What they said after the Hawks’ 121-114 victory over the Heat Monday night:
“With all the scoring that happened in the first half, we talked about one team was going to make more stops in the second half. We wanted to be that team to make the commitment to get some stops defensively and still continue to play with pace and continue to score at the same pace. I think two 20-point (defensive) quarters, in the third and fourth quarters, is a real positive for our group to find a way to get some stops against a very talented, well-coached team. We were able to score just enough to find a way to get a win. I was happy with the competitiveness of our group, competing defensively, competing offensively. When you are competing offensively, lots of times that means sharing the ball with your teammates and playing unselfishly. Thirty-three assists is a real positive for our group.”
- Coach Mike Budenholzer’s opening statement
“Pace has been one of our top, top priorities. We think it’s important to us, whether we are coming home from London or coming home from Athens. That’s Athens, Georgia. It’s been something that we really have been talking about. It’s a long season. You are never sure how your group is going to respond coming back from a trip. Obviously, they had a lot of juice and they played at a high rate, a high pace, in the first half.”
- Budenholzer on playing up-tempo despite trip to London
“I feel like we got a few key stops. Lots of time in a close NBA game you have to get a couple of those crucial stops down the stretch. I think they missed a couple of good looks down the stretch. I think there were a couple of turnovers in that stretch. We had a situation where we had two or three guys come across and contest Chris Bosh on a layup that was indicative of our commitment of playing together as a team. A lot of little things down the stretch defensively and we were able to make just enough plays offensively.”
- Budenholzer on difference down the stretch
“I think it was a great win for us, especially coming back after getting our tails whipped pretty good. We had two pretty spirited practices since returning back from London. It was a good quality win for us.”
- Lou Williams on win
“All-around player. It’s difficult to guard him outside. It’s difficult to guard him inside. All the bigs in the league have a problem with him.”
- Pero Antic on Paul Millsap
“Not to make the sixth one. I was getting frustrated. I knew I made three fouls but two wasn’t. It’s a game. We make mistakes. The refs make mistakes. We continue fighting. We competed the whole game. I just tried to play defense without a foul but if I needed to make a foul I would do it.”
- Antic on what he was told playing with five fouls
“I was almost too open, right? … They were focused on Paul. He had a great fourth quarter and we were just feeding him. He dumped off passes to Pero. Made plays at the rim for himself. Pero set a good flare screen for me and I was wide open. It’s one of those ones when you are so open you better make it. I don’t get too many of them so when I do, I get a little nervous.”
- Kyle Korver on clinching 3-pointer
“It’s good to bounce back from a bad game. Our game in London was so bad on so many levels. Just the effort, the execution. We had a good last two days of practice. Coach said we just have to compete, trust the system.”
- Korver on win
“It’s great. Big as it is, it’s only one win. It’s great to bounce back especially after the Brooklyn loss.”
- Shelvin Mack on win
“It’s (coaches) decision. I just try to stay ready when my opportunity comes.”
- Mack on playing almost all of fourth quarter while Jeff Teague sat
“We’ve been in this similar position before. Golden State, they hit a game-winner on us. Paul pulled everybody aside and said ‘We are going to win this game.’ When you have your leader say that, everybody gets on board.”
- DeMarre Carroll on win
“I felt like everything was clicking. We shared the basketball well. Guys were moving without the basketball. It opened a lot of things for us.”
- Paul Millsap on early success
“I found some shooters. They finished.”
- Millsap on fourth-quarter assists to Antic and Korver
“It’s real big, especially coming off the loss that we had. It’s a big one to get something started. Against a good team like that we found a way to win and hopefully we continue to do it.”
- Millsap on win
“He had a lot of people around him. One of them did a good job of making him double-clutch. I was able to come in and get a hand on it.”
- Millsap on block of Chris Bosh
“I’ve felt it more than that a few times. I was just taking what the defense gave me. Coach ran some plays for me. I was able to get some easy buckets at the basket.”
- Millsap on whether he was in a shooting zone
“All across the board, A to Z … there just wasn’t a lot of pride on that side of the court (defense). We tried to win it on a shootout and then our offense came up dry on the road toward the end. A couple of missed shots and turnovers and we weren’t able to secure a win.”
- Heat coach Erik Spoelstra on loss
“We scored enough points to win, so obviously it’s defense. It wasn’t there for the most part of the game, especially in the first half. We gave up 50 points in the second half and played some pretty good defense but not consistently enough.”
- LeBron James on loss
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