What they said after the Hawks’ 102-95 loss to the Suns Monday night.
“It’s a tough loss. It’s been a tough three or four days. I think it’s an opportunity for our group to continue to improve and continue to work and find a way to be better for 48 minutes and have more discipline, more execution, all the little things that it takes to win games. It’s important that we pay attention to that and we continue to work and improve in all those areas. You give Phoenix a lot of credit tonight. They are a team that can really shoot the ball. They got bigs that can shoot it. They spread you out and the guards attack and get in the paint. They are well coached. Defensively, I think we had three good quarters. But they got away from us for the third quarter. A lot of it is a credit to them as a team. For us we need to continue to work. We’ve been through some tough times this year and we’ll find a way.”
- Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer’s opening statement
“A few guys made some shots. I felt like Channing Frye was making shots the whole game. (Goran) Dragic got to the paint, especially late to finish the quarter. Everybody contributed. Gerald Green was more in the fourth quarter when he got going. The third quarter, I honestly couldn’t pinpoint what led to their 35 points.”
- Budenholzer on Suns’ 35-point third quarter
“I’m sure there were. I’m sure even in the quarter when we held them to 17 points I’ll find defensive breakdowns. Their guards started getting inside of us and that ultimately becomes a problem. If I had to say what happened in the third quarter their penetration and their guards getting inside of us.”
- Budenholzer on whether defensive breakdowns led to Suns’ decisive third quarter
“I thought that was one of the positives of tonight, Lou (Williams) had a good bounce. Lou played decisively, is a good word to use, and he really helped us. He helped us a lot in the first half. There were stretches where we were hanging in the second half and he was a big part of that. That is a real positive.”
- Budenholzer on 17-point game by Lou Williams off the bench
“We’ve got to work to improve and we’ve got to get better. The last three or four days have been tough but there are lots of things we’ve watched, there are lots of things we’ve talked about. We want to get better from the start of the season to the end of the season. Now we are down to (13) games and those (13) games we have to improve and we have to get better. If we do that, the chips will fall where they may and I think we’ll be good shape. But we can’t digress.”
- Budenholzer on holding on to final playoff spot
“They came out in the second half being more aggressive. In those situations the more aggressive team always comes out on top. They made some plays defensively, caused a few turnovers and kept attacking the rim with pressure. Once we stopped them from getting to the rim, they kicked it out to 3-point shooters and made some plays.”
- Shelvin Mack on difference in Suns’ third quarter
“Win games, simple as that. Win as many games as we can. Out of the (13), we have to win as many as we can. Hopefully, it’s a large amount. We have to continue to get better and hopefully we can do it.”
- Paul Millsap on Hawks’ big-picture look at final 13 games
“As long as the Knicks lose. We still have a level head. We know that we’ve got a chance to make it. Continue to stay positive. Continue to push forward.”
- Millsap on playoff picture considering three-game losing streak
“I think it was late in the third when we just couldn’t get stops. With the type of team Phoenix is they make 3-point shots. They made a few in a row that kind of hurt us. After that we were playing uphill.”
- Lou Williams on Suns’ third quarter
“That is the whole thing. Just continue to play hard. Try to win. We’ve had a good run. Now, losing three in a row we have to get back on track. That is the only goal to continue to be in the eighth spot.”
- Williams on Hawks’ playoff position
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