Kings Have Ingredients for Success Against LA

Coming off a convincing victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves, the Kings roll into their third matchup of the season with the LA Lakers on Tuesday.

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Postgame Quotes: Kings vs. T-Wolves

KINGS HEAD COACH PAUL WESTPHAL

“Well that was the kind of game we look for every night. We did a great job of taking care of the ball, we ended up doing a great job rebounding, and we moved the ball. (We) got a lot of excellent performances off the bench, especially (Andres) Nocioni and Jason Thompson. It was the way we like Kings basketball to look.”

“I thought that Donte (Greene) really had a rhythm on his shot. He had great balance, took his time, took good shots and really helped to break the game open. I thought that they tried to play a little zone there for awhile and we did a good job of getting wide open shots against that. In general, for the first three quarters for sure, we really moved the ball well and we weren’t even shooting a particularly high percentage but our defense was good enough, our rebounding was good enough, we were holding our turnovers down and it seemed like we were able to get whatever we wanted.”

“Nocioni has had a rough time lately. Sometimes he hasn’t gotten in the game and people are asking me why he didn’t play. He’s been working hard and you just can’t play everybody. He’s been working hard in practice. I think his attitude is fantastic and I have a lot of confidence in him. He’s just a tough player; he’s tough-minded.”

“I think that defense is always effort. Sometimes you can give great effort and they can make shots – (tonight) they were missing shots. We did a good job of limiting them to one shot, coming down and getting good shots on our own. It just was a continuation of how I thought we played in the first half and it just was magnified because they happened to be missing as well.”

On Tyreke Evans:
“His night was sensational. He started off kind of slow, then when we got some stops and got in the open floor he was just unbelievable attacking the rim…I didn’t think he had to do anything that he’s not capable of doing. I think he’s going to have lots and lots of triple-doubles in his career. No, he wasn’t begging to go back in. We really don’t play to pad stats and he doesn’t need it. We play to win the game and he understands that. I think that’s the way it needs to be if you’re going to build a team the way we want to have this team be built.”

“I think Donte really showed how effective he can be when he plays under control and takes what comes to him. He’s a really good shooter when he takes good shots. They were coming his way and he was knocking them down. He seemed to build on the momentum of a little success and really added to it and really put the game away – he was a big part of it.”

Tyreke Evans

“No, I knew Coach was going to take me out. He just left me in longer than what he should have. I was attacking and trying to get the triple-double.”

On if it was deliberate for half, scoring a lot of points, second-half assists
“Yeah, they knew I had a hot hand and I was penetrating. Beno (Udrih) and Francisco (Garcia) were getting their looks and Donte (Greene) was knocking shots down. That is why I got my part on the assists.”

On how nice it was to get a blow-out win
“We came out with not a lot of energy. Coach called a timeout and told us that we needed to pick up the energy. So then we came back aggressive and ‘Cisco came in and talked because he is one of the leaders on this team.”

On how this win will be good for the upcoming Lakers game
This was a big win for us because the Lakers have a good team. They won the championship last year. With Kobe (Bryant) coming here there is going to be a good crowd. We have to bring our ‘A’ game.”

Jason Thompson

“It was a great team effort. We had some energy off the bench and we got it rolling. Both teams started out a little bit sluggish. Overall though, we were limiting their shots and we were getting the rebounds. That is when we were at our best was when we rebounded and ran. We were able to get some easy points which were easier on our offense.”

On the ball movement
“I think we are a good team when we are not turning over the ball. Our assist to turnover ratio was better. Last game we turned the ball over early and it obviously didn’t work out for us. We just took care of it (tonight) and we let the game flow.”

On coming out and having a great third quarter
“Coach said that we had a very solid first half, but we can obviously play better. I think that we showed that in the third. I think it kind of looked like the third quarter we had against Toronto. It was good that we started off the second half on a good note.”

Donte Greene

“Everything was in rhythm and nothing was really forced. I am just trying to stay consistent. We tried to pick it up a little more down the stretch. I was just out there having fun. That is what I do and that is what I try to do, on and off the court. Life is too short to be too serious. I was having a lot of fun tonight.”

On the upcoming Lakers game
“We have a big game on Tuesday. We look at it as trying to keep running our stuff, stay focused and prepare for the Lakers.”

On the team right now
We are all coming together. Now we have a set core and nucleus for this team. We are just learning each other’s strengths and weaknesses and trying to get better everyday.”

Minnesota Timberwolves Head Coach Kurt Rambis

On the continuous Kings’ fastbreak
“It wasn’t as much as we have given up in the past. Obviously, it is an area of major concern defense-wise. Everyone not adhering to their responsibilities and what is supposed to happen when a shot goes up. So they are not getting organized in that fashion. Turnovers hurt. Obviously, bad shots hurt. It is an area of our defense, particularly recently, that has been a nemesis of ours and has been causing problems.

On adjusting to the late scratch
“With Darko (Milicic) being a last minute scratch like that certainly hurts. Players mentally prepare and Ryan Hollins was expecting to not start and then had to gear up mentally to start. That is just an excuse. We still have to come out and play hard. I don’t think we played hard except for a few people out there. I like what Damien Wilkens did out there. I like what Ramon (Sessions) did out there. Ryan Gomes did out there. I like what Wayne Ellington did out there. I thought those guys played hard, continued to fight and tried to do the right things out there.”

On Darko’s late scratch
“He was just feeling ill. Dizziness and upset stomach. I’m not sure what his fever situation is but he just started feeling really bad.”

On defending Tyreke Evans
“I thought Wayne did a good job. He was the one individual in particular that, conceptually, understood how we wanted to defend him. So he got a handle on it and what we wanted to do with our defensive game plan more than anyone else.”

On keeping the players motivated
“We work hard in practice; we work on the individual skills to try to get them better. Keep them focused on learning more about the NBA. But really, most of that comes from within. There is no rule or law that says you have a right to anything in this league. No one is going to hand you wins or opportunities. No one is going to roll over if you give 50 percent effort.”

Minnesota Timberwolves Guard Wayne Ellington

On Guarding Tyreke Evans
“He is so tough to play. He can handle the ball and play with his back to the basket. He can get in the lane and I just try to contest his jumper and stay in front of him. That is the best you can do really. I’ve know Tyreke since he was a freshman back in high school. So I know his game a little bit. He is quick. He is a big, strong, athletic guy. It is tough to stay in front of him.”

