Postgame Quotes: Kings vs. Lakers

Head Coach Kenny Natt

On how the game played out:
“Well, at least I can say our guys came out tonight with more of a focus. We got off to a good start – that was encouraging from the standpoint after the last game that we had. However, they came out and responded in the second quarter. Our defense got a little selfish, stopped passing the basketball there in the second quarter, and then you had a 40-point quarter on us. It really set us back but then, after halftime, we came back and responded again and were able, in the second half, to get the game down to 10 at one point and then I think it was seven straight points where we didn’t answer. That kind of put the game away for us.”

“Well, honestly that’s one of the best teams in the league – they always have a lot to play for. Tonight was a big game; every game is a big game for them when they play. That was indicative of the fact that they had the guys out there as long as they did – they were playing them long stretches, they knew how important the game was and they didn’t want it to really get out of hand. Not that they were that concerned, I mean there was more concern on our end – the fact that we continue to play hard and we did. It put them in a situation where they had to stay out there even longer than they probably would’ve liked. It’s a big game for them and from our standpoint we played hard for the majority of the game, but we had our bad defensive stretches which really put us away and they answered.”

Spencer Hawes

On his left eye:
“It feels alright. There are still times when it is a little blurry. It kind of cuts off sometimes on the lower hemisphere. Usually, it is just when I am getting out of bed or when I am coming out of a dark room. So it’s nothing structurally, like nothing is wrong with the retina or anything. So now I am just waiting for it to heal from the blow. I should heal in another day or two. It was just that the blow was direct to the eyeball and surrounding area.”

On how much he wanted to play tonight:
“I knew yesterday when the specialist said he was good, I thought that was good enough.”

On how he was so effective tonight:
“It was a lot of hard work and being at the right place at the right time and getting good looks and getting set up.”

On the difference in the last three quarters:
“I think they made some adjustments and changed the pace. The turnovers that we had, they converted all of them.”

On the 9-0 run:
“It seemed like it came pretty quick. Once they got going it just seemed like they hit a couple of shots and they sealed it right there.”

“I think early we were making shots, and they are so long that they don’t really have to foul. They just jump straight up and make you jump over them. When we stopped making shots and tried to turn it around we didn’t attack the rim as much as we should have.”

Jason Thompson

On Kings strong start:
“We had a lot of energy in the beginning. We seem to have early starts, but when the good teams come in we just have that surge. When we went to zone we became real relaxed and when we were playing man-to-man from the start everyone was going to their man and had them taking tough shots. A lot of things changed from the first quarter and we tried to keep creeping back. We got to about ten, but it was just a little too late.”

–

Lakers Head Coach Phil Jackson

On getting control of the game:
“As we predicted, they came out and played hard. They had a bunch of three-point shots go down for them and we started playing their pace of the game. We were able to play that pace in the second quarter, and as a consequence, we got a run in the second quarter.”

On their bench play:
“I thought their energy was good. Jordan (Farmar) didn’t have a great line in terms of scoring, but he did some things: push the ball ahead, changed the pace of the game, got the ball to Pau (Gasol) and Josh (Powell) on the run and we got some easy baskets because of it.”

On the play in the second quarter:
“Our defense got us started and we got some turnovers and run outs as a consequence. It changed the momentum of the game. After the first quarter, we talked about giving up too many points and we wanted to settle the game down to where we wanted it.”

Lakers Guard Kobe Bryant

On playing better tonight than against the Clippers:
“Yeah, we played better and closed the game out. The stars didn’t have to get off the bench and go back in. Our second unit did a good job. We didn’t make any adjustments, they were just hot. We gave them some contested threes to start the game and they made them. You know that is not going to continue so you just want to stay in the ball game and not let them stretch it out too far. Then when the shots stop falling, take the momentum back.”

Lakers Center Pau Gasol

On getting Andrew Bynum back into the lineup:
“We are getting a player that is important for us back in the rotation and back out there. He has been out for a while so I don’t know how long it is going to take for him to get back into basketball conditioning.”

