They played together and got the results. Josh Smith did a great job out there tonight.”
(On Detroit): "We knew coming in they would be a team we would have to battle. Everything that was on our scouting report and game plan tonight, we didn’t follow it through. (On the Detroit’s rebounding) They were just big on the glass. I thought that was their best offense – putting a shot up and having their bigs go get it. From there they kept us scrambling. It’s just something (rebounding) that we never give up and shouldn’t have given up tonight. (On whether he is looking forward to the game in Miami on Wednesday) I am. Good thing about the NBA is the quick turnarounds.”