Postgame Quotes: Kings vs. Blazers

KINGS HEAD COACH PAUL WESTPHAL

“Well I can’t say that was the greatest game the Kings have played this year by a long shot. There was a lot that showed our youth and inexperience. I thought that the Blazers’ defense was very aggressive and took away a lot of our first options. We responded like a team that’s been together for 12 games, which is what we are. They forced us into 20 turnovers. When we’ve been playing well these past eight games, we’ve only had one real bad turnover half – that was the second half in Dallas. We had a bad turnover game today. It takes away any other good things that might happen when you constantly are not getting good shots. Not only that, you’re starting the other team’s fastbreak with your turnovers. So that was a big negative for us. When you look at the stat sheet and the rebounds are relatively even, we shoot 50.6 percent and aren’t even close, that tells you a lot about the importance of these turnovers and just how tough the Blazers were – obviously, Brandon Roy in the first half and throughout the game and then in the second half (LaMarcus) Aldridge. They just picked us apart offensively. They look like a team that’s heading for the playoffs and we look like a team that’s barely been together long. So we need to get better from this game, learn from it, cut down our turnovers and bring more energy for the entire game. I thought that they played with much more energy than we did tonight too which is a really disappointing thing to say – I haven’t said that about our team very often this year – but I thought we looked like we let them be the aggressor tonight.”

“They looked like they were playing the first game of the week and we looked like we were on the second game of a back-to-back, didn’t we? I thought Roy, in the first half particularly, we couldn’t stop him. We did a pretty decent job on the rest of the guys at least numbers-wise but he took whatever he needed to take and it seemed like he never missed.”

“We didn’t do a very good job of getting dribble penetration. I think that we have to space the floor better. We looked at our last game and thought we spaced the floor pretty well against Toronto but tonight looked like we had nowhere to go. We did not space (the floor); we did not attack well. I give the Blazers a lot of credit.”

“(Andres) Nocioni is a good player. He’s proven what he can do in this league. Like everybody else on this team, if somebody’s playing, somebody has to be sitting. It’s nothing against him. We have a lot of players that play that position and it’s hard to give them all as much time as they would like to have. Other times in this year, Andres was playing a lot and I would get questions about why Donte Greene wasn’t playing. Then sometimes Donte and Andres would be playing and people would want to know why Omri Casspi wasn’t playing. We have a lot of good players in that position and we try to give players a fair look for long periods of time but it doesn’t always work that all of them can get as many minutes as they’d like. Right now it happens to be that Andres is left out but he’s a good player and that’s just the way our team is right now.”

Tyreke Evans

On what happened tonight
“They ran plays and we fell apart. We had too many turnovers. I think we had at least 20 turnovers. They also rebounded and got second shots. It looked like they didn’t even play last night.”

On the Trail Blazers’ play
“They have been together for a long time. They just continue to run their offense. Brandon Roy got hot and once he hit they all just started hitting. Rudy (Fernandez) also starting hitting and then we just fell apart.”

On Brandon Roy
“He came out and was able to get to the line. He hit a couple of shots and then he was on from there. He played at his own pace so he was able to find the shots he wanted. He is an All-Star and that is what he is going to do.”

On Andre Miller
“He is a veteran, so he is a smart player. He makes some smart plays and will try to cut you off and stuff. He has been in the league for a long time, so he knows more things than half the players on the team.”

Carl Landry

On what went wrong tonight
“Turnovers were the problem. You can look at the box score and see that. It is plain and simple like that.”

On all the calls by the refs
“That is a part of the game (all the whistle blowing by refs). We missed seven free throws. The rebound war was pretty much the same, but it was our turnovers. That is what killed us. We gave them about 15-20 points just off turnovers.”

On if their back-to-back had anything to do with their play
“It wasn’t them (tonight), it was us. I am not going to give any team in the league credit, we can compete with anyone. They are a good ball team and a playoff team, but tonight it had nothing to do with them playing a back-to-back, it was us.”

On if they are starting to have cohesion
“We are getting better as a team. Obviously it didn’t look like it tonight, but we are. We have practice tomorrow and we are going to go back to the drawing board. We will try to correct some of the mistakes that we had in tonight’s game and the last couple games. We have to just have to try to keep getting better every day.”

Portland Trail Blazers Head Coach Nate McMillan

On tonight’s game
“I’m really pleased with these guys. To face the Kings and Golden State, games we really needed, our guys came out with a business-like approach. They played the game from start to finish in a back-to-back. Sometimes letdown is written all over a game like this. We knew they (the Kings) play better in this building and we had to come out and play better than last night. The challenge was to take the fourth quarter (from last night) and take it into tonight’s game.”

On the recent play of Brandon Roy
“It has taken a while to figure out how to use him with this group. Pick-and-rolls, which he has been really good at, teams have been double teaming and trapping. Now we are isolating him and just allowing him to go one-on-one and play from one side of the floor and the middle of the floor. It has taken a little while to adjust with the group that we have and figure out plays and take advantage of his skill. The last two games, he has just taken advantage of that and made good plays.”

On their strategy defending Tyreke Evans
“Nicolas (Batum). Get some length on him. Square your shoulders and try to shadow him in transition because he is really good going coast-to-coast. Just trying to square your shoulders and keep him in front of you and don’t allow him to get into the paint.”

Portland Trail Blazers Guard Brandon Roy

On his recent play
“I was in a great rhythm before my hamstring. I felt like, offensively, I was playing at a high level. And it is coming back. I kind of judge my game between how I’m playing my in-between game, my midrange. When I feel like that rhythm is going, then I am tough to guard. I feel like I am starting to get in a groove and just feeling confident out on the floor.”

On how he approached the game
“Tonight, I wanted to come out and be aggressive. Coming off a back-to-back, I wanted to come out and play hard and let the team know that that was last night and this is another game. Second half, late in the third quarter, I wanted to be patient and get guys involved. The fourth quarter, I wanted to finish the game and took what the defense gave me and continue to be aggressive. Even if that means to pass, just put pressure on the defense.”

On where they fit in the playoff race
“We know we are in eighth place, but we want to move up. It may be tough, but our biggest thing is to try to continue to move up in the standings. I feel like if we look behind us, we may put too much pressure on ourselves. Why settle? Let’s move up as high as we can. I try to look at the teams ahead of us like what the Spurs do, what is Phoenix doing and Oklahoma City. Those are teams that we feel like are close enough that, if they slip, we can catch them.”