Practice: Team Update

The Kings took to the practice court the day before their final contest against their rivals to the south.

With the Los Angeles Lakers coming to ARCO Arena on Tuesday, Kobe Bryant was the topic of defensive chatter for the Kings on Monday. Read more

Postgame Quotes: Kings vs. Hornets

Head Coach Kenny Natt

On the way the game played out:
“It’s just really sad to fight the way that we fight, to have gone through the diversity we’ve gone through all season in playing games, trying to come together as a unit and play hard. We finally do that and then little things just caused us to lose a basketball game tonight – it’s just very unfortunate.”

“That’s a very good basketball team we played against tonight. It just shows that the guys that we have are still hanging in and playing hard, playing together. We’re doing a much better job of executing and screening the basketball, moving the basketball, and passing. So yes, there’s a lot of positive to that from that standpoint because as I said, it’s a very good team that we played and we could’ve bowed out from the start. We’ve gotten off to some slow starts but again tonight we came out and really held our own. There were a lot of encouraging things that we saw out there tonight. It’s just unfortunate that we weren’t able to pull the game out.”

“We’ve had a lot of pain this year – it’s hard. A loss is a loss in my eyes and we’ve had a lot of them. Obviously it hurts a little more from the standpoint of playing as hard as we did, hitting that shot that Beno (Udrih) hit and then not able to execute a simple defensive assignment on our end of the floor at the end and its the ballgame. In that sense it is a little more painful, but it’s another loss.”

“I just believe that sometimes when the team is flowing we’ve made some great plays at the end of the game – (tonight) guys had a flow going; Francisco (Garcia) hit a big three. Sometimes you call a timeout and you break the rhythm of a team – I thought at that point we were set in our position, so why call a timeout – just go ahead and run with it. Fortunately enough we got a good look at it as I said. From the offensive standpoint we did a great job tonight – obviously our defense has to get a lot better and game playing discipline.”

Spencer Hawes

“The way we played that game and went back and forth with them and make plays like we did down the stretch. We thought we had it and that just shows you it’s not over until “she’s singing.” We have to wait until the final buzzer.”

On the last play by Rasual Butler:
“It’s just a breakdown, a defensive breakdown.”

On his emotions on Vlade’s retirement:
“It was great to see him and all the other guys come back and have him get the recognition he deserves for what he did for this town and especially for this community. Not even as a basketball player. I think the Kings honored him for his greater good than what he just did on the court. Part of it you watch as a fan and think that it is great that he is getting it and as a player part of you watches it and hopes that may be me one day.”

Rashad McCants

“We knew exactly what happened. If it wasn’t us putting ourselves in the hole early, its us making a foolish play at the end, to leave us saying that we should have done something different. Championship teams have never and will never have regrets on the floor. If you lose by a one second shot, it’s not because you made a mistake, it’s because they made a great play. It is the opposite for us.”

On Beno’s last shot and his confidence:
“It does a lot (to help his confidence), but it doesn’t really help it too much when you go down the court and we lose the game on the end. It really doesn’t mean anything.”

“It shouldn’t be a long term thing. I think it is pride, passion and determination to win with your teammates. When we have a scheme that we do and everyone understands how to do it. There shouldn’t be any reason why a guy hits a three wide open.”

On seeing the support for Vlade does it have effect on their play tonight:
“Most definitely, the crowd was into the whole game. I think we needed it and we rallied with it. We used their energy to take us all the way to the end.”

–
Hornets Coach Byron Scott

On the last play designed for Rasual Butler:
“Yes it was. I knew everyone would really focus on CP (Chris Paul). I just tried to make him a decoy and I told Rasual ‘your probably going to be wide open so get ready to shoot it.’ You just go for the win; we didn’t want to play overtime. He got a great look obviously. When I saw it leave his hand I had a good feeling it was going in.”

