Here is what they said after the Hawks’ 88-87 win over the Mavericks Friday night:
“How many steals did we have tonight? We’ll just add one more to our list.
“Obviously, just happy with the competitive spirit of our group and the competitive nature of them finding a way to come back and win a tough game. That is the kind of group we’ve been talking about, the kind of group that has the character to keep fighting, even when things aren’t going well. Tonight they dug deep. They feed off the crowd. I thought the crowd and the energy in the arena was really good tonight. I think it helped fuel our defense. Holding a team to 12 points in the fourth quarter and gutting out a win, I feel good for our guys. I’m happy for them. Jeff Teague’s commitment and effort to get into the paint, to finish, to score was really good. Obviously Paul hit a big shot with the 3-pointer and Al followed it up with a 2. It’s just a good team win overall.”
- Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer’s opening statement
“No, I think there are times in a game when you feel like you want to call a timeout and draw up a play and get something. But the way we want to play and flow, with randomness, and sometimes even things that happen at end of games, things that happen randomly are better than things you can draw (up). I didn’t draw it up but Paul has been working on his 3’s and we have been encouraging Paul to extend his range and that’s part of today’s NBA. For him to hit one at that moment is obviously timely. And Al is a good mid-range shooter. Those are two shots that we don’t mind. We didn’t draw them up but we’ll take them.”
- Budenholzer on expecting a 3-pointer from Paul Millsap and long 2-pointer from Al Horford to win game
“Our defense. We stepped our activity, our energy, our effort. I think the defense set the tone and allowed us to get out and run and get some baskets in transition, get some confidence and get us attacking the basket.”
- Budenholzer on difference in fourth quarter
“None of us were feeling great after the last few games. There will be lots of ups and downs during the season. Nobody was happy with how we played. … I think we were all feeling a need to play better. Win or lose, we need a better effort out there. To come out with win, obviously, makes it better.”
- Budenholzer on if Hawks can carry momentum forward with win
“No, that’s not the way we planned it. That was guts by Paul. He came down with a lot of confidence just stepped right in and shot it. On my play, Jeff was double-teammed so he just kicked it to me. We’ve worked so much on that pick-and-pop over the years, that I feel comfortable taking that shot.”
- Al Horford on final two shots
“It felt good. It’s a shot that I work on so much and we practice so much. It felt good. It was good to see it go in. We needed it.”
- Horford on game-winning shot
“I think it was good. That way we kept them on their heels a little bit and let the game play out. I felt like there was some good flow to our game, at least in the fourth, and we just played.”
- Horford on not calling timeout before game-winner
“Our intensity, by far. Our pick-and-roll coverage we were pretty laid back. Coach switched it toward the end of the third and beginning of the fourth. Coach wanted us to be more aggressive and get after them. When we did that, it was great. Our defense really picked up. Our energy picked up. We got it going.”
- Horford on difference in fourth quarter
“In my eyes it was. Think about it. The road doesn’t get any easier. Washington has been playing well. Then we have to go to San Antonio. I was already disappointed we gave up a couple home games to Boston and Orlando. I felt like we needed to win this game.”
- Horford on calling game must-win
“That’s a big shot. A real big shot. He took the shot with confidence.”
- Paul Millsap on Horford’s game-winner
“I just seen them sag off me. Jeff threw me the ball. I just felt it and shot it. Nothing spectacular. I just put it up to the basket and it went in for me.
“It was early in the shot clock too. I better have made it. It was one of those situations where if you make it, good. If you don’t, it’s going to be a long walk back to the bench.”
- Millsap on his late 3-pointer
“Dirk is so tall. I didn’t really see it. I heard the crowd go crazy and that’s how I knew it went in.”
- Millsap on game-winner
“We dug ourselves a big hole. It just seemed like we climbed up a mountain the whole game. We kept getting stops but our offense still wasn’t clicking. If you keep doing that you give yourself a chance.”
- Millsap on fourth-quarter comeback
“It’s a big win for us. Hopefully, it’s a big confidence booster for us. It’s well needed. We’ve been going through our stuff and teams have just been making baskets. It was good to get out there and go about our principles and finally pull it off at the end.”
- Millsap on meaning of victory
“It’s all about time and score of the game. When you are down by 17, you try to figure out if you have enough time to cut it to 10 by the six-minute mark or cut it to five at the three-minute mark. Once you do those things, you give yourself an opportunity to win the game. We got it to four or five at the three-minute mark and it’s anybody’s game at that point.”
- Lou Williams on fourth-quarter comeback
“The message was just compete. That’s all he had to say was compete. I think guys were tired of losing and tired of coming into the locker room after the game with our heads down.”
- Jeff Teague on halftime message
“Big-time players make big-time shots. Paul stepped up and made a big 3. Al, that’s why the pay him the big bucks. He steps up and makes the mid-range shot that he is known for.”
- Teague on final two shots
“I looked at (coach) and he said ‘Go.’ I said, ‘I’m going to get to the rim.’ Then Monta Ellis grabbed my arm and I just tried to sling it back to Al. When he seen him sizing him up, I knew he was going to shoot. I said I’m going to attack the offensive boards but it wasn’t needed.
“I looked at him and he just looked back the other way. That’s all I needed to know. He was ready for us to go. I guess he’s having more trust in us.”
- Teague on not calling timeout before final basket
“Basically, we just choked.”
- Mavericks’ Shawn Marion on loss
“The Hawks put pressure on and we didn’t handle it well. They made plays and we didn’t. It’s very disappointing. We have to get over it. We have to do it quickly. This is one time you have to have a short memory, get angry and channel it toward the next game.”
- Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle
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