On the expectations on the team for this season
“Expectations, those things change. That is why the NBA is 82 games and we have had our share of injuries. It also says how tough the West is. We may win 50 games and who is saying that is a failure. We put the expectations behind us a while ago. I think we are just trying our best to make the most of the team we have now. We have (Marcus) Camby here and he is getting in his flow and helping us a lot. I feel like I am getting my rhythm back from sitting out so long with that hamstring. We feel like we have a pretty good team.”

Postgame Quotes: Kings vs. Raptors

KINGS HEAD COACH PAUL WESTPHAL

“Obviously we really enjoyed the night. I think it was a treat for the fans to come out and honor Tyreke (Evans) that way and for him to have his first career triple-double – there’s going to be a lot of them. Our defense really did it. I thought the fact that in the first half we were only down five, turning the ball over, and really playing as poorly as we did, I thought that really said a lot for our defense. Then, in the second half, it all came together for us. That’s the vision of how we want our team to play – getting stops, limiting them to one shot, no turnovers and attacking with a lot of different players. So, that was very much validation for our players, (with) a tough back-to-back, to be able to put together a game like that. It was really exciting to see Tyreke have such a fitting night when there were people that came out for him.”

On Chris Bosh
“Between Carl (Landry) and Jason Thompson primarily, and help from different places at different times, he had a rough night. Now, we know a player as good as Chris Bosh a lot of times, it’s just because he missed, but we made him work and he did miss. We did a good job of limiting them to one shot and it was primarily Carl and JT.”

“Well (Omri Casspi) played like he has shown he can play, with a kind of energy and passion. I just give him a lot of credit for coming out and proving that he’s not too tired to compete. I thought Donte (Greene) did a really nice job at that position too so between those two players they both struggled a little bit last night in Portland and they came out of it in a big way and they both helped us quite a bit.”

“I think awards have their place and there are a lot of really good rookies this year. I wouldn’t want to downplay any of the things that they’ve done – there have been some phenomenal performances by some really talented young players. But when you just look at it objectively from day one, all the way through now, (Tyreke) has consistently been up there averaging over 20 (points), five boards and five assists and really taking steps to change the culture of this team. I just think that his consistency, as well as the obvious talent that he has, just really makes it an open and closed vote. I really don’t see how anybody else could get a vote if people look at the totality of the season. Now, there are some great players and they might end up having more successful careers than Tyreke – how can anybody predict that – but for this year, it’s just not even close. For what he’s done game after game all the way through, he’s one of the most consistent rookies I’ve ever seen.”

Tyreke Evans

“Coach told me that he wanted me to get it (a triple-double). He kept telling me to find people and he said I had a limited amount of time too, so I was trying to get it as fast as I could.”

On Defense
“It was a good job by Carl (Landry) and Jason (Thompson). They played (Chris) Bosh really well. I think we got the win because they got the stops tonight and we were able to get our fastbreak points.”

On RekeROY night
“It was exciting and it reminded me of college at Memphis. It was a college atmosphere out there and I had a lot of fun. The crowd was into it and we played really well in the second half. Beno (Udrih) started out good, than Donte (Greene) and Jason (Thompson) and Carl (Landry) were all hitting shots. That was when we were at our best, when everyone was playing well.”

On having a great second half
“They did a good job on (Chris) Bosh, they took some tough shots and got fastbreak points, I was able to get Carl a couple of baskets and Beno hit a couple three’s. From there we kept it going and were on a roll.”

Carl Landry

“Coach told us that this is one that we needed to have. We went out there and the first five minutes of the game we just stayed aggressive and attacked. We pretty much sucked the air out of them.”

“It was really fun. Having a chance to see Omri (Casspi) get on the board after he had a tough first half of the game. In the third quarter to see him score, that was fun. We are all like brothers in here. We are with each other eight months of the year. It was a good feeling out there tonight.”

On their confidence tonight
“That is all a young team needs is confidence. We are all playing here, and with confidence I think this team is going to get to the next level.”

On Tyreke
“He is a phenomenal player. He had a great game today. I think it was his first triple-double. That is something that a lot of people in this league won’t accomplish and he accomplished that as a rookie. That is a great accomplishment.”

Beno Udrih

On coming out with energy in the second half
“We were down five points (coming into the third quarter) and we said that we were going to bring the energy and we did. We moved the ball, we played good defense and whenever you do that, even a playoff team can’t do anything about it. We just kept the momentum going into the fourth quarter and just played good.”

On playing good defense
“I think that my mentality about basketball is defense wins. So today we did that and we played good defense on Bosh and the Raptors. We definitely came out and played defense and that is why we won.”

Toronto Raptors Head Coach Jay Triano

Tonight’s game…
“I think we got really selfish. We had guys coming down and taking shots and other guys are not happy that they don’t touch the ball. We miss the shot and they get the rebound and then fastbreak points. It’s a 10-0 run before you know it. We caved after that. We tried to call timeout and tried to bring them back together but again it’s the same thing. This is a team that if you give a little confidence to, they didn’t have it the first half and they did the second. It just streamrolled from there.”

Back-to-back games…
“Honestly I didn’t see a lot wrong with our energy. Sacramento played last night too. The biggest difference tonight was two words - selfishness and confidence. We got selfish and they got confidence.”

Tyreke Evans…
“In the third quarter I thought we started to come back tonight then he just picked us apart. We can’t stop him with one guy. Their confidence was rolling so he kicks it out and they start making threes. He’s tough to guard.”

Jose Calderon, Toronto Raptors Guard

Selfishness effecting tonight’s game…
“It’s team defense. Sometimes it’s good when you don’t want your man to score but you should be able to help your teammates too. Hopefully we’ll have a day off, practice Friday and be ready for the next game.”

Chris Bosh, Toronto Raptors Forward

Tonight’s game…
“Tonight was a tale of two halves. I think we let our offense dictate too much defensively. You are going to have nights when you struggle offensively but you can’t let that dictate your mood.”

Postgame Quotes: Kings @ Blazers

COACH PAUL WESTPHAL

ON GAME
“We played a really good team and we had a chance to win in the last few minutes and came away dry. I thought that our poise offensively down the stretch offensively left a lot to be desired, I thought Marcus Camby, even though his stat line wouldn’t knock your eyes out really dominated the game for them on the defensive end and was very much the difference from where I sat…A lot of good things but not good enough. We have to have better poise down the stretch. We have to learn how to avoid cheap fouls that put them on the line and how to get to the line ourselves…I thought Marcus Camby was a big impediment to our offense. We did get some good shots but we didn’t knock them down, which you have to do. They are a tough defensive team and they tightened it up and we didn’t respond.”