On being surprised Butler was open:
“Yes. I told David (West) as well, ‘if you think they are going to switch, screen your man as well.’ So I thought he did a (great) job of setting the screen. They didn’t switch it and he came out wide open. He pretty much screened two guys. We really let them back in the game and got lucky. Rasual bailed us out.”

On letting the Kings back in the game:
“They did a great job. They shoot the ball so well. They spread you out and make you defend them, and then they are good off the dribble. I thought the zone had a big time effect on them. But later on in the game, we were not getting up on the three-point shooters like we talked about. We were laying back then (Francisco) Garcia and (Rashad) McCants, all those guys started knocking them down.”

On the night by David West on a bad ankle:
“I knew if I took him out, he probably would not have come back in. Tomorrow we will just have to wait and see. Right now, I would say for tomorrow it does not look good.”

Hornets Guard Chris Paul

On doing whatever it takes to win:
“I said that right after the All-Star game, for the second half, whatever we have to do to win, we are going to do. If that means tough shots or just playing until the end, that’s what we are going to do.”

On Rasual’s game winning shot:
“Rasual is a shooter. I have the utmost confidence in him. It was a heads-up play for him to not shoot a two and go for the win and he knocked it in.”

Postgame Quotes: Kings vs. Suns

Head Coach Kenny Natt

On the way the game played out:
“It was a very good win. We came out and we were in the game from the start tonight. I just keep saying over and over again how important it is for us to get off to a good start on both ends of the floor – when that happens, it gives us a fair chance of being in the ballgame. I thought we did a good job of that tonight. We maintained our composure – that’s a very good ball club we beat tonight. I just challenge the guys from the standpoint of figuring out why it is, for whatever reason, that we can’t come out this way every night. We’ve shown what we’re capable of doing when we come out and play basketball on both ends of the floor from the start of the game – we just need more consistency with that.”

On Kings being spoiler for potential Playoff teams:
“I’m not looking at the spoiler situation. I don’t think that any of us look at the spoiler situation more so than concentrating on ourselves – us as a team playing better basketball down the stretch of the season here. I don’t look at spoiling – I’ve been on both sides of that thing from the spoiler standpoint. I’m more concerned with the Kings and the way that we play and come out. Just giving that effort every night, whether it’s a win or a loss, but giving the effort from the start of the basketball game. That’s what I’m here to get out of these guys. I’m not thinking about beating anyone to knock them out of the Playoffs or whatever. We just have to try to win one game at a time.”

Kevin Martin

On Beno’s play tonight:
“I just told him to stick with it and keep on improving to get this team better. He is a catalyst on our team. Just like on any other team it starts with the point guard.”

On team being excited for the game:
“It was easy and we had a crowd here tonight. Games like that are easy.”

Francisco Garcia

On his approach to the game:
“I just wanted to come out there from off the bench and just play defense. They are tough, but they played last night and I think they were a little tired at the end. We got an advantage on them.”

On his fractured finger:
“It’s alright, I am used to it by now. Every time I hit it, it hurts. I am just used to it and it’s probably going to be like that for the rest of the season.”

Andres Nocioni

On Beno’s play:
“He was passing the ball well. It is very important to us for Beno to play well, because he is a good guard. He played really well.”

On Jason Thompson and Spencer Hawes’ playing time:
“It is really important to them. They need to learn to play hard and I think they do it pretty well. It is really big for us for them to play well in this sort of game. We need them for next year. They need to learn a lot in the NBA. I think they can do a great job and it’s good for us.”

–

Suns Head Coach Alvin Gentry

On how they were outplayed by the Kings:
“You have to give them credit. They got every loose ball and they did a better job of pursuing the ball. They ended up with 54 points in the paint. That tells me they got a lot of dribble penetration to the basket. We just didn’t do a very good job. We can’t give up 126 points. At some point we are going to have to do a better job of defending the ball and the basket. We gave them three quarters of 35 points. It was a lot. They out played us.”

