We kind of felt at halftime it was one of our poorer halves in quite a while. But it was a great second half for us. We were much more aggressive defensively and had at...

Some guys play hard, some guys play harder. He’s a hard-playing guy. I have never seen him do anything that was out of hand, over the top. In a league where a lot of players...

We played terrible defense (on Monday) and he was talking about touches. I thought that was the incorrect thing to be talking about. I thought Ben was good tonight.

We went up to New Jersey, and there was all this hype,

We gave them 29 points off our turnovers, 27 second-chance points and 25 free throws. When they made a run at us and pressured us, we didn’t have much poise.

We’re three games down with 17 to go and two tough ones this weekend. That’s why it’s the NBA ? it’s a tough business. We got to respond now.

I’m really embarrassed by what happened. It’s unacceptable.

They made threes, but the free-throw disparity we just couldn’t overcome. I think this is my 19th or 20th year in the NBA — I’m not sure. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a stat...

We were sleepwalking through 2 1/2 quarters. Then in the third quarter we became more aggressive. We had no focus and then for some reason the switch was flipped and we got back in it.

I don’t need to take any credit for that. Tyson just kind of came to the conclusion he was putting too much pressure on himself and trying to live up to some sort of unrealistic...

Well, the team he went to is struggling mightily, I would say.

Considering what is at stake [tonight], it was pretty close to being ideal. The fact that you can come in and take care of somebody, and get some guys out of the game and not...

He’s working out like crazy. Still, any [injury] in your feet or legs usually makes it more difficult.

We know we’re not a title-contending team right now, but in the history of teams winning titles they tend to take their lumps for a little while before they finally get there.

We had a lot of opportunities to quit. But whenever that presented itself, we fought our way out of it.

We’d like to come out and win the first quarter. Both games, they’ve given us a body blow right off the jump and we just haven’t been ready enough.

We were on the fortunate end of it. We did a nice job of getting our bodies in and not the silly sort of reaching, slapping fouls we’ve been guilty of sometimes. Overall, I want...

He’s got to get in better shape. That’s the first thing. He’s got to get in good enough shape to where he can at least attempt to be a big-minute player. He’s got some nice...

We need every win. The problem is we started the second half like five blind men. We were not executing, not talking to each other. Maybe one half is good enough for us right now....

He’s almost an inch taller. Maybe by next year he’ll be a 7-footer.

Tonight was similar to other games we have played lately. We had our chances and weren’t able to make plays when we had those chances.

We have made it a point of emphasis all year. Our guys have to use better judgment about when to shoot (the ball) and when to drive and draw contact. There were some games when...

The guys all went over to the workout facility and got a workout in. Some guys shot, some guys got treatment, some lifted.

They complain an awful lot.

They’re on a level we’re not even near yet, although we can play with them on a given night. What are they, 49-11? I guess ‘aspire’ would be the right word.

Even when we got it close, Jamison got away from us. He’s been a key guy whenever we’ve played against them. If we would’ve been able to do a good job on him and make...

It seems every time we play Boston, it’s almost the same game. Usually, they’ll lead for a little while, then somehow we’ll get back into it. They all seem to go down to the end.

I guess the assumption I’ll go under is that we’ll start the same way we did (Saturday) night.

Fouling him and putting him on the line makes him theoretically shoot less field goals and puts him on the line, but it also puts their team in the penalty earlier every quarter. And then...

There are no magic bullets against him.

You still have to throw the ball into the low post, even if you feel like somebody may not be great down there,

You could see it coming in our posture and the way we were handling ourselves out there. It was inevitable they were going to make some kind of run. There was no way we were...

We just expect a few basic things. We need him to defend, rebound, run the floor — same things we’ve always needed. He’s got to be able to find a way to get that done...

[Bulls center Eddy Curry looks fitter than ever, and it’s not just because he’s sporting a new mini ‘fro hairstyle. The 6-foot-11 man-child worked out most of the summer with personal trainer Tim Grover and...

Even though we had it pretty close at the half, they pretty much outplayed us beginning to end.

Our defense was good again tonight and we needed it. We sort of went cold in the second half. We went 12-for-42 in the second half. To win a game when you only make 12...

This was a game we felt like we needed to win. It’s getting to the point where we’re making the same mistakes over and over again.

He was in a lot of pain when he left the building.

Mike will get another chance now. He just needs to play better; the minutes he’s got he hasn’t taken advantage of. It would be nice for him — and it would be nice for us...

O’ just made his shots. As I told him the other day, we certainly haven’t lost confidence in him or anything. I wanted to make sure that he hadn’t lost confidence in himself. He assured...

We have played better at the end of the games. We have tended to make some pretty good plays on both ends of the floor when the game is on the line.

But the guys did what they do and fought back.

Whenever I’ve tried it, he’s burned us. But it would be on the table.

If we go down 3-1 and go to their building, then the odds become long again. We need to win the next game to really make it a series.

I went from being perceived as one of the best young coaches in the league to this negative perception in a span of about 30 games, … It?s really bizarre.

We kind of had a pop to our step most of the game.

We did a much better job in the second half of getting aggressive. We were a little fatigued or distracted in the first half, there’s no doubt. We felt at halftime it was one of...

We were soft. It’s baffling.

I don’t think we had any business being in OT, anyway. You don’t have to score if you get two or three stops. As has been the case, we had trouble. Five point lead, buck-forty...

We had our chances. We just couldn’t make enough shots at the end.