ON END OF GAME
“I don’t think we moved it like we needed to in the fourth quarter, the last five minutes especially. I thought we were standing around too much, we were fighting the shot clock too much, we had forced shots, and it was not as smooth as it needs to be to get a win against a team like the Blazers.”

ON DEFENSE
“I thought our defense was pretty solid for the most part. We got hurt a few times for the most part because of our offense turned the ball over and they got fast breaks. I thought we did OK on the boards, there were a few times that we should’ve gotten the ball and didn’t. I thought we got one more rebound than they did totally. Our defense was reasonably good and gave us a chance to win the game

ON BRANDON ROY
“We had different players on him. Tyreke most of the time, but Francisco had him a lot, Dominic McGuire had him some and Donte Greene might have had him a couple of times. He’s a great player and he’s always going to have an impact on the game.”

SPENCER HAWES

ON OFFENSE
“We have to not let pressure defense like that take us out of the system when it’s set up to thrive against that kind of stuff. We have to be aggressive, be strong with the ball and take something like that apart…We’re still getting to know each other and continuing to evolve as a team on that end of the floor.”

CARL LANDRY

ON GAME
“We just didn’t convert or execute down the stretch and that is something we have to learn how to do, being a young team, we have great talent in this locker room, we just have to learn how to execute down the stretch when the game is on the line…We’re just young, we don’t have that much experience, but we practice every day, and you can see that on the court, that we are growing, we just have to learn to play together. We have four new guys in this locker room, we just got to adjust and learn how to execute down the stretch.”

COACH NATE McMILLAN

“Well we got the win. Of course, we know we can play better and we’re going to have to play better than we did down the stretch to win games, our remaining games.

On Camby:
“I thought he was huge. We don’t win the game tonight if he doesn’t make some of the plays he made. He had a baseline jumpshot, he had two blocks. He got on the floor for a loose ball on the defensive end of the floor, which I thought gave us some life. Those were big plays. We got some stops and enough stops to score some baskets and eventually get control of this game and put it away.”

On expecting this type of play from Camby going forward:
“We’re certainly hoping for that, but again, we’ve got to have everybody. We’ve got to have everybody if we’re going to get to that level of play that we want to get to. Everybody has to play with the same focus, the same intensity, the same scrappiness. Once you get that as a unit, we’re going to be stronger at the defensive end of the floor. He made some plays. We need everybody to be focused in on stopping, okay, controlling the ball. Then if there is a breakdown, then you have a guy like that who can cover for some breakdowns. But collectively, we’ve got to do a better job.”

On cold stretches:
“We missed shots. I thought Rudy and Martell… they had a 10-0 run and we were missing some shots. You’ve got to make shots. From what I can recall, they looked like pretty good shots. Rudy missed a lay-up, a floater, and I think Martell had an open look during that time. You’ve got to put teams away and you’ve got to make shots. We’ve seen this before. Until I look at the film, I can’t say exactly what happened, but I know we missed some open looks. You’ve got to make those shots.”

On Batum:
“I thought he was better tonight guarding a penetrating guard or a guy that’s penetrating. He made his adjustments. He didn’t get too excited about the match-up of him and Evans and he played him solid. I thought he kept him in front.”

Roy scored 19, but did not “carry” the team; is that a positive?
“Yeah, when you win it. We’re going to need him. We’re going to need LaMarcus and we’re going to need all our guys. We’re still in this race and we’re going to have to play much better than we did tonight.”

BRANDON ROY

“We didn’t dominate this game like we wanted to come out, but we’ll take the win. We’ve got to continue to improve. I thought our defense got better, but offensively, we weren’t very good tonight.”

“We had a couple leads there but we didn’t do a good job of putting them away. We let them start the fourth quarter with a 10-0 run. We can’t let them start quarters like that and we’ve just got to do a better job of putting them away.”

On defense late:
“When they came out and went on a 10-0 run, we had a 11 point lead going into the fourth and it was a chance for us to try to take a lead and we didn’t, so we said that was their run, we’ve got to tighten up defensively and we’ll give ourselves a chance to win this game.”

“You always are concerned with how you’re winning, but right now we’re in a tight race so we’re taking these wins. We know we have to get better if we want to make a push and win a game in the playoffs.”

On Camby:
“He did great. He kept talking – he talked all night defensively and came over and blocked shots. He gave us a huge presence down the stretch of that game. He didn’t give up anything easy and that’s big when you’re going down the stretch. You don’t want to give them anything easy in the paint. Marcus did what we brought him here to do and that was to dominate the middle.”

Postgame Quotes: Kings vs. Thunder

KINGS HEAD COACH PAUL WESTPHAL

“I hate to sound like a broken record but we did so many good things out there against a really good team. They’re one of the best defensive teams in the league. We shot 50.6 percent (from the field), had only 13 turnovers, addressed those problems and really defended them pretty well but we couldn’t keep them off the glass. They missed three free throws; we missed nine free throws. They beat us on the boards (45-33) and it negates so many of the good things that we did. I keep feeling this inching closer and closer to breaking through against these good teams and we’re dong so many good things but we’re not doing enough to get the win. So we’re going to take the positives and try to improve the negatives and keep heading upward. They’re where we want to be and we want to get there sooner rather than later. As long as we keep striving to improve, I think we have a really good nucleus here and we keep bouncing back.”

“That’s the goal – I mean, the goal is to keep getting better and to be a team that’s solidly in the playoffs, and then win playoff games and then win playoff series – that’s where we want to go. Everything we do is geared toward that. It’s a high mountain to climb; we’ve come quite a ways and we’re not stopping.”

“I think that we executed against one of the best defensive teams in the league. We only turned it over 13 times, we got to the line a reasonable amount of times, we shot 50 percent against them, we played well enough offensively to win this game. Defensively, we played well enough except for we didn’t control the defensive glass and that’s how they beat us at their place and that’s how they beat us again tonight. So it certainly is an area that we need to improve if we want to be at their level.”

“Francisco (Garcia) is really showing how important he can be for our team. He’s an extra ball handler, he stretches the floor with three-point shooting and he’s a clutch shooter. Defensively he can guard three positions in a pretty credible manner so it was really nice to have his contributions out there.”

“It’s nice to have Jason (Thompson) back – a lower back injury kept him out what, 10 days? That’s pretty amazing. He brings a lot of energy and got some rebounds for us. He’s certainly an integral part of what’s going on for us.”