On losing during a playoff race:
“It’s disappointing. We know the magnitude of every game we play. It’s very disappointing. It was such a letdown. We need a lot of help along the way. Now we have to scoreboard watch and take care of business on our end. Every game is very important.”

On fatigue playing a factor:
“I don’t know if it was a spill over from last night. We have three guys 35 years or older starting for us. This was the fourth game in five nights. Usually our bench brings a lot of energy and keeps us afloat but that didn’t happen tonight.”

Suns Guard Steve Nash

On their second straight tough loss:
“I don’t know what to say. Last night we were up seven with a short clock and lost it. We couldn’t make shots and made mistakes. Tonight, the fourth game in five nights, we laid an egg. It’s frustrating. We were playing for a lot tonight and we didn’t show that with attitude or desperation. We just didn’t get it done. I would have liked to see us find a way to get it done tonight.”

On losing a game like this in a playoff chase:
“If we want to be in the playoffs, this is a game we have to win. If you ask me do we deserve to make the Playoffs after a performance like tonight, you’d have to say we didn’t earn it. It’s not over yet, but we can look back on this if we don’t make it.”

On not setting the tone early:
“I think we let them get going and they got their confidence up. They were up 15 points on us at home. I guess we didn’t have our legs. We have to come out better. Perhaps we could have taken their confidence away a little bit, but I guess we didn’t have the legs to do it.”

Postgame: Kings vs. Grizzlies

Head Coach Kenny Natt

On the way the game played out:
“Well, needless to say, it was a very disappointing loss tonight after having four days off in terms of games. I thought we had four days of good practice but it didn’t carry over tonight unfortunately. We were bad defensively and gave up 32 points in the first quarter to (Memphis). We got off to a slow start and they got their confidence going – that was the story.”

On if it was the same as what he saw last Sunday against the 76ers:
“More of the same –we got off to a slow start once again. Once the (other) team picks up their confidence, starts playing together and starts hitting shots, it makes it tough for us to focus in as a group to execute and score on our end of the floor. We had trouble scoring in the second quarter – we only scored 15 points – but they were hitting pretty much everything. They ended up shooting 53 percent from the field (in the game). We just didn’t do a good job of executing our offense. What that led to primarily was that we didn’t play defense on our end of the floor and get stops, which then spurs our offense on the other end.”

Andres Nocioni

On his health:
“I think I felt much better, so it’s good to have one week for rest. My knee feels much better.”

On the way the game played out:
“We threw away the first half (tonight) then in the second half we tried to pick up the energy and play better offense and better defense and it was too late. You just cannot do it that late. We need to start playing much better in the first quarter. We need to bring energy and play harder and try to compete every time. This is what we need right now.”

On team playing with effort:
“I think everyone gives effort on the team, but sometimes we are just not doing the right thing to win. It is frustrating. It’s frustrating for everybody. We need to pick it up and pick our heads up and try to think about what we need to do the last 11 games and that’s it.”

On improving:
“We need to try and build some chemistry and a team for the next year. This is what we need to do, so right now we need try to think about it. We need to think about practice everyday and try to play together everyday. So we can try to build something for the next year.”

Francisco Garcia

On the Grizzlies strong first half:
“I think they just kept trying to take it to the hole. The second half we played better defense and we tried to come back. We just need to do it from the beginning.”

On the way the game played out:
“I think coming into this game we had three good days of practice. We were ready to go out, but for some reason we keep slacking in the first half. That is me and Kevin. I am going to put that on us. We are the leaders of this team. We have to step up and be more vocal when things like tonight happen. I am frustrated, but I am frustrated with myself because I kind of let that happen in the first half. It got out of control a little bit and I didn’t really say anything. So when we were down 20 points in the first half it was frustrating.”

Grizzlies Head Coach Lionel Hollins

On playing with a lead:
“We had to play right to the end so they didn’t really throw in the towel. It is nice to get a 15 to 20 point lead and be able to relax and play with that lead versus a two- or three-point lead or from behind. I am just happy we were ahead most of the game and our guys executed and played well and we came away with the win.”

