What they said after the Hawks’ 121-97 win Tuesday over the Celtics:
"Yeah, I think so. I thought Thabo (Sefolosha) came out and set a tone, and was active everywhere. Everybody was. If we can play like that in the first quarter, hopefully that will help us." — Hawks head coach Mike Budenholzer when asked if this was Atlanta's most complete game.
"We don't feel like we were playing well, and it was important to give a max effort … Important game for us, a big-time game. We had to respond. When we played them in Boston, they kicked our butt and we haven't had a good taste since then. We had some hard practices, man. (Budenholzer) preached to us in the film sessions (about) playing harder, competing, and we did that tonight. We've got to be more aggressive on the defensive end, and we did that." — Point guard Jeff Teague, on Atlanta's pickup in energy.
"We had this coming. Even when we beat Brooklyn at home, we (only) had one good quarter … when your defense is a sieve, you're not a team." — Celtics head coach Brad Stevens.
"Overall, that's the kind of effort and energy we need to have. We lost a bunch of games. We had a couple good film sessions and talks, and we all got challenged. We came out with better intensity, better focus … " — Kyle Korver, summing up the "new-look" Hawks.
"It's great. The way he helps in the community, the way he helps world wide, and what he means to basketball, it's important." — Paul Millsap, commenting on former Atlanta center Dikembe Mutombo having his number (55) retired at halftime.
"It's just one game. I got some good, open looks. It's a learning curve every day, definitely something I can build (up)on." — Boston rookie guard and former Georgia State star R.J. Hunter, after scoring a career-high 12 points in his return to Atlanta.
"It's (the Hawks). They put us in a lot of predicaments and binds. They played really well. They were coming off a really tough little stretch. They're a prideful group. If you approach this game on an island, you're going to get pounded." — Stevens, the Celtics' coach.
"With Thabo's defense and Thabo's activity tonight … Kyle and Jeff play together a lot so to get Thabo with that starting group, it was good. I think it's a balance. Thabo knows how to play, and slash and cut. Kyle obviously creates great spacing, and Jeff was attacking tonight. Jeff was in a very aggressive mindset … I'm sure we'll try to find ways to get them out there (together)." — Budenholzer, on Sefolosha, Korver and Teague — who had played less than 30 minutes together this season — playing so well together.
"It feels good to be on the winning side, especially with the way we won it. I think we won it with our defense, our intensity and our hustle … That's how we're supposed to play." — Millsap.
"I still feel a little weak, like I can't dunk … I've kind of got to go off two feet on everything." — Teague, who returned to the starting lineup despite the fact that his sprained left ankle is not 100 percent.
"We took the challenge, played hard. We were just playing hard. That's one of the things we've been trying to get better with, rebounding." — Hawks reserve forward Mike Scott.
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