“It gets like that some nights when teams are competing. The game means a lot for Oklahoma City in terms of their playoff seeding and even making sure they make the playoffs and it means a lot to us in terms of our progression. So you’re going to have that when teams are fighting hard.”

When asked how he will work on fatigue with the team:
“Give them some rest – I think that’s the first thing. I think that it’s been pretty evident not only in the games but in our practices that Omri (Casspi) is really winding down his battery, so we’re trying to help him recharge it a little bit, just give him some rest. We’re very, very high on Omri and I think that he’s a big part of our future. I do think that it’s going to be important for him in this offseason to pick up probably 10 pounds and maybe a little bit more and really work on his stamina. He’s never been through anything like this before and I think you can see it, that he doesn’t quite have the motor that he had earlier.”

Carl Landry

“There are no excuses. I am not making any excuses. We have got to go and get the ball. I gave up a couple of rebounds tonight as well as a couple of my teammates. We have got to do a better job of rebounding the ball. It is that simple.”

On the trash talking tonight
“There was a lot of trash talking going on, but it is just part of the game. Wherever you go, whether the Y or the playground it is just a part of basketball. I think that the referees didn’t want it to get out of hand and that is why they made some of the calls, but it is just a part of the game. I don’t think it really affected us or the other team.”

On rebounding
“We didn’t win. We just have to do a better job of rebounding the ball. They outrebounded us and I think if we had gotten a couple more boards then the outcome of the game could have been different. We just have to do a better job on that end.”

There were a lot of technicals were called today. So a lot of money is going to go back to the NBA. It was a tough game today, it was close. We have been playing a lot of close games since I have gotten here. We just have to keep grinding it out. We need to correct a couple correctable errors and mistakes we have been doing.”

Jason Thompson

“It is always frustrating when you lose in close games, especially when you know you have a chance to win. A few things didn’t go our way. We weren’t getting rebounds and we missed a few free throws. You know it’s kind of tough because this is a team we beat earlier in the season and had a close one there last week. They are a playoff team. We know that we can play with good teams, especially in our conference, but we fell a little short tonight.”

On recovering from injury
“I felt good out there. The doctor said up to two weeks. You never know though, I have never been injured so for me the recovery may have been fast. I feel good and it was good to get out there and get my feet wet and play with my teammates. For the most part it just felt pretty good. I felt confident and coach kept me out there.”

Tyreke Evans

On what went wrong
“We played them good. They really killed us in the rebounding. They got us on the glass and were able to get the second opportunities. That is what hurt us.”

On having a lot of minutes in second half
“I got a little bit tired. Francisco (Garcia) walked me to the foul line and I was a little bit tired and I got fouled. That is just something I am going to have to get better at next year and condition better.”

Oklahoma City Thunder Head Coach Scott Brooks

On how they won the game
“The bench came in and did a very good job. You just never know when a guy is going to go out, like Russell (Westbrook) had to have stitches. Eric (Maynor) came in and gave us very solid minutes. And Serge (Ibaka), Nick (Collison) and James (Harden) gave us solid minutes throughout the game. I thought the bench did a really good job of coming in and helping us win the game tonight. Sacramento is not an easy team to guard. They have so many offensive weapons and they put a lot of pressure on your defense.”

On Russell Westbrook returning after receiving stitches
“He’s tough. He is a tough competitor and competes every night. That wouldn’t surprise me. I knew he was coming back in. I was just surprised that it took so long. He showed toughness. Our team showed toughness to come in and win here. They have got some talented players and they are going to get better and they are young. That is a tough team to play against.”

On the solid rebounding
“I thought we were real good and active on the boards. We didn’t give up a lot of offensive rebounds which they can do. Jason (Thompson) came back tonight, and Carl (Landry) is an offensive rebounder. We did a good job of rebounding the ball.”

On his feelings going 2-1 on their road trip
“We weren’t happy the way things turned out in Denver. They are one of the best teams in basketball and we wanted to make it a very competitive game, which it wasn’t, but we played excellent two-way basketball. Tonight, we came back and really took care of business on their home court and the last game on our road trip.”

Oklahoma City Guard Russell Westbrook

On playing after his injury
“I’m good. Just got six stitches. Nothing big. I am fine. I was able to see normally, but not too much on the right side.”

On the emotion that ran high during the game
“That is good emotion. That is NBA basketball. We got a few technicals but we were able to fight through it.”

On Coach Scott Brooks
“He stays consistent with what he is preaching. He preaches defense and he is pretty consistent to that. He has done a great job of that all year this year and last.”

Oklahoma City Forward Kevin Durant

On dominating the boards
“We did a great job on the offensive glass, especially with Jason Thompson back. Carl Landry and Spencer Hawes are good as well. We got a long ways to go on that, but we are getting better and better every game.”

On if anyone has been able to stay in front of Russell Westbrook
“No. He is so quick and athletic and so strong. It’s tough. He can dribble a basketball pretty well and has a lot of dribble moves. He takes what the defense gives him. Sometimes he should take the pull-up, which is one of the best parts of his game, but he wants to take it to the basket. You can’t blame him for that.”

Postgame Quotes: Kings @ Mavs

Kings Head Coach Paul Westphal

(On Tonigh’t Game)
“Well, we cut it to 2, and Tyreke [Evans] driving to the basket and he didn’t get the call. I’m not saying it was a foul, I’m saying he didn’t get the call. They did what veteran teams do – they put us away. Really the biggest difference in the game for us was we turned it over 17 times, they turned it over 8 times. And we’ve been really good at that lately and tonight we weren’t. And you give turnovers to a team like Dallas they get runs outs, get easy baskets, and that’s the one thing we couldn’t overcome tonight. I thought out of the 48 minutes we probably had 43-44 good enough minutes to think we could win that game. But those lapses, and the turnovers, we couldn’t overcome. Dallas is a very impressive, excellent team and I’m really proud of the way we played. I think that as we learn how to tighten up our offense a little bit we’ll have a lot better chance of coming out with a lot more of these wins. Anyway, tough loss for us against a great team.”

Kings Guard Beno Udrih

(What does it say about your team to make a comeback at the end of the game?)
“We’re here to get better and play hard. We’re a young team and don’t have a lot of experience. So we’re just trying to learn and get better.”

(How much fun was it in the first half as the team was playing well)
“It’s always fun, especially when you get going like that. Then they had a player too that was hot so it’s tough. They’re a good team, they have a lot of weapons, and congratulations to them.”