On what they did well:
“Tonight, the ball movement early was outstanding. The patience, we just made good decisions. We have been working on that a lot in practice the last couple of days. We came out and got a win with that kind of execution.”

On how important winning is to a young team:
“When you are trying to change a culture and a style of play, when you win, it rewards them for the work they are doing. If you don’t see any wins, then they say ‘well maybe this works but maybe it doesn’t work.’ But when you get wins, they start believing in it. Unfortunately, we have had a lot of tough games since the all-star break. The wins have been slow.”

Grizzlies Guard Mike Conley

On being on their game:
“Guys were just able to see the open guy and guys were ready to shoot the ball when they were open and ready to pass the ball when they were not open. That was a big key; knowing when to shoot and when not to shoot. We had it going early.”

On regaining control after the Kings’ third quarter rally:
“We wanted to slow it down. We knew they were attacking us and getting a lot of threes and open buckets. We wanted to get it inside to Marc (Gasol) and let him do what he does. Draw some defenders and get to the free throw line. We slowed it down, got back to our tempo and we went from there.”

On getting revenge for an earlier loss:
“It was a game everyone was looking forward to because they came and beat us with eight players at home. That was kind of a slap in the face to us. We wanted to come back and set an example and throw down. We wanted to be in the game from the beginning and set the tempo.”

Practice: Natt, Jackson and Greene

On the injury front, Bobby Jackson (fractured left cheekbone) and Andres Nocioni (right quadricep tendinitis) remain day-to-day.

After the team’s practice on Wednesday, we caught up with Coach Kenny Natt and Donté Greene — watch practice interviews. Natt discussed the response he’s seen from the veterans since he asked them to demonstrate more leadership, how the Kings matchup with the Grizzlies’ Rudy Gay and O.J. Mayo and the importance of playing each game with maximum effort. Greene touches on his post-practice workouts, his improvement on defense and playing against his friends on the Grizzlies on Friday.

Discuss: Young Bigs and K-Mart

After practice on Monday, Coach Kenny Natt discussed his desire to see more leadership from the veterans on the team while complimenting the effort and play of his two young big men — Spencer Hawes and Jason Thompson.

Read more

Postgame Quotes - Kings vs. 76ers

Head Coach Kenny Natt

On the way the game played out:
“Well needless to say that was a poor effort by our team tonight. From the jump ball, we did not show up. I guess we were content with just winning a game in New York – having the game that we had and getting the East bug off our back. We decided to come here (and play poorly) tonight – that’s basically what we did. We got behind 29 points in the game and then gave a half-hearted effort at the end of the game. That’s very unacceptable from the standpoint of the way you play basketball. This is a 48 minute game and our guys have to learn that you just can’t come out and play a quarter at a time – we are not good enough to give guys a 29-point lead and then overcome that in any respect.”

“The game tonight negates (Friday’s performance) – who cares what happened in New York. If you can’t come back the next night when you’re home and play better than we played tonight, that game is negated.”

“Well I don’t have the answer to what happened other than the fact that we didn’t show up and play with the type of energy and effort that we did a few nights ago. These guys were up in us and really being aggressive – I give them a lot of credit for that. They came after us right from the start and we didn’t answer. So we were on our heels from the tip of the game and were just never able to come back.”

Spencer Hawes

“This is the same stuff that we have struggled with all year. Having rough starts and putting ourselves in a hole and then trying to fight back. This time it was more than usual.”

On his performance:
“I think much like the team I didn’t come out (to play) early. I don’t think I was bringing it like I should have been and I had to play catch up (as well). At the end of the day when you lose like we did, it negates that.”

On one assist shy of triple double:
“I guess I will probably look back at it, but it’s just another ‘L.’”

On playing with Jason Thompson:
“I think (we are playing together) pretty well. Especially with consistency, with young players that is really what you want to look for. I think the fact that we are stringing together more consistent effort in games you can look at it as a positive.”

