I never play 82 games, not with the way I play. My body takes such a pounding. When I came in this league and didn’t play 82, so it’s not that important to me now.

The defense did a wonderful job. When we play defense, we have a good chance of winning. It was not a pretty game, but good teams win ugly games. We’re going in the right direction.

He’s been patient. He’s been around on different teams throughout this league and he’s showing the league that he can play at a high level in a big series.

Vince is not always going to be healthy, so (Jefferson) did a great job of picking it up.

At that point we had tried everything except going small. So I suggested something different.

The way we move the ball at home is the way we should move the ball on the road. That will help us to continue to keep pressure on our opponents.

Indiana is a very talented team. We respect those guys. They have a lot of talent over there. In my mind, they’re not a sixth seed. They are one of the top teams in the...

[My son] T.J. could have done a better job,

I thought I was trying to do my best and what he wanted me to do, … I was getting the grasp of it. I know everyone talked about my style of getting up and...

In that third quarter, we fell asleep at the wheel and they kept playing and they got easy baskets. When a team like Detroit gets easy baskets, you’re in for a long night.

We’ve beaten some quality teams, but we still have a long ways to go. We still have a chance to get better as a group.

I got a little contact, but I didn’t get enough.

If we can stay healthy and try to get better each time, hopefully we can be there in late June.

The first one is always the toughest. We haven’t won a playoff game for some time. It means a lot to us to get one under our belt and now we can move on.

He’s one of the best players in this league. We just tried to make it tough on him and try to wear him down so he gets tired.

I do that all the time, … I’m here to work on my game as much as these other guys want to prove themselves. It wasn’t anything special. The move presented itself and I just...

We would like to maybe accomplish 50 wins. I think that is a realistic goal.

The first half we were going through the motions. We weren’t playing with fire. And with energy and defensive presence, we cut the lead down and it was a tie ballgame. We felt comfortable we...

Everybody’s sharing the ball. It becomes contagious. Everybody’s driving and kicking. Guys are knocking down shots. Guys are getting wide-open looks. That just makes the game easier for us and for everybody because you can...

This is a funny game. I was telling (Chauncey) Billups that we acted like we couldn’t play on the west coast. Then we come home and we give them a run for their money. And...

(Streaks) can be dangerous, because you can get complacent and feel like you turn it on and off at any time. (Tuesday) was one of those nights. We have to understand that we have to...

When a scorer is going like that, you have to get him the ball. It puts a lot of pressure on the other team.

I’d rather have the win than a triple-double.

In the first game, we kind of were a little passive. Tonight, I think we all understood that we couldn’t go down two-love on our home court. So I think we came out with the...

We tried to execute but they picked us apart. We just didn’t execute the game plan tonight.

[Consistency] would be something that we definitely need to work on. To be able to not just play defensively but offensively. Everybody just getting into that roll that we were on during that groove when...

We can’t leave ‘Twin’ (Collins) on an island, and say, ‘You got O’Neal by yourself. We are going to help him as much as we can. Everybody is going to have a chance at O’Neal....

We couldn’t rebound and didn’t play defense. If we’re going to have a season like that we might have to re-evaluate and score over 100 points a game.

I have a lot of options, and one of them is staying in New Jersey, … We’re going to play them all out and see what happens.

Detroit, San Antonio, Miami, Dallas, Phoenix … those are going to be the teams talked about. Nobody is going to talk about (the Nets). We will let our play speak for itself and none of...

On paper you have some big names, but this team just got put together two months ago. It’s still trying to find itself.

That was my thought. I lost my concentration on trying to make the shot. I was trying to be creative instead of getting the 2 points. I thought that could be a play that could...

T.J. [Kidd’s son] wanted to congratulate him, … He thought the deal was done.

The first game we were more passive and tonight we came out with the intention of playing defense for 48 minutes. (The physical play) is what the playoffs are all about. It was expected.

We’re a team. We’ve played without guys that have been hurt for six weeks. Guys are going to have to step it up coming off the bench.

I think we’re going in the right direction.

I gotta give our guys credit. They could have folded the tent. But we fought back.

We had a stretch where we ran it through him five or six times in a row. And that’s just the confidence we have in him. He can step out and knock down a jump...

The All-Star Game isn’t to make your season. You have to look at it that you get the break and time to make a run in the second part of the season.

This was a big character test for us. This could have sent us reeling in the wrong direction. We acted like we couldn’t play on the West Coast. Then we come home and give them...

I think this team can score. The other teams, we had some droughts where we couldn’t find the basket, but we defended. This team understands how important it is to defend.

Early on we were struggling at home, but now that we’re defending home court like we have in the past, that helps us. But the big thing is, we’ve been playing pretty good basketball on...

The big thing is, we showed our experience. We came out in overtime, put pressure on them, made some shots and made some stops.

He was focused. He wanted a playoff win. He wants to be successful in the playoffs. He wants to carry the team. He wants to do whatever it takes.

When you give a team like that comfort shots, they’re going to wear you. I think we just didn’t execute well enough the game plan. It’s not just coach. It falls on the players for...

He was making all the plays. And that’s what you need to be successful, a guy you can go to and create stuff and [Tuesday] he was putting the ball in the basket.

We feel that everybody knows he is going to touch the ball. But now it is up to him to make the right play and finishing and taking the shot or drawing two or three...

We just laid an egg. We’ve still got a long way to go. We still have a lot to work on and get better at.

We came out of the blocks and we were going in the right direction and then we took a breath and they just kept playing throughout the whole game.

We missed free throws and we missed a box-out on a free throw on the other end. We made some mistakes and they capitalized on it and they came out with a big win.