(What does it say about your team to hang with such a hot Mavs team that’s won 10 straight)
“We played 42 minutes of good basketball. Against a team like that you’ve got to play 48 minutes, and six minutes in a stretch they made a run and it was too big of a run. A team like that, they always know how to run when they’re ahead to stay ahead. “

Mavericks Head Coach Rick Carlisle

(On the win despite missing players.) “We found a way to win and the start wasn’t good obviously and there was some frustration, but it was all about holding it together, keeping the composure and bringing up the level of defensive energy. It was just too easy for them early. Beaubois gave us a great lift off the bench, I thought Stevenson gave us a lift. You know, Barea played well. Najera played solid. So, when you are thin like that you just have to
collectively find a way.”

(Any update on Brendan Haywood.)
“I would think he would be day-to-day. But, he had some a little stiffness this morning and then he tweaked it on the jump ball of all times. So, that wasn’t a good start.”

(On the technical situation.)
“Well, I was just thought there was contact that should have been called a foul on two or three occasions and I had an opinion on it. My opinion was noted, but when you go out on the court sometimes you get one and sometimes you get two, so I got two and that was it..”

(On the team going on a run after the ejection.)
“I was certainly glad. I don’t take credit for that. In those situations, you have to get playing better. Whether or not the coach getting thrown out contributes to that, that is up for debate. I doubt it. I think we were due to play better and finally started getting some stops and look, the guys off the
bench really helped too.”

(What is your feeling on this team.)
“When you go on a streak like this, everyone is gunning for you. Everybody wants to be the team to take you down. So, you are going to get everybody’s
best game. We’ve had some slow starts, but it is something we have been able to overcome many times. We are working on starting better, but hey, it is a 48 minute game for a reason. So, the streak is alive. We get on the plane tonight and head to Chicago and lace them up again. We just have to keep this going as long as we can.”

Mavericks guard Roddy Beaubois

(How big a win was this tonight with all the guys out with injuries?)
“It’s a big win for us and we really wanted to win this one because of Jet being out. We knew it was going to be difficult after Haywood wasn’t going to play but we did a good job and we’re happy about the win.”

(With Jet out you played a lot of two-guard tonight)
“I really tried to be aggressive with Jet being out and we needed everyone to push themselves so I really tried to be aggressive and that worked and JKidd and JJ (Barea) really set me up tonight. We played great together tonight.”

“I’m feeling more confident out there and my teammates have been talking to me and everyday I’m feeling better.”

“The fans are incredible and I really like playing here.”

Mavericks forward Eduardo Najera

“We’re getting smaller by the minute that’s what Dirk said. We’re ok as long as we follow the concepts defensively and I thought our zone is what got us going especially in the first half and that kind of solves the height problems we just need to rebound a little bit better.”

(Talk about the zone defense?)
“It definitely breaks the rhythm of the other team and we did a good job of playing zone. We have a lot of experience, we’ve played it before and it seems like we all are pretty smart defensively and we can hide some of our one on one weaknesses in our zone and it’s working so far really good for us and helped us win some games.”

“We’ve got to start playing better especially when we have the lead we stopped playing defensively and stopped running. We’ve got to get stops, get the rebound and go.”

Postgame Quotes: Kings vs. Rockets

KINGS COACH PAUL WESTPHAL

(on the win)
“It was very gratifying. We shot 100 field goal attempts, and to get a road win with our offense struggling to get baskets was big. Basketball is a funny game. It’s all part of our learning process. We knew when we left Brooks wide open we’d win. (ha-ha). Carl’s (Landry) free throws at the end were fantastic. Aaron brooks misses a wide open 3-pointer and not by our design but we will take it.”

(on Landry’s play)
“You can see why everyone in Houston loves him because the way he plays the game. He wants the ball in his hands at the end of the game. He came through big.”

(on Battier’s defense of Tyreke Evans)
“Battier was fantastic and did a super job defensively against Evans. He had his way with Tyreke and now will be see how he will adjust next time we play.”

CARL LANDRY

(on getting to play against Chuck Hayes)
“Chuck had a long night, didn’t he? He tried to get me with his spin move but it didn’t work. I was just telling him things on the court. We talked a little trash but that was all.”

(on his return to Houston)
“I just wanted to win. I got fouled and made it to the line and when I hit my free throws, it felt great. It was a sigh of relief. I had fun here and Houston is a wonderful place with great fans. It was real fun playing against all my brothers on the other side. Coach (Westphal) talked to me before the game and said I didn’t have to be too aggressive, just play my game.”

(on the key to the game)
“We played defense and that was the key to the game.”

(on Battier defending Evans)
“Shane is a great defender and he knew all of Tyreke’s moves before he even made them.”

SPENCER HAWES

(on winning and shooting 32%)
“It’s as big a surprise as it gets. When you are not shooting well you have to buckle down and bring something else to the table. We brought it defensively and that was the key to the victory.”

FRANCISCO GARCIA

(on the key to the game)
“Defense did it for us. It’s tough to win on the road without good defense. Our defense is picking up and we have to keep rolling. The last four games we have played well.”

(on playing against Kevin Martin)
“It was weird playing defense on Kevin but it was also kinda fun. I knew coming in I was going to be playing against my friend. But we are both professionals.”

ROCKETS COACH RICK ADELMAN

(On the game)
“Just not happy with the way we played. They beat us to every loose ball. They killed us on the boards, between our turnovers and their (Kings) offensive boards, that’s 41 and a half of their points. Those are effort plays. I don’t know if we thought we were going to come out here and blow a team out just because we won a game the other night. If you hold the team to 32 percent at home and they get twenty three more shots than you do and every phase didn’t work. You have to have the ball, we just didn’t do it. They crushed us on the boards.”

(On the loss)
“There wasn’t anything, that’s what we talked about at every timeout and half time. There wasn’t hard cuts. We’re trying to attack one on one and we settled for jumpers early in the game, just jumper after jumper. We didn’t make them move at all. It’s just very disappointing. I don’t know if we…we have a young group and I think that because they won a game they think they will win the next one. It doesn’t work that way in this league. I don’t care who you are playing, you’ve got to go out and make it happen and I give Sacramento credit. We didn’t do enough during the course of the game and then it became a three point game. There are just so many little things you can point to but there’s no reason they should have beat us that badly on the boards, there’s just no reason.”

