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| Wednesday, December 30, 2009 Final Score: New Orleans 95, Miami 91 Hornets Post Game Quotes
On the win at home: “We needed everyone of those. That was a quality team we played against tonight and a team we had a tremendous amount of respect for how they were playing coming into this game and after a hard game last night I am really proud of the way we competed and the way we played tonight’s game.” On the team’s performance tonight: “I think we are coming and I think we made progress last night a lot. We did things the way we want to do things for longer periods of time, we did not get the reward of victory obviously, but we talked going into this game that our standards of performance what we were shooting for, what we want to hold ourselves accountable for, is how we played in our positive stretches last night and our challenge is to extend those stretches for 48 minutes of play. We did not get there tonight, but that is going to be a yearlong quest to reach that point, but I am proud of the fact that they play well and play together and hang in there when it is as tight as it could be and come away with the win.” On the Heat getting back in game: "A lot of it has to do with getting shots, not having turnovers that eliminate scoring opportunities, then slow down your opponent, if they have to inbound the ball it’s a slower advance they get, the easy opportunities to run on you are taken away, so that is part of it so we have to continue to work on it. Tonight we had some ball handling mistakes that we have to eliminate them.”
On winning at home and losing on the road: “If there is any way I could bottle up a formula for that I’d tell every team in the NBA. It’s just something when we’re in a situation like this; we are using home games to get us going on the road. We are trying to do anything we can to play this way on the road. This month we have a lot of road games, so we’re going to have to get better. We’ll just see how it goes. We played well in the 3rd quarter last night. We played well and had a nice little lead and then we let it slip away. Tonight we almost did the same thing, but we were able to stay together and make plays down the stretch. That bank shot from half court by C.P was a big play. We just stayed with it.”
On the win tonight after a road loss in Houston: “We knew Houston was a tough game, but we let that one slip away in the 4th quarter. Tonight they (Miami) also made a run in the 4th quarter, but we showed a lot of poise and stuck together and we found a way to win this game.” Heat Post Game Quotes
On the game: “It was a tough game; tough finish. We showed some resolve to be able to dig back into the game. But it’s tough winning on the road. This team plays extremely well here, with a lot more confidence at home than they do on the road. Our disposition and energy wasn’t quite where it was in the second half as it was to start the game. In the first half, they made some shots and it affected our energy. We had to regroup and fight back into it in the second half.” On the second half: “They just had some more consistent play, particularly in the end and they made shots. West had a big shot, Chris Paul’s bank shot was a big one at the buzzer, sometimes that can change the complexion of it. In the second half we were just a little more resolute. We had open looks going down the stretch but sometimes that is the difference in the game. We were just trying to find something to change the energy. We made some substitutions, looking for any group that could get us back in the game. We fought back into the game, but weren’t able to close it out.”
On the game: “We stayed within striking distance for a while. They went on a run in the third, but we fought back. On the road, you have to give yourself a chance to win and we did that. I think early on in the first half and a little bit into the third [quarter], we didn’t get into the fight as much. We let them play their game, but we fought back in the end and made it a game. It came down to who was going to make the last shots, and they made them.”
On the game: “There was some miscommunication on the rotations, but in the first quarter, we just weren’t fighting as hard as we did in the fourth. If we had played in the first like we did in the fourth, it might have been a different outcome.” |
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