ROCKETS INTERIM HEAD COACH J.B. BICKERSTAFF
(on the defense) “We didn’t get matched up. We gave guys opportunities to take shots that they make. We didn’t defend the three point line good enough tonight, so we have to be better there. We allowed too much penetration and just weren’t in sync enough on the defensive end.”
(on the effect of Dwight Howard’s absence on the game) “It was a huge difference, the way he has been playing for us. He’s been impressive, he’s been dominant, so you miss that and your rotations are going to become shorter, especially playing against a guy like (Andre) Drummond. You need another body out there to bang and rebound with him and keep him off the glass. You got to make his defend too. So we missed Dwight.”
(on Ty Lawson’s play tonight) “I thought he played well. He was aggressive, he made shots. I think at first he was a little hesitant, but as the game progressed, and drew on, he was better and better. So it was good to see. He showed some good signs; he showed that those guys could have played better, which is good for us.”
(on Ty Lawson’s need to be aggressive without Dwight Howard or James Harden on the floor) “I think there’s a lot of pressure on him at that point. The ball is going to be in his hands to make plays; I think that’s where he’s most comfortable. That’s where he’s been the most of his career; he’s been the guy with the ball in his hands to make those plays. That’s where he’s at his best, that’s where he’s most comfortable.”
(on the fouling strategy) “Trying to win the game. It didn’t work. That’s it. That’s all I have to say about that.”
ROCKETS FORWARD TREVOR ARIZA
(on whether or not the game was a challenge) “Every game is a challenge. Tonight, we definitely didn’t have our A game, so we’ve got to go back into practice and regroup.”
(on losing Dwight to injury) “It still doesn’t matter. If somebody goes down, the next person has to step up and be ready to play.”
ROCKETS FORWARD COREY BREWER
(on what went wrong out there tonight) “We couldn’t get any stops to be honest. Even when we tied the game up, they made some big shots. We just couldn’t get stops.”
(on the play of Reggie Jackson) “He played well. The whole team (Detroit) played well. A lot of guys made shots. Marcus Morris made some big shots at the end. (Aron) Baynes came in, he was big off the bench. It was a good team effort for them.”
(on the team missing Dwight Howard) “We definitely miss Dwight. His rebounding, his shot blocking, everything. Just him being out on the floor, but other guys have to step up because we don’t know how long he’s going to be out. We’ve got to figure out a way to win.”
(on if the defense has regressed in the last few games) “I guess you can say that. We’ve got to be on the string. We’ve all got to rotate the right way. We’ve got to do the little things, but guys made some tough shots tonight too. So it’s not all on defense. Things don’t go right all the time.”
ROCKETS GUARD JAMES HARDEN
(on missing Dwight Howard’s presence) “He dominates the paint, so just rebounding the basketball (and his) offensive presence. Everything he brings to our team was missed.”
(on the Rockets defensive issues) “They did a really good job. Reggie Jackson just got into the paint. (He) hit their shooters (Kentavious Caldwell-) Pope and (Ersan) Ilyasova. Marcus Morris made some big three’s so they play well as a team.”
ROCKETS GUARD TY LAWSON
(on whether or not it felt different being in the starting lineup now versus at the beginning of the season) “Yeah, a little bit. I felt more comfortable with the offense. I was able to get my shots in. I had a better feel for the offense.”
(on the first play of the game when both Howard and him tumbled to the ground) “I was just driving down the left side and all of a sudden, I feel Dwight bump into me. So, I would guess Andre (Drummond) pushed me and we both fell down and that’s when the big fella didn’t get up. I hope he’s alright.”
(on Harden’s triple double) “He played well. He was in the paint getting rebounds and scoring like he normally does.”
ROCKETS GUARD MARCUS THORNTON
(on the Rockets being forced to go small without Dwight) “Dwight is a big part of what we do so anytime he is out of the game, on the offensive and defensive end, it hurts, but the next guy has got to step up. We can’t do anything about that, the next guy has got to be ready to step up.”
PISTONS HEAD COACH STAN VAN GUNDY
(on describing the third quarter) “It wasn’t a chess match. They wanted to foul and we let them foul. They were giving up a lot of fouls and getting a lot of people in foul trouble and we knew they were either going to have to start the fourth quarter and do the same thing and have a lot of guys sitting on the bench, or they were going to have to stop. We got through it, then he made some and we left him (Drummond) in a little longer than expected and then we finished up with Aron Baynes. It’s sort of a feel thing and when he got going, we left him in a little bit, that’s the game the league wants. So, that’s what fans get to watch.”
(on his team’s offensive play) “They played really well offensively. We didn’t play well defensively, at all. Offensively, we played well. Our defense in the first half wasn’t that bad, but in the second half, it wasn’t good. It was a good road win and we move on.”
(on the game) “I thought we were able to get good shots all night long. He (Caldwell-Pope) had a really good first half, offensively. We got good contributions from, really everyone in the starting lineup and really on the bench. Stanley had 9 rebounds. I thought we had good play from a lot of people.”
(on deliberate fouling) “Adam Silver and the league have decided that’s the way they want to play the game and that’s what they want people to watch; as long as the fans are okay with watching it then they’re going to keep playing that way. At some point the fans may get to the point and say, “We’re not going to pay to watch this, we’re going to flip the channels.” They haven’t yet, and that’s what Adam keeps saying, but when they do, the league will have to make an adjustment. That’s not up to us, our job is just to coach the game within the rules. I don’t decide what it is what people want to watch, that’s up to Adam and his people.”
PISTONS GUARD KENTAVIOUS CALDWELL-POPE
(on the fouling of Drummond) “It’s just unnecessary, to just about do that the whole fourth quarter. We almost got out of our rhythm, but it took us awhile to get it going. They did take our rhythm away, but once we buckled down and we were able to get it back.”
(on the team picking up Drummond) “He shot okay at the line, but I’m sure he’d like to have a couple back, but the rest of the starters really picked up the tempo. We wanted to hurry up and get the game over with because we knew they were going to do that while he was in the game, to try and come back or slow us down and break our rhythm. Every chance we got, we wanted to push it and continue to turn the lead up.”
PISTONS CENTER ANDRE DRUMMOND
(on the fouls) “I just had to go up there and shoot it. It is what it is, we just tried to figure out a way to win the basketball game and it didn’t work out in their favor. Everybody’s going to try different ways to win the game, and that happens to be one of them. For me, I just have to step up to the line and shoot.”
(on his teammates picking him up) “We did a good job of really picking up the tempo and locking down on defense and they brought the lead right back up. When I got back in there again, we had a steady flow.”
(on his fourth quarter free throws) “I’m not going to miss them all. I’ve worked on it enough to where I build a rhythm and after time, I ended up making them.”
PISTONS GUARD REGGIE JACKSON
(on what it was like as a player out there to start the third quarter) “It was the strategy they used. We were up 10 and they were able to cut it and I just thought we’d do something to combat it earlier. It’s frustrating, we want Dre to make the free throws as he works extremely hard at making them in practice and it’s taking time for it to come around. Unfortunately, some don’t go in and I thought earlier, we might do something to keep them from “hack a Dre”. I just thought something could have been done earlier, but we continued to fight and battle, even after they went up.”
(on the difficulty of getting into a rhythm offensively with the fouls) “You just have to combat it and we have to make our free throws. We did everything we could to combat that, but maybe we could have done it earlier. I’m cool with what they did. We just needed to keep attacking them and making layups. I don’t think we played bad basketball. We really didn’t get out of rhythm, it’s just what happened and unfortunately, his free throws weren’t falling today.”