Here is what they said after the Hawks’ 101-92 loss to the Thunder Tuesday night:
“I feel like we played hard, we competed, but we didn’t play real well. I will take a competitive group but I would like it if we played well too. We left a lot of points (out there), with layups and free throws in the first half where it could have been a closer game and halftime. Offensively, you have to give them credit. Their defense was excellent tonight. Our execution has to improve. We need to get better when times turn up the pressure defensively. We need to handle that and react better. Defensively, there are a lot of positives. We made it difficult on Oklahoma City who is obviously a great team.”
- Coach Mike Budenholzer’s opening statment
“Really it seemed like the whole first half to be totally honest. … I felt like the whole first half we were missing layups, free throws and were missing open shots. That happens. Some nights the ball doesn’t go in the basket and you have to continue to play defense. I think our defense gave us a chance to stay in the game.”
- Budenholzer on first half
“That was one of the talking points at halftime. They had 18 free throws at halftime. I think we did a lot of good things defensively but they had 18 free throws at half so obviously 10 in the second half is a better job. That is such an important area when you are playing Oklahoma City. The fastbreak points were pretty good considering we weren’t hitting on all cylinders offensively. When you are not playing well offensively it puts a lot of pressure on your transition defense. I wish we were a little better keeping them off the free-throw line, particularly in the first half.”
- Budenholzer on Thunder free throws
“That was a real positive, the way he attacked that third quarter and the way he got going. It really makes a big difference for us. The first half, I think he was taking what the defense gave him but he had some opportunities in the first half too. Our whole group had opportunities. I think he wanted to come out in the third quarter and capitalize on them. I think he gave us a little bit of momentum, a little bit of a lift, in that third quarter.”
- Budenholzer on Jeff Teague’s third quarter
“It was a rough night. We did come out and play hard but we missed a lot of layups. It came back to bite us at the end.”
- Shelvin Mack on loss
Teammates just giving me confidence. Also, Paul and those guys were giving me the ball in a position to be successful. It’s easy just to catch and shoot when you have great guys on the court.”
- Mack on his fourth-quarter play
“We just couldn’t find a way to score in the fourth. They made it tough for us. We put them on the free-throw line and their players made timely shots. Westbrook doesn’t make a shot all night, he makes a big 3. KD puts pressure on you and gets fouled. It’s a tough matchup but we played hard.”
- Jeff Teague on loss
“They put pressure on you. When they get in the paint and make plays, it’s tough to defend. We just kept fouling them. They are good players.”
- Teague on Thunder free throws
“I was frustrated in the first half. I missed a lot of easy shots. In the second half I missed some easy ones too. In the third quarter I made it a point of emphasis to play and not worry about anything and be aggressive.”
- Teague on his third-quarter play
“The NBA season, if you are worried about every game being a step back or a step forward it wears you out because there are so many games. I think you look at five game stretches, or 10 game stretches, and that’s how you evaluate how a team is playing. I would lump the last five games and in those last five games we have gotten better. There is obviously room for us to grow.”
- Kyle Korver on whether Hawks took step back
“We need pretty much everything on point, we just didn’t execute. We missed a lot of easy shots. Part of it was their defense. The other part of it was we just missed open shots. We could have been better at that.”
- Al Horford on loss
“We had so many opportunities to get back in the game and actually win the thing. We were just missing so many easy shots and getting easy shots blocked. Some nights it will be like that. That’s why it’s the NBA. In two days we’ve got Washington coming in.”
- DeMarre Carroll on loss
“They’ve got two aggressive guys. Two guys who if they attack are going to get to the free-throw line regardless. It’s kind of tough. We have to show our hands, not get our hands caught in the cookie jar, been in position when we need to be. A lot of it is on us but they are two good players.”
- Paul Millsap on Thunder free throws
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