Here is what they said after the Hawks’ 107-97 win over the Clippers Wednesday night:
“I feel like the group tonight executed on both ends of the court and they competed. That is what you need to do to beat a good team. Tonight, we beat a very good team. We’ve been talking about we’ve played well in stretches and we want to keep making those stretches longer and longer. That is the challenge for every team and we are not any different. Tonight, we put together some good long stretches and the good thing was it was at both ends of the court. Lots of different people stepped up and played well. The ball movement was good. I’m happy for our group. It’s a good win.”
- Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer’s opening statement
“I think the pace and the purposed we played with our last couple of games has been what we want it to be. To be honest, it starts with defense. If you are taking the ball out of the net a lot, it’s hard. I thought we got enough stops. I thought we gang rebounded. We are able to get out and run. We executed our motion pretty good. Then we were able to execute some half-court traditional sets and looks. It was a little mix of everything. I think the pace is always something we will be harping on and make a priority.”
- Budenholzer on Hawks improved pace of play
“I guess the rib became a non-issue. I guess whatever the streak is became a non-issue pretty early. We are all happy to see Kyle healthy. He’s a heck of a shooter and he showed that tonight. He really adds to us. I think he is underrated as a team defender and what he brings to both ends. Our group, obviously, welcomes him back and hopefully we can keep him going.”
- Budenholzer on Kyle Korver’s record 3-point streak
“He just stuck with what we are doing. As much as possible, not matter this guy is playing, this guy is not, we want to build something where everybody feels comfortable, everybody feels confident that there is a system and a structure. As a group we can withstand foul trouble or an injury. Shelvin came in and was aggressive and confident. He’s a competitor. At the end of the day, he really has that competitive streak and that really helps him be a success.”
- Budenholzer on Shelvin Mack stepping in for Jeff Teague
“That is one of the best games we’ve played this year. A lot of people played well, inside-out. People were shooting the ball. We played with pace. When we do that, we can be a really good team. Hopefully we keep building on those habits. It’s nice to be home. I think we were all excited just to be home and have the home crowd behind us. It was a good all-around win.”
- Kyle Korver on victory
“I’m glad it’s done. It was over a long period of time. Then this rib thing happens and it’s like ‘C’mon man, I just want to get this thing over with.’ The happiest person is probably my wife. I was not fun to be around the last five days at the house. I don’t know what to do. I can’t really exercise or do things. The team is out on the road so I can’t be out and about. I’m just sitting at home watching season one of ‘Arrow.’ I can’t do anything. I don’t think I was very pleasant to be around. I glad it’s done.”
- Korver on 3-point streak
“I was just trying to get that one out of the way. I’m just trying to be aggressive. A lot of other teams have focused on it. It’s been hard for me to get shots the last couple of games. I wanted to be aggressive. I was glad it went down and we could just play the rest of the game.”
- Korver on streak
“It really is a team streak. I’m not out there creating the shots. I don’t want to make a speech but there are a lot of people to thank.”
- Korver on streak
“That is our identity. We have to play like that in order to be successful. We have to use our quickness to our advantage.”
- Lou Williams on Hawks playing with pace
“As a team, we were moving the basketball. They played real aggressive on our hedges and our pick-and-rolls. We were able to get the swing. We were able to get the ball in the middle and make plays that way.”
- Paul Millsap on Hawks’ success
“The scout was to limit their lobs, limit their plays at the basket. (And) limit the transition. We were able to do that. If you do that, you stop a lot of those plays.”
- Millsap on limiting Clippers big men
“It’s hard to get a rhythm when guys are out. Guys come in and you have to try to get in a rhythm with that guy. We’ve been able to fight through it. It’s all part of the season.”
- Millsap on first game with healthy team
“As far as the whole overall game, I feel like this was one of our best games of the season.”
- Millsap on team performance
“I think that the Spurs game really got us back on track. Even though we lost that game, we kind of figured out to play with more pace again. That was something that was missing. Maybe it was the amount of games and we were a little fatigue. I think we found something and we have to keep building off of that game and we showed that tonight.”
- Al Horford on Hawks improved pace of play
“We saw what worked against (the Spurs). It was moving the ball fast, setting pick-and-rolls, things we normally do but with a little more pace. We saw the effect it had then and it carried over.”
- Horford on how Hawks kept up pace
“Our (issue) wasn’t offensive tonight. It was on defense. Our overall defense was poor. The first play of the game (Kyle) Korver got a three adn that was indicitve of our defense all night. We had chances to get back in the game. We would cut it to six or eight but then we’d make a gamble play or do something. It was just one of those nights. Tonight we weren’t good individually or as a team. But give (the Hawks) credit. I thought they played great. I thought they moved the ball and played together all night. I thought they play terrific.”
- Clippers coach Doc Rivers
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