What they said after the Hawks’ 109-101 win over the Celtics Friday night:
"To grind a game out on the road against a physical team, a defensive team, was good. I think we finally caught a good rhythm in the fourth quarter. I thought the ball movement, the decisions, the passes were really helpful. And we were able to get enough stops. It was kind of a strange game. They had a cushion. I think the end of the second quarter, that group came back and closed the gap. That three or four minutes at the end of the second quarter was big. Obviously, the fourth quarter and the way we were able to execute down the stretch." – Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer's opening statement
"He was great. It started a little bit with Dennis (Schroder). He was getting to places and then he was hitting Paul (Millsap) and getting him in a good spot. Paul was able to finish a couple times and made a couple good passes. That's Paul. You can usually count on him." – Budenholzer on Paul Millsap
"Jeff (Teague) turned his ankle there at the five-minute mark of the third quarter. He probably could have gone back in. Dennis was playing well, had played well and then the longer you sit after you twist an ankle it becomes a little bit (harder to come back). Probably err on the side of caution and make sure Jeff is healthy, make sure he is safe. Also, Dennis playing well was part of it also." – Budenholzer on playing Schroder down the stretch
"We always talk about we want to attack the basket, attack the paint first. Then, if that is not there look for other opportunities. We were finding good opportunities in the paint. That's just the way the game unfolded." – Budenholzer on 68 points in the paint
"We felt good. We knew if that we kept competing at that level we would have a chance to win the game." – Al Horford on second half
"Honestly, it was just there. It wasn't like we were looking for it. Just playing and the flow of the game, we kept getting those looks. That helps when you are able to get a lot of points in the paint like that." – Horford on 68 points in the paint
"I think they are very aggressive so we could attack them on the pick-and-roll because they came out so high. Jeff and me did a great job, I think, of attacking and finding open teammates and after the pick-and-roll try to find the big men. They had to make a decision. Paul and Al were great tonight. That's the reason we won." – Dennis Schroder on points in the paint
"That was a big thing, keeping our composure, fighting through adversity. I think that was big tonight. A few guys were in foul trouble, including myself, down going into the fourth. I think we did a good job of overcoming that." – Paul Millsap on win
"Honestly, it went with the mentality that we have right now. Being stronger. Attacking. Back dooring. Kyle (Korver) got a few layups. That goes with the mentality that we are trying to be consistent with." – Millsap on points in the paint
“It speaks a lot. It shows how smart we are. If something isn’t working, you do something else. The jump shot wasn’t falling so we continued to attack and continued to get to the free-throw line and be aggressive.” – Millsap on winning despite poor outside shooting
"The pick-and-roll game did great tonight. Not just that. We did great making the right reads. Dennis did a great job of making the right read. Maybe he's not being the assist guy but he is setting up the guy who is making the assist. That comes with experience, being in that situation before." – Millsap on pick-and-roll game
"(Dennis) Schroder killed us the whole night; got wherever he wanted with the ball and we didn't provide much resistance most of the time." – Celtics coach Brad Stevens on Schroder
