What they said after the Hawks’ 109-97 loss to the Hawks:
"Give Cleveland credit. They played well. We've got a lot to work on. It's good. We are a group who will look at ourselves and figure out where we can improve and get better. That's the task." - Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer's opening statement
"I didn't get a lot (of explanation on ejection) really. At the moment I tried to get more. I don't know. He threw me out. That's his prerogative. So, I'm sure we will learn more going forward." - Budenholzer on ejection
"I was very close to him. That seems like that could be the reason why he threw me out after just a single technical. If there was any contact it would be totally unintentional. If there is contact, I'm sure that's why he made the judgment call that he did." - Budenholzer on whether he bumped official
"His hip is giving him a little bit of problem so we'll continue to evaluate him and see what it is going forward." - Budenholzer on Tiago Splitter
"I think they were able to hit 3's and they really got hot. They were getting a lot of easy fastbreak points and getting to the basket. When you are doing those two things it's kind of hard to stay in the game." - Al Horford on loss
"We didn't do a good job (of transition defense) today. We have to go back and look at it. I felt all year we've been solid but tonight we weren't very good." - Horford on transition defense
"We definitely can do a better job of limiting them to only one shot. That definitely hurt us." - Horford on rebound disparity
"I just don't think it was right. I think a coach has a right to get upset. The ref probably thought he was a little too emotional. That's why he maybe threw him out. That's a big turning point in the game. Justin (Holiday) drives to the basket, gets hit in the face clearly and they should know better. Things like that they can't miss those type of calls." - Horford on Budenholzer ejection
"A lot. It's a long season. We've got a lot to work on. We know that. We just have to get better." - Paul Millsap on what went wrong
"We've got time. It's still early. We've had some guys banged up, in and out of the lineup." - Millsap on making improvements
"Energy. Energy is not where it's supposed to be. He have to come out with more fight. Nobody is going to give us no game. We can't wait to be down 10, 15, 20 every time before we start playing basketball." - Thabo Sefolosha on what went wrong
"I tried to play physical and anticipate his movement. That was it. I don't think he was super aggressive early." - Sefolosha are guarding LeBron James
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