New Orleans Hