What they said after the Hawks’ 103-90 win over the Suns Tuesday:
"Well obviously the first quarter, credit to them, I think they were unbelievable good from the 3-point line. Not all were mistakes. Some were tough shots. Ronnie Price had a great first quarter. (Mirza) Teletovic came in and made some. After a good first five or six minutes, the rest wasn't very good. Terrible offense in the second quarter, better defense. We had both going in the second half. We were able to win a game after a few day break. Which is good. We haven't been able to play well coming off a break. Any way you can find a way to win and hold someone to 90 (point), it's a good thing." – Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer's opening statement
"I think there was an intensity to us, a competitiveness to us, in the second half whether it was getting in the passing lanes, getting on the boards. When you don't feel like a call is going against you, instead of feeling sorry for yourself you get getter, you get more loose balls, you get more aggressive. I think everything we did, all of our reactions, whether it be to officiating or anything in the second half was to be more aggressive." – Budenholzer on rallying when calls went against them
"At halftime, we talked about we have things to play for. We want to get better. I think these are important (games). Desperation is never a word that coaches or players use very often, if ever. There was a sense that we needed to kick it in." – Budenholzer on whether there was a sense of desperation when trailing
"The five steals, I'd be curious on how many were in the second half (three). I thought his intensity and effort in the third quarter was great. Some of his steals were leading to easy baskets. That's just bonus. He was good tonight." – Budenholzer on Kent Bazemore
"I don't know about that. I think the guys definitely got fired up after a few of those. I think they were probably the right calls. We needed something to wake us up tonight. Whatever it is, we'll take it." – Kyle Korver on rallying when calls went against them
"That's all he said. He had every right to really get on us. We didn't play a very good first half at all. He just told us we had something to play for. You guys want to do it or not? Guys responded to that. We came out better in the third quarter. We didn't necessarily take off right away but we were competing harder. That's what we need to do." – Korver on Budenholzer reminding team they had something to play for at halftime
"We just have to get used to it. We really haven't had favorable calls all year. We have to play through it. It's on us. The referees are going to do what they do. We have to keep playing no matter what. It's going to be like that in the playoffs." – Thabo Sefolosha on rallying when calls went against them
"We had to get our feet under us. They junked up the game a little bit. They were making a lot of shots. We just had to get our feet under us. We did that in the second half." – Jeff Teague on being rusty
"The second half, we just decided enough was enough and got stops." – Paul Millsap on win
"Most of our motivation was us having something to fight for going into the playoffs. They don't. Obviously, we are the better team. That's where our motivation comes from, just taking pride in who we are and what we are trying to accomplish." - Millsap on motivation to win
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