What they said after the Hawks’ 98-85 playoff-clinching win over the Heat Saturday night:
“A couple of games here in the last week or so, our defense has been something that has been better and something that we have wanted to improve. I think the defense in the second half tonight was something that hopefully we can build on. I’m very happy for our guys. They have been a resilient group all year. I think the way they played and the way they competed tonight, I feel great for them. A lot of guys contributed, all up and down, and again defensively a lot of things go unnoticed. At times, the ball movement was really good and the pace was good. Other times, Miami’s defense is so good. They are so long and so athletic that we stalled out. We managed to find a way to get just enough buckets. Again, happy for our group. We want to keep improving and keep getting better. Tomorrow we’ll look at film and Monday we’ll try to get better and as we move forward that continues to be the message. We want to improve and get better.”
- Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer’s opening statement
“Honestly, I’m happy we get to play more games and I get to talk more about improving and getting better at this. If we want to build something, Miami has been in the finals three or four years in a row and there are a lot of teams that have had a lot of success and it takes time to build it and build your habits. (The Heats’) habits are outstanding. We want to continue to build our habits and continue to improve. Our group has really fought hard this year. They have competed hard and they’ve got what they deserved.”
- Budenholzer on clinching a playoff spot
“Yes, any time we can put together some good defensive cycles, and if we can do it for a whole quarter, that can really allow you to get a little bit of separation or get back in a game. Hold any team as good as Miami to 13 (points in a quarter) gives you a chance to win a game.”
- Budenholzer on holding Heat to 13 third-quarter points
“It does seem like a lot of our games come down to the wire or needing a stop or us needing to score, so for us being able to maintain a cushion and Lou to hit some huge shots, obviously, it’s good for everybody’s nerves, including mine.”
- Budenholzer on winning by comfortable margin
“Jeff, recently, has been aggressive on a consistent basis. I feel like that habit for him, of generating the offense and being our engine, I just feel like he is getting more and more consistent. And I’m getting asked that same question after more and more games. That means he is doing it on a regular basis. He knows how important that is to us.”
- Budenholzer on play of Jeff Teague
“Relief. It’s not where we are at, it’s the eighth seed, but we are glad to be in and have an opportunity to go out there and play and compete for some more games. We are excited about it.”
- Paul Millsap on clinching playoff berth
“It’s a good win for us. We are not sure what is going on with them. We are focused on ourselves. It was a good team win for us.”
- Millsap on the clinching against the Heat
“That always sets the tone, when he gets out there and is aggressive and pushes the tempo and he attacks and he attacks. It’s good for us. That is what we need from him.”
- Millsap on play of Jeff Teague
“It says a lot. It’s been a tough year. It’s been a tough year. Injuries. It’s been tough. But for this group of guys in this locker room to stay together and continue to fight considering the situation and getting into the playoffs, you can’t say anything else.”
- Millsap on Hawks resiliency
“It feels good. It feels good to do it on a win. Everyone is talking about New York and whatever. Let’s just go and take care of our own games and go out there and win. We had a big week. We played a few tough teams. We had a stinker in there too. But I feel like for the most part we are playing better basketball; we are healthier and things are clicking a little bit; guys are attacking and making good reads; our defense is better. We are going to have to keep on doing that if we want to go into the playoffs and play well.”
- Kyle Korver on clinching playoff berth
“It’s a different game, different time. Playoffs are different. We can say playoff atmosphere and all that. Playoffs are different. I’m sure they are not happy about the way they played. We can do a few things better too. Right now, we are excited about the win, excited about going into the playoffs playing good basketball. We didn’t want to just fall into the playoffs and get smacked in the first round. No one wants to do that. I don’t care about Atlanta’s streak of playoff appearances. I don’t care about that. I want to go in there and play well. To feel like things are clicking a little bit gives us some confidence.”
- Korver on possibly facing Heat in first round
“It felt good to get win and get (a playoff berth) behind us and move forward for the remainder of the season and how we are going to prepare for games. It was good to get that out of the way.”
- Lou Williams on clinching playoff berth
“That was our second time beating them this year. We gave them an overtime run earlier this year. That was a team we played well against this season. It was just satisfying to get a win and be clicking the way we are right now.”
- Williams on beating the Heat
“I think everybody did a great job (defensively). Once we kind of had the game in reach, I think everybody’s concentration level went up a notch. You could see the focus. Guys scrambling to the ball. We have this thing called 50-50 balls, when there are loose balls, I think we got 95 percent of them. That was just a credit to our guys defending.”
- Williams on Hawks defense
“Best player in the world. He is going to make shots. He is going to score the ball. Me, in my mind, it’s making him miss those same shots that he was hitting and he started missing at the end. If you can keep doing that, it will help our team pick up a win.”
- DeMarre Carroll on defending LeBron James
“Coach gets mad at me when I gamble. I was just like I’m going to gamble. If he gets mad at me, he gets mad at me. If he don’t, he don’t. It was just one of those things with my instincts. I’ve been playing for a long time. I kind of figure he was going to throw it to him because he hadn’t been shooting the ball well. I just ran into the passing line.”
- Carroll on fourth-quarter steal
“Before the season, we call set a goal. It wasn’t just to make the playoffs. We wanted to be better at the end of the season then we were at the beginning of the season. I think right now we are playing our best basketball. We are moving the ball. We are sharing the ball. The other day we went 1-for-19 (from 3-point range) and still pick up a win. It shows how much we are growing. We are building something.”
- Carroll on critics of Hawks
“We had too many turnovers tonight. We had a lack of preparation, a lack of fundamentals, a lack of poise to make an easier play (on offense). It started out in the first quarter with three turnovers right out of the gate. It just snowballed downhill after that.”
- Heat coach Eric Spoelstra’s opening statement
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