On the effort at making a comeback:
“I thought the effort was good coming back, but if we had that effort all night we would have been better off.”

Jason Thompson

On Francisco Garcia:
“He has played through a lot of injuries. It just shows how much heart he has. He will always be the guy that will always be there. He shows a lot of leadership and we are definitely going to need that for years to come.”

On difference from playing on road and home:
“I think for some reason when we play at home we play so relaxed. I think that we have more of a chip on our shoulder when we play on the road and obviously the fans are always against us on the road. So (on the road) we always come together. For some reason when we come home we just play relaxed and it showed earlier today. Hopefully coming into this home game stretch we can come out with some better starts.”

–
76ers Head Coach Tony DiLeo

On jumping on the Kings early:
“Coming out of the gates we had a lot of energy. We were up defensively getting deflections and turnovers. I was really impressed with our defense, especially in the first half. Offensively we were efficient, but it was our defense that set up our offense. We just kept getting stops, getting out and getting good shots. We did a good job of executing and shooting the ball. We approached this as a game which (we wanted to try) to improve on our defense which has slipped a bit. We just came out to try and play great defense.”

On getting to rest his team for their game tomorrow:
“I was trying to rest our guys for tomorrow night. They made it interesting, but I thought we had enough of a cushion that there really wasn’t any danger. I wish we could have kept the lead and rest them longer.”

On the play of his bench:
“I thought Louis (Williams) was good off the bench. He has been on a little bit of a role lately. Maurice (Speights) off the bench with 15 points that was huge. Having those two get 33 points off the bench was huge.”

76ers Forward Andre Iguodala

On getting an early lead:
“We usually do a good job of coming out at the beginning of the game. We just have to hold that intensity for the whole game. It is something we have to continue to work on.”

On making his first 10 shots:
“I wasn’t trying to score or force anything. It happens like that when you just play in the flow. We had good ball movement and I just got everything in the flow which I have been trying to do all year.”

On playing tomorrow in Portland:
“We just have to continue to improve. The second unit has to get better defensively. We have a tough team tomorrow. Portland is going to come out ready to play. They had the day off and they are going to try and jump on us early.”

Postgame Quotes - Kings vs. Cavs

Head Coach Kenny Natt

On the way the game played out:
“It’s a tough loss. Our guys came out and played with a lot of heart and intensity; (it was) just what we knew we had to do in regards to being competitive against this ballclub. This is an elite ballclub – they know how to execute and they did what they had to do down the stretch of the game. LeBron James was phenomenal again – we’ve all seen that show before; he put on another one tonight. I thought our guys did a great job of trying to contain him and execute the defensive plan that we had; I thought it was pretty effective for the most part. We just weren’t able to get some calls down the stretch and we didn’t execute. We didn’t execute in regulation there at the end and we turned the basketball over. Anderson Varejao, as I told them prior to the game, he’s a key to the team because he creates extra opportunities for them. He had some key offensive rebounds that really hurt us.”

On the play of LeBron James:
“He’s just competitive – I wasn’t looking at the points that he scored. I just know that LeBron’s going to have the ball, he’s going to take control of the team, put the team on his shoulders and carry them. He’s done that forever and there are 28 other teams in this league that have seen that show and seen the same thing. So from the standpoint of him, I’m not surprised from any standpoint as to what he did. Sasha Pavlovic hit two threes all night and they were late when they hit – that really hurt us. We did what we were supposed to do in getting the ball out of LeBron’s hands but those guys came up with offensive rebounds and hit key shots that really did us in.”

Donté Greene

“It felt great. It felt good to get out there and I wanted to pull the win out, but we didn’t do that. We played hard tonight and it felt really good to be out there.”

If he anticipated that many minutes:
“No. I have just been practicing hard lately and have been working out with Coach Randy Brown. I’ve just been trying to stay ready. Coach (Natt) called my number tonight and I went out and tried to just have fun.”