KEVIN MARTIN

(On the loss)
“We wanted that one. It just didn’t happen for us tonight. I thought we played good defense but we just didn’t get in to any type of rhythm tonight. They (Sacramento) were doing a great job on the offensive boards. There was just no flow or anything tonight. You hold a team to 32 percent you would bet any amount of money that you would win but not tonight.”

(On the Kings’ defense)
“It’s something that you just have to look at the tape but you can’t really pinpoint one thing tonight. They (Sacramento) played a great game tonight so you’ve got to give them credit.”

AARON BROOKS

(On the last shots)
“Yeah (getting the shot that he wanted). It was a good play. It was just all my shots today were a little short or to the right or to the left, just a little off. Everybody was pretty much off but I think we got killed on offensive rebounds and that’s where the game was won. They (Sacramento) had a lot of second chance points and second chance points off of our turnovers and that’s where the game was at.”

(On the missed free throws)
“You go in with the mindset to make the shot and when you don’t make it you are surprised and that’s what happened. So, I don’t know, I guess I have to practice a little bit more.”

SHANE BATTIER

(On the Kings second chance points)
“It’s deflating basketball to play. We did our job defensively and I haven’t seen too many games in this league where a road team can shoot 30 percent and still win the game but they had twenty three more shots than we did and that’s a tough number to overcome.”

(On what went wrong)
“I thought the sense of urgency on the offensive end. We were getting stops early. There was a period where we were playing a team, especially a team that played the night before, where you’ve got to show them you mean business and to show them that if they want to win this game, they’re going to have to spend a lot of energy. We didn’t show them that and we gave them hope that maybe they can steal one on the road tonight and once you give a team hope it’s almost impossible to take it back. You’re in a dog fight and we were never able to break their spirit and that comes from playing with energy and with a sense of purpose and urgency.”

LUIS SCOLA

(On the loss)
“We made a few of the same mistakes we have been doing the whole year. We started a little bit badly in the game. They (Sacramento) got ahead and we tried to fight back. We made a lot of mistakes, we made a lot of mistakes and they made us pay.”

(On the free throws)
“We wouldn’t be anywhere without Aaron Brooks. He was our leading scoring for the game. We lost the game on the last possession and if we would have won the game it would have been on the last possession. So, it was just one of the many mistakes we made in the whole game.”

Postgame Recap: Kings vs. Thunder

KINGS HEAD COACH PAUL WESTPHAL:

On tonight’s game:
“To tell you the truth, I would have enjoyed the game a lot if I would have bought a ticket to watch it. It is hard to enjoy it when you lose the game. There was some phenomenal young talent on display tonight. I thought Tyreke (Evans) and (Russell) Westbrook going at each other, not always guarding each other, but still, the way they were getting things done for their team. I thought (Kevin) Durant was as good as advertised. He was as good as he has been all year. He is an amazing young talent. Those three guys playing at the top of their games, it was high-level basketball.”

“I thought our defense wasn’t great in the first half, but they got 67 points and they were banking shots in at the buzzer and shooting the ball like crazy. In the second half, our defense was able to make them miss but we couldn’t keep them off the glass. To me, we came in against a top-level playoff team in their gym, in a game they really wanted, and we played a great game. We played good enough to win, but we couldn’t keep them off the glass. We lost, but we are going to take positives that we can from this. We have to improve our defensive rebounding in order to get wins like this. It was another step in the right direction. It wasn’t satisfying because we didn’t get the ‘W’.”

On the Oklahoma City Thunder:
“They can win a playoff series, I can tell you that. If you can win one, you can win more. They are a very well put together team. I am not sure that anybody is going to look forward to playing them in the first round.”

KINGS GUARD TYREKE EVANS:

On the loss:
“It was a tough game. They are a pretty good team and they are young. They get out and run the floor well. It was a tough loss for us. We played well but down the stretch rebounding hurt us.”

“It’s tough when you play against an all-star like Kevin Durant. He is a tremendous scorer. Every time we felt like we got into the game he hit a big shot.”

On the matchup between he and Oklahoma City’s Russell Westbrook:
“We are two good players who play the same. We both like to drive to the basket and get a lot of fouls called. He is quick and it was a good matchup and I like playing against him.”

KINGS FORWARD SEAN MAY:

On what they can take away from the loss:
“What we take away from this game is it is not about the game itself, but where this franchise is headed. They (Oklahoma City) are young just like us. They have a young core just like we do. The thing we take away is they have made leaps and bounds in a short amount of time. That is what we have to take away, is that this organization can do the same thing.”

THUNDER HEAD COACH SCOTT BROOKS:

On tonight’s win:
“Every win is a good win. It’s not the style of game we would like to play. They shot too high of a field goal percentage. They got too many points in the paint and Tyreke Evans had a way with us with 17 free throws (attempts). But we got the win. We took care of business at home and three wins at home is a good home stand.”

On Sacramento’s offense:
“They’re good. They have a lot of interesting match-ups. Tyreke is one of the best guards in basketball, regardless if he’s a rookie or not and they were making some shots. Francisco (Garcia) came in and was on fire. He made shots. I was with him for a year, and that’s what he does. Having the two point guards in the game gives them a nice little floor game where they have two guys that can make game winning plays for other teammates. But early on transition wasn’t good. Our close-outs weren’t good but we managed to get enough stops when we needed it.”

THUNDER FORWARD KEVIN DURANT:

On Russell Westbrook:
“Russell has done a great job of getting everyone involved. We’re staring to get stops and early transition points, easy baskets and getting to the free throw line. Russell has been the key to getting everyone involved and we just follow his lead. Stats don’t lie. Numbers don’t lie. He got 13 assists tonight and he’s been enormous in the past month. He’s been playing very well and everybody’s been getting involved.”

On the Thunder’s outlook:
“Continue to be ourselves, come to work everyday, come to practice and shoot-around and stay focused. If we continue to bring it everyday in our offense end we’ll continue this.”

THUNDER GUARD RUSSELL WESTBROOK:

On tonight’s win:
“We just came out and tried to be aggressive and I tried to find a way to help my team win. Our offense has been good throughout the year but we want our defense to lead to our offense; that’s big for us. I’ll take a win however we can take it. We played good tonight and did a good job scoring the ball but I think we did a better job defending.”

