What they said after the Hawks’ 97-86 victory over the Bucks Sunday:
Mike Budenholzer
Opening statement: "I think for three quarters we were playing very good defensively. I think we found a way to do enough offensively but we had that third quarter and it got tight. I thought both ends of the court we weren't playing well. We were turning it over. I think the turnovers were feeding not a great defensive third quarter. It was good for the group to have it get tight and then respond and find a way and get better defensively. Obviously, we Kyle (Korver) makes some shots it opens things up for a lot of different people. It's a good win against a good team, a well-coached team. We needed it today."
On defensive effort: "Three of the four quarters we were good defensively. The goal is 48 minutes or to do it for all four. By and large it was a much better effort tonight."
On Jeff Teague-Dennis Schroder pairing getting big minutes: "We liked what we saw. Dennis was playing really well tonight and helped us in a lot of different ways. They play some combinations and some groups that are a little bit smaller, not just at the guard but across the whole lineup, so you feel a little more comfortable playing Dennis and Jeff together."
On message after Bucks tied game: "This is good for us. It's good for us to get tight. They responded. It's good for us to have a little moment where we weren't good and we needed to respond and it's a credit to our players that they did that."
Al Horford
On key to defensive effort: "Activity. I feel like we were much better, more in sync. That first game after All-Star (break) is always hard. We were able to get it together tonight and have a much better effort."
On Budenholzer's message after Bucks tied game: "That is what he said. It's exactly what he said. On the road, the crowd got pretty loud there. We just stuck with it, kept playing our way. In the fourth, Kyle got hot. That is always nice to see him knock down some shots."
On taking Budenholzer's challenge: "Oh yeah, definitely. We lost two straight. We need to come out and win. They were playing hard but we found a way."
Kyle Korver
On win: "At the end of the game, we kind of had to slug it out a little bit. They made a run and had us sped up and turned us over a bunch of times. We really had to come together and play well on both ends of the court."
On poor third quarter: "Our being sloppy on offense led to a bunch for them. We turned the ball over a bunch of times. We didn't get great shots off. They came down and hit some on us. Good defense, you have to set yourself up right. Turnovers and bad shots, they can get out and break on you. It makes it a lot harder."
On his fourth-quarter 3-pointers: "I didn't feel real in sync the last few games before the break. And then the break comes and there are a bunch of days when you don't play much basketball. I feel like it's been a few weeks that I haven't shot the ball well, like I want to. It hasn't felt the way I want it to. It was good to hit a couple shots and see the ball go in the basket. Hopefully, I can keep building on that."
Paul Millsap
On better defense: "Man, a complete turnaround. A lot better than the past few games. The aggression was there. The discipline was there."
On defensive effort: "It's a little bit more than effort. The effort is there most of the time. The discipline is not always there. Doing what we do. The rotations. We stayed disciplined in that."
On individual game: "I was being aggressive. Offensively, defensively being aggressive, attacking the basket. Missing easy layups and going back and getting them."
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