On going up against such a talented team:
“They are a winning team, so just to see what they do and for us to come out and play hard and stick with them felt good. I wish we had won the game tonight, but for us to come out and play as hard as we did tonight, it showed we have some things and all we need to do is keep working. We need to try and get better and finish strong and I think we will be alright.”

On rebounding and defense:
“I have been trying to work on the defensive end and I have been trying to do that in practice. Tonight I had to go out and guard (Anderson) Varejao, (Sasha) Pavlovic and Joe Smith. I just tried to go out there and pick up the pace, block shots and rebound.”

Spencer Hawes

On the effort:
“I look back at the teams we have played this year and sometimes we have played for three quarters and tonight we played four quarters and in overtime. It came down to executing a couple plays down the stretch and a couple breaks that didn’t go our way. That is a great team over there and they took advantage.”

Was it encouraging?
“I think so, but we have had games like this all year where we played well and then became inconsistent with it so we have to see if this trend continues.”

On Donte Greene’s performance:
“He came in and he has been ready all year. His name was called for an extended amount of time tonight and he came in and gave us a great spark off the bench. He was passing, tipping, rebounding and just playing tough defense. It was all the little things.”

–

Cavaliers Head Coach Mike Brown

On getting the tough win on the road:
“Right now I am allowing LeBron’s (James) minutes to get out of hand because we are not good defensively. We cannot win without LeBron nor can we win without defending. He has been our safety valve and we’ve outscored our opponents these last three games. We have good players. All of them know how to play defense. They have been doing it most of the year. We have to hold ourselves accountable on that end if we expect to be a championship contending team. It starts with me. It starts with me controlling LeBron’s minutes more and it starts with me. I told the guys that this has to be the best, worst three-game road trip I have ever been on.”

On winning the Central Division crown tonight:
“I am proud of the guys for winning the central division. That is something that has not happened in 30 plus years in the organization. It is great for the organization and it is great for the players.”

On the keys to the game:
“LeBron obviously had a whale of a game with the 51 points. TK (Tarence Kinsey) had some minutes. Sasha (Pavlovic) hit some big threes. Andy (Varejao) was big tonight. But more importantly than Lebron’s 51 and those other guys stepping up offensively was LeBron’s defense the last few minutes on Kevin Martin. Kevin was having his way with us, especially in the second half. When LeBron took him the last few possessions he got a big steal and some big stops, just committing to that end of the floor to help us get the win in overtime.”

Cleveland Forward LeBron James

On letting the Kings control the game:
“It is a small concern the way we are playing basketball to start the game by allowing teams to comfortably do what they want to do for long stretches of the game. We know we have to do a better job and get better at that.”

On doing what it takes to win (guarding Kevin Martin):
“You just take the challenge. If I limit his touches then you have to make someone else score on his team. He was in a really good groove. They told me they wanted me to take him, and I wanted to take him. I just took the challenge. I just wanted to end the road trip the right way. I am competitor and I hate to lose. We weren’t competing for the first three quarters for the last three games.”

Postgame Quotes - Kings vs. Thunder

Interim Head Coach Kenny Natt

“Once again, getting off to an awful start defensively put us in a bind – spotting a team 20 points right off the bat and then coming back. I knew that we had the will and we’d come back in the game and have an opportunity to win it, but for whatever reason our guys didn’t buy into it. We had a sub-par performance in the first half. Then coming back out at the end of the game, the lineup that we had in with Will (Solomon) and (Rashad) McCants as well as (Andres) Nocioni really stepped it up – and Francisco (Garcia) coming off the bench – those guys really played hard with effort. We just need more consistency and more hard work out of our first five guys. It’s my fault for this game in regards to keeping guys out there too long.”

