Here is what they said after the Hawks’ 93-85 win over the Pistons Wednesday night:
“I think it’s important during the season to find a way to win some ugly games. I think our group tonight found a way to do that, to find some energy when it probably wasn’t easy for either group. We are going to learn from tonight. We are going to get better at taking care of the ball, including at the end of the games, but I think mostly it’s important to find ways to win game like tonight. I’m happy with our group. A few guys individually responded. Jeff Teague had a stretch where he really stepped up and responded and helped us get some separation. Mike Scott off the bench really helped us. There were lots of guys who stepped up and really helped us find a way to win.”
- Coach Mike Budenholzer’s opening statement
“Defensively, we got some stops. Our activity led to some baskets. It seemed like Jeff got free for a couple baskets on the pick-and-roll, got to the rim and made a couple pull-ups. I think it’s usually our defense fueling our offense. I think Jeff was able to find a way to get some buckets. Mike was able to get some buckets.”
- Budenholzer on Hawks’ fourth-quarter
“I don’t know. Hopefully there is some logical (answer). It drives coaches crazy trying to figure it out. We stay up at night trying to figure it out. I’m sure Detroit didn’t feel great about the first quarter. We didn’t feel great about the first quarter. I thought we were at the rim, had good looks, had a lot of good opportunities, missed from free throws. Maybe it would have felt a little different if we make a layup and a make a few free throws. It was not a pretty first quarter for either team.”
- Budenholzer on slow start
“I feel pretty good. It did. I really wanted to get it to calm down before we get too far into the season. We were able to buy some time for it.”
- Paul Millsap on right elbow
“Our energy level was up. We were able to get steals. We had a few traps. They threw the ball right to us. We were able to get out and run a little bit. Through it all, we just had more energy.”
- Millsap on Hawks’ fourth quarter
“We were able to get some key stops and we executed well on offense. It was the prettiest game. We just made enough plays to win the game.”
- Al Horford on Hawks’ fourth quarter
“It’s one of those things that you don’t want to create a habit of. As much as you can the games you are able to win, you want to take care of them now. As a team we need to start figuring things out and handling our business. I think our biggest focus is to get a string of wins and if we lose we try to not to lose two in a row.”
- Horford on Hawks not having lost two straight games
“Coach pulled me aside a few days ago and told me to be more aggressive in the fourth quarter.”
- Jeff Teague
“Oh man, it was just one of those things. I was trying to get a lot of rebounds. Points are going to come just off my rebounds. My main thing was to try to lock down Josh Smith. Like I always tell you, I just want to focus on my defense and hopefully make a (all-NBA) defensive team.”
- DeMarre Carroll on first career double-double
“It was just taking advantage of mismatches. The first and-one was over a smaller guy and the second one was just finding space when our guards penetrated.”
- Mike Scott on two fourth-quarter three-point plays
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