Hawks-Celtics postgame quotes

What they said after the Hawks’ 109-105 win over the Celtics Tuesday night at Philips Arena:

Mike Budenholzer

Opening statement: "I think the resiliency of the group, after playing as poorly as we did, but you do have to give Boston credit. I thought that shot the ball well. They executed well. They did a lot of things well in the first half. But I don't think they felt us or our aggressiveness and activity wasn't where it needed to be for that half. I give our guys a lot of credit for finding a way to bounce back and giving ourselves a way to win a tough game and I'm just really proud of our group."

On playing Dennis Schroder down the stretch over Jeff Teague: "I was just a little bit of a feel. Dennis was playing well. I just stuck with him. We've done it with different guys at different times this year. I think Jeff has been unbelievable and he'll continue to be unbelievable. It's just kind of a guy feel. Dennis' defense and getting in the paint, just different things, I went with him."

On move to have Kyle Korver guard Rajon Rondo: "He was kind of picking us apart, almost like a quarter with 14 assists at halftime. So, we just wanted to try a different look. (Avery) Bradley was going well, maybe put someone a little quicker to chase him. They run a lot of screens, a lot of actions for Bradley. Maybe just change the look on Rondo and his vision and what he was seeing. I don't think it had a whole lot to do with it but that is what we were thinking."

On whether more frustrated to be in hole or elated that got out of it: "To be honest, probably more frustrated that we go into (the hole). Coming off a couple of good wins, we talked about wanting to get better and build off of those. I think 42 points in the first quarter, you can't do this on a regular basis. You can't dig yourselves a hole, come back from it. I think it speaks to the resiliency of the group that we did. But I would say more frustrated with where we were."

On defensive plan on Celtics' final possession: "We knew they were going to go quick, so we went back into a lot of our basic coverages. (Jeff) Green got free for a look but we contested and drove him off the 3-point line. A lot of our basic principles. He still had a good look he just didn't make it. We were able to come up with a big rebound. Dennis came up with a loose ball and eventually got it to (Kent Bazemore for game-clinching layup)."

On weathering storm early from hot-shooting Celtics: "That was the message in a lot of timeouts and at halftime was to play possession by possession by possession. That's what will give us our best chance to get back in this game. You don't want to do it all at once. You can't do it all at once. Getting stops and executing. Tonight was one of those nights where it was possession by possession by possession. That is what gave us a chance to get back in the game."

Al Horford

On comeback: "That was thrilling. It just shows there is fight in this team. We just kept fighting even though things were going really well for them. Just made sure we stayed poised and played the right way."

On whether it helps comeback knowing opposition wasn't going to keep shooting lights out: "Yeah, but you can get discouraged. I think the biggest thing for us that we needed to get more aggressive defensively and start getting stops so we could start getting baskets in transition. Once we were able to do that in the third (quarter), everything kind of slowed down."

On Celtics' final possession: "I had to chance Green off the 3-point line. Paul (Millsap) and I communicated but I heard him late to switch. I was like 'I'm not going to give up a 3 on Jeff Green' so I just tried to run him off the line, he shot the ball and Dennis got a huge rebound for us. Then he goes and hustles and throws me the ball and at that point, you want the clock to run as much as possible. I saw Kent (Bazemore) and just threw it to him and he made a great play."

Kent Bazemore

On play of Schroder: "Dennis is fiery. He's not scared of anybody. He stood toe-to-toe with Rondo and then with Avery Bradley guarding him full court. He kept his composure and handled the pressure."

On his 3-pointer to give Hawks lead: I work a lot with (assistant coach) Ben Sullivan and some of the other coaches here. I reconstructed by jump shot this summer. That was a very good sign for Ben and I. I made the 3 and looked over at him and just smiled. So, it's a big step for me.

Kyle Korver

On fourth-quarter scoring success: "I don't know but we've got to get better in the first half. You've got to give them credit. They hit a lot of open shots but they also hit a lot of tough shots. They really had it clicking coming off a couple of tough losses and came out determined. We made a couple of adjustments at halftime. It feels like we've had the same exact game with them a couple of times the last couple of year. Every time, it's one amazing half for us and one amazing half for them. Luckily, our second half was better than their first half."

On guarding Rondo in second half: "Avery Bradley is super quick and he was knocking them down. He was playing really well. Rondo is so good at seeing the whole court. I just tried to, I don't know if they were trying to get me off Avery Bradley or get more length on Rondo. I don't know what it was but it worked. Jeff did a great job of chasing him and he didn't have the half he had in the first half and that was a big part of the comeback. I just tried to use by length on him."

Dennis Schroder

On fourth quarter: "I think we played with energy on defense and on offense. We pushed the pass on offense, shared the ball really well and hit shots."

On his play of this season, especially down the stretch in this game: "I had it in New York one time. It was an amazing feeling to help the team win. Today, we played great on defense and it worked well. (Coach) had a lot of trust in me and left me in."

On his night offensively: "Avery Bradley was on me the last three minutes. Coach just said move the ball and at the end of the shot clock try to go to the basket. That is what I tried to do."

On rebound in final flurry: "Coach says every time a shot goes up the guards have to rebound. I tried to just take the ball. I tried to get the rebound and I was lucky it fell in my hands."

Paul Millsap

On comeback: "Buckled down the defense. Got some stops. We executed well on offense. Our defense was key in the second half."

On Celtics' hot start: "I felt like we actually played our defense but I don't think we were aggressive enough, knocking them off their shots and giving them open shots. Sometimes that is how the game goes. In the second half we were able to fight back."

On halftime message: "One possession at a time. We can't get caught up in trying to make the home run play. One possession at a time on defense, come back down, one possession on offense. That's how it goes."