“Kevin (Martin) had been out and had twisted his ankle early. He wanted to stay in since he was loose, then when he sat out I brought the other guys in and he just got really stiff. So I decided to just keep him out; plus the guys that we had were playing well anyway. That was a good decision from that standpoint of keeping those guys out there, but we cannot expect to win a ballgame from a standpoint of 22 turnovers. (That many) turnovers in a ballgame, regardless of who it is – not getting back on defense allowed 22 fast break points. Those are the things that really made the difference in the game. As the guys have shown, right there at the end we have some good guys that come in and play with their heart and determination. That’s what we need to get better. We just have to play smarter and take better care of the basketball. That was our nemesis tonight – turnovers and lack of effort from the start of the game.”

Jason Thompson

On the Thunder being a tough rebounding team:

“It wasn’t that they were more physical. It is just that Krstic got some balls and they have better instincts than us. Our physical guys were not getting called for fouls.”

On how the game played out:

“Shots were not falling and when some of us were crashing (the boards), the Thunder were leaking out. When we weren’t making shots and getting offensive rebounds and no one is getting back, they got some good transition points. We didn’t let it get to us. We came back and got a lead. For most of the game, it went back and forth.”

“We need to learn to play for 48 minutes. It is unfortunate that we had the slow start in the beginning, but we just didn’t let it get to us and we didn’t let them get a comfortable lead. We came back strong and had a chance to win.”

On the turnovers:

“I can take the blame at some point and I got called for a couple charges. On some walks I picked up my foot and it may have looked like I forced things, but I had some contact in there and I got called in between things. Even though we had 22 turnovers, they had 23, so we still played solid defensively.”

Bobby Jackson

“We hung in there and played well. We did a lot of good things. However, we did a lot of bad things too. We had a lot of turnovers, forced turnovers. We were throwing the ball and not taking our time. If we didn’t have those 22 turnovers, we would have definitely won this game.”

On the Kings bench outscoring the Thunder bench by 15 points:

“Francisco (Garcia), Rashad (McCants) and Will Solomon are doing a wonderful job coming off the bench. They come ready to play every night. They picked up the slack when we started going down. That’s the good thing is when you have a great bench, they can come in and do good things.”

On Spencer Hawes and Jason Thompson:

“The sky is the limit for Spencer Hawes and Jason Thompson. As long as they want to work and learn and they take their time. If they can take their time and learn how to play the game, they can be really good. If they try to force things and speed up and try to do things outside of offense, then they’ll struggle. I keep telling them if you play inside this offense and take your time to make great plays you can do whatever you want.”

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Thunder Head Coach Scott Brooks

On getting a tough win:

“I am proud of our guys coming back in the second half. The first half was not basketball we want to play. We played their game running up and down and just trying to outscore them. Turnovers hurt us. They have been a problem all year and it came back again tonight. It is about us understanding situations and understanding matchups and understanding what we can do on the offensive end. We played pretty good defense and we just did a very poor job turning the ball over in the fourth quarter. But I am very proud of our guys.”

On the career night from Nenad Krstic:

“Rebounding is our strength. Going into this game without Nick (Collison), he is one of our better rebounders. I was a little concerned but I though Nenad played extremely well. He did not have a good shooting night. He was setting good screens and getting good rebounds and his few blocks at the end were huge. That’s playing winning basketball. Certain guys have to make winning plays. It can’t just be the same guys every night.”

On going to Denver to play tomorrow:

“This team has no excuses. We are going to compete and fight and hopefully have a good game. Hopefully not turn the ball over as many times.”

On getting the win with his mother in the crowd:

“I can’t wait to go see my mom now. She does not come to many games but she is here tonight. That is going to be quite a thrill to see her and talk to her. I am probably going to take the second bus tonight.”

Thunder Guard Russell Westbrook

On winning on the road:

“We came out aggressive on defense. I think we did a good job playing our game in the second half. We have to go on the road and win games like this.”

On improving as the season goes on:

“Every game I am trying to get better. Last time we couldn’t get the stops we needed. This time we got the stop we needed and the rebound we needed. As the season goes along, the more experience we’ll gain when we are playing together.”

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