Here is what they said after the Hawks’ 127-125 double overtime win over the Cavaliers Thurday night:
“It was a heck of a basketball game. Cleveland and Kyrie Irving were pretty amazing and pretty special. I’m proud of our guys for finding a way to win a game. Executed offensively down the stretch. A couple guys came in and made some big plays. Pero (Antic) basically hadn’t played all game and comes in and contributes to the win. A lot of good stuff on both ends. Really just a heck of a basketball game.”
- Coach Mike Budenholzer’s opening statement
“I don’t know a whole lot more since game ended. … We’ll look at them tonight and look at them tomorrow and hopefully it’s nothing serious.”
- Budenholzer on status of Al Horford and DeMarre Carroll
“There were a ton of ebbs and flows. There were times where they would get ahead of us and it didn’t look good from our perspective. Then we would make a good run. I think we got up six at one point and they came storming back. It was a lot of back and forth. Our guys maintained their focus and stuck with it. Obviously Jeff Teague made a lot of plays throughout the game and in the overtimes. A heck of a performance by him. I’m proud of our guys.”
-Budenholzer on back-and-forth game
“I think we talked about wanting to be mentally tougher. We didn’t know we were going to be tested like this tonight but I think the mental toughness of going down five and having the resolve to stick with a plan is a credit to our guys.”
- Budenholzer on lessons learned from loss to Heat
“It was a pick-and-roll. Any time there is a pick-and-roll there are multiple options. I think Cleveland switched it so Jeff went against Cleveland’s big and was able to make a big shot.”
- Budenholzer on final play
“I know we were hoping it would finally go in and the game would finally be over. It probably would have been better if it were a one-point game and it would have been over at that point. It was nice for this amazing game to finally be over.”
- Budenholzer on Teague shot hanging on rim
“I think we talked about the mental toughness that it takes to win games and it takes to finish games. That we wanted to challenge ourselves to not forget that we didn’t get it done down the stretch the other night (in Miami). Tonight, we wanted to make sure we got it done if we were in that situation, and going forward we get it done. It takes a lot of mental toughness in a close NBA game. There are lots of plays, lots of situations, and that is the challenge to our group.”
- Budenholzer on his take-away from game
“I think Paul is an amazing competitor. I wouldn’t say this was Paul’s best game and I’m not sure I’m a very good coach to say that after he scored eight points in overtime. But for him to find a way to will us in that situation, in that moment, when he probably hadn’t had his best game it speaks to Paul Millsap and what kind of player he is and what kind of competitor he is.”
- Budenholzer on Paul Millsap’s eight-point overtime
“I really just wanted to get the last shot. They gave me a couple cracks at it. I told Dennis (Schroder) if I get another chance I’m going to make it. I just went for it.”
- Jeff Teague on final play
“I thought it went in clean at first because I fell. I said ‘That’s good.’ I felt it. It was bouncing around and then Kyle said ‘Yeah’ and picked me up. I couldn’t see it because Kyle was standing over me.”
- Teague on reaction to final play
“With that tough loss in Miami to come here and have another tough game and be able to pull it out feels really good.”
- Teague on bouncing back after loss to Heat
“Don’t stop. They didn’t give up against us. We had the lead and they came back. They made plays. The same thing happened here. They had the lead. Kyle comes down and makes a four-point play. Guys just stepped up.”
- Teague on lessons learned against Heat
“It was supposed to be a pick-and-roll and they switched it so I went one-one-one.”
- Teague on set up of final play
“I’m not sure I can sum it up quite yet. A lot of guys made plays at the end and that’s always good to see. You never want to rely on one person over and over again. It’s good when you have that guy but I think we are growing as a team. In Miami, we didn’t make those plays. Tonight we did. That is a positive step. We have to keep on building.”
- Kyle Korver on take-away from game
“Pero set a great screen. I missed a ton of shots tonight. I couldn’t get in rhythm, for whatever reason. But I got a couple good looks at the end.”
- Korver on four-point play
“I think I was hitting his chest. I don’t know if I was really picking him up. Jeff keeps growing as a point guard. The reality is if you are going to be a good point guard in this league you have to be able to make plays at the end of the game. You saw two point guards tonight doing that. I read a quote from Doc Rivers said this is a bad time to be in the NBA and be an average point guard because everyone is so tough. I thought that was really good. Jeff just keeps on getting better. Hopefully nights like tonight keep boosting his confidence. We have confidence in him. He keeps getting better and this is a great situation for him right now. He is really blossoming this year.”
- Korver on reaction to Teague’s game-winner
“I was just attacking, getting to the basket. I think they were all layups. I had some good looks. I was just basically getting the basket and attacking. I saw some lanes that weren’t there in the beginning of the game. I just took advantage of it.”
- Paul Millsap on eight-point overtime
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