Postgame Quotes: Kings vs. Clippers

KINGS HEAD COACH PAUL WESTPHAL

“On a night that we didn’t shoot the ball particularly well, I thought our defense won the game for us. I thought that we played 48 minutes of first class defense, really for the second game in a row. When our offense let us down a little bit and our free throw shooting let us down a little bit, we still hung on because of the defense until we were able to make the shots we needed to win the game. So I view this as a big step forward in our progression as a team – to be able to get a defensive win against a team that just handled us pretty easily last week. I thought Ime (Udoka) probably made the play of the game when we missed a shot and we had a one-point lead and then he stole it and we ended up scoring and it gave us a little bit of breathing room. I thought that Carl (Landry) was huge for us down the stretch and of course Tyreke (Evans) started making some of those shots he was missing to put the game away for us. So I feel great about our effort. I thought Spencer (Hawes) played a good complete game. Even though in the second half he didn’t score, I still thought that he was a big part of the win. It’s great to not shoot the ball very well and still get a win.”

“Even though we weren’t really able to score that much, the fact that we only turned it over nine times (shows that) our offense didn’t beat us. If we would have had 20 turnovers and shot 43.2% percent, we would be talking about a loss. It’s been two games in a row where we’ve done a good job of taking care of the ball and we didn’t do anything to beat ourselves.”

“It always puts smiles on people’s faces when you win. We’ve tried to maintain confidence in the players, and have them feel our confidence, because we know that a lot of the tough breaks that come in this league aren’t because of lack of effort. We need more experience, we need more experience together, and so because you don’t have those things, there’s no reason to be mad. I think our team has done a pretty good job of keeping the focus on continued improvement and I think that’s probably why we’re smiling as much as the wins in a lot of ways.”

“I’ve got great confidence in Ime. He’s a player that the other guys respect for his knowledge and his toughness and his experience. We lean on him at both ends of the floor in pressure situations.”

“We’ve made strides. We understand the need to become a good defensive team. We’ve had two good defensive performances in row, and I think three out of the last five we’ve played 48 minutes of good defense. If we can have that be our calling card as well as to be an offensive team that’s tough to guard – which I think we’re a lot more balanced now with Carl to be able to go into the low post and get some big fourth quarter hoops, get to the line – I think that we’re taking some good steps toward becoming a legitimate NBA team that can expect to win whenever we play, at least hope to win whenever we play.”

“Well we view every game as important. We want to win any time we play. We want to learn from whatever the lesson is from that day, every time we play, and at the same time we want to develop our young players. We won’t give young players playing time – they have to earn it. But if it’s a situation where we can develop them, I think it’s in the best interest of the franchise. We’re counting our wins; we want to get as many as we possibly can and build on that next year.”

Tyreke Evans

“It felt pretty good. We played good defense. Spencer (Hawes) came out and gave us a good start. I think that is what carried us on from there.”

On playing better defense tonight
“Coach told me to keep attacking, and when I attack I put the pressure on the defense. I was trying to attack and find the open guys and Beno (Udrih) and Omri (Casspi).”

On the Clippers winning the previous match up
“I wasn’t thinking about the loss (to the Clippers last game) but I knew I wanted to get them back. They beat us and then they came into our house and we just wanted to get a win.”

On Baron Davis
“I have known Baron since I was coming up in basketball. We played AAU basketball. I talk to him a lot and we were just talking about if I fouled him or not. We know each other pretty well.”

Spencer Hawes

“We have a tough road trip ahead, but we have some good momentum of basketball going into it.”

On setting the tone early
“I think that it was key not only for myself, but for the team. We came out and were being aggressive and assertive early. We were trying to put the pressure on the defense and also trying to open up for the other guys.”

On Chris Kaman
“He is an All-Star, there are no bones about it. He is so skilled down there and for me it is kind of like playing against myself. He goes left or right, and can really create so many problems when he gets rolling. I think our team did a great job of containing him.”

“It is good to have the fans out here and supporting us. It is good to have that swagger back at ARCO.”

Beno Udrih

On if the team is feeling looser and not so tense
“Coach was trying to tell us all year long to push the ball up the court faster and to get some easy buckets if we can. We have been getting into our offensive sets faster lately. Before, we were fighting against the shot clock. Now, we fight maybe one or two times. We are just playing a lot faster and we have been moving the ball much better. We also are not turning over the ball as much anymore and we are learning. It is a long process.”

On putting in hard work
“This year we have been working really hard. We had two good practices. We beat Utah, we beat the Clippers now, and we all feel good about ourselves. We are making steps forward and we need to keep making steps forward so we can get better everyday.”

Los Angeles Clippers Kim Hughes

On how they lost the game

“I thought we took that first half off. I don’t believe we are a good enough team to play the first half like that with poor energy, a little bit selfish at times. I thought we competed in the second half. I was disappointed in our bigs. I thought we turned the ball over way too many times. All of them, collectively, were really loose with the ball. I think we gave up 25 points off turnovers and we only got six from them. That is a 19-point differential. That is the game.”

On the communication between Rasual Butler and Baron Davis

“No, they got into it. We want guys to talk. We are not a very verbal team and we plea and cajole for that all the time. I like the bantering in the second half and telling each other what to do. But, we are not a one half team. We have to play like that out of the gate. Losing Craig Smith hurt, but I think DeAndre came in and gave us valuable minutes. It is tough as well when you shoot 37 percent from the field. I don’t really know how to explain it because Sacramento is not a very good defensive team.”

On Tyreke Evans’ play

“He attacked the hoop. He had a nice lay-up. He is a tremendous talent. I thought we did a good defensive job on him. The primary focus of our defense was to stop him. He is virtually impossible to guard one-on-one. He has great size, speed and quickness. He broke out at the end. He is going to hit some shots. The time he made the lay-up down the stretch, our bigs did not help out enough in pick-and-roll coverage and that happens with fatigue or a poor decision. We are going to give up some lay-ups, but I thought, in the second half, we were much more solid defensively.”

Los Angeles Clippers Forward Drew Gooden

On play of Tyreke Evans

“He put a lot of pressure on us defensively attacking the basket and on pick-and-roll and being in the teeth of our defense.”

On falling behind early

“First half we started out sluggish down 12, 14 or whatever it was at halftime. We clawed our way back towards the end but we just didn’t have enough pressure. I don’t think we had enough poise to close that game out. It was still anyone’s game towards the end.”

On not making enough shots

“You got to make shots. They shot 43 (percent). You hit a few more shots and the game changes. It was a tough night for us.”

Los Angeles Clippers Center Chris Kaman

On not being able to put together two good halves

“It was a tale of two halves. The first half wasn’t ours. We did a great job in the second half of fighting back and keeping the game close. We just didn’t have enough to win it.”

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