What they said after the Hawks’ 95-87 win over the Raptors Thursday:
"I think defensively to make it difficult on those two guards (Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan) is always a priority. I thought a lot of different guys guarded them, a lot of different guys hopefully made it difficult on them. Our defense gave us a chance to win a tough game against a very good team. It's a good win at home. Tim Hardaway coming off the bench, I thought had some big buckets in the second half. Obviously Jeff (Teague) down the stretch was great. Paul (Millsap) and Al (Horford), their activity around the basket, blocking shot. Thabo (Sefolosha) getting the job most of the night on DeRozan. It was a good win. A lot of guys played well." – Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer's opening statement
"I wouldn't call any of it wrinkles. It was just the flow of the game. Obviously, (Kent Bazemore) didn't play so that gave an opportunity to get Kirk (Hinrich) in the game. I think (Mike Muscala), he obviously played well up in Toronto when we played them the last time. We made a pretty good run but weren't able to get it but some of the things that he brings can help us against a team like Toronto. Just went with a little bit of a guy and gave him some minutes. I thought he was good in the second half." – Budenholzer on several new looks
"That's a priority for us. We've got to get out and run every night. Against Toronto, it's even more of a priority." – Budenholzer on fast-break point advantage
"I thought Jeff (Teague) down the stretch made a couple big plays and got to the basket. I thought he kind of steadied us a bit there at the end." – Budenholzer on holding off Raptors' late run
"We are getting close to the end (of the regular season). We want to be able to beat some good teams. They test you in a lot of ways. They mixed in a lot of guys tonight. To win at home and to beat them, it's important. It's great. We have a handful of good teams coming down the stretch here that will prepare us for what lies around the corner." - Budenholzer on importance of win
"I thought our defense was great tonight. Just the energy and the effort, it was nice to be able to get this win." - Al Horford on win
"We were happy with the pace that we played at. We felt that was a big difference for us." – Horford on Hawks' fast-break points advantage
"I don't think it does anything for our psyche. We know the capabilities of our team. But it is a good win. It is a good way to finish the series against these guys." – Horford on importance of win
"I'm a hard judge for our team. I'm going to say there is a long ways we need to go but I'm very happy with our effort. The energy is there and guys are playing hard." – Horford on playing well down the stretch
"Jeff was really big for us. He kind of took over. He was very aggressive. We need more of that Jeff Teague." – Horford on Teague
"I thought we were just focused for 48 minutes. We had a little stretch there in the second quarter but it seems like when we play this team, the first time we played them we had them down big in the first half and then we just collapsed in the second half. And then the two games in Toronto we just had a quarter where we just didn't play very good basketball and they just pulled away from us. I thought today was the best 48-minute game that we played against them. They are a difficult team to guard. Their guards are really tough to guard, very physical. I thought we did a good job of keeping them off the free-throw line. We had a bunch of guys play well tonight." – Kyle Korver on win
"It was a total team effort. We are working on a couple new things on defense. I think some of that helped tonight. I think guys were really locked in and focused. The details, we didn't mess up on the details as much tonight. We were able to really execute." – Korver on defensive effort against Lowry and DeRozan
"We really want to get out and run tonight, especially at home. I thought Jeff did a great job of pushing the ball. But you have to get rebounds in order to run. I thought we did a better job on the glass tonight. We were motivated to play well tonight. We knew we had to beat them." – Korver on pace of play
"No. I'm not just saying that. We have a tough stretch here. We play really good teams, teams we'll play in the playoffs. I think it's important to play at a really high level in these games. Not just to get confidence but because this is how we have to play. We've got to play at this level, with this intensity, with this focus. We've got to execute at this level. So to do that, hopefully for a few games in a row here, would be ideal." – Korver whether win was important for psyche
"We played good down the stretch defensively and tried to make them take tough shots." – Jeff Teague on final minutes
"Just playing good down the stretch is all we care about. Another good win." – Teague on win
"It was pretty much the same thing that we have been doing but we talked about keeping the energy up and really trying to bother them on those pick-and-rolls and not just giving them some open looks after that and keep trailing them. I think we did a pretty good job." – Thabo Sefolosha on defense on Lowry and DeRozan
"Jeff played incredible tonight, especially in the fourth. He was really making big plays and defensively we did some really good things. The referees called some fouls that were questionable but overall I think it was a good effort in the fourth." – Sefolosha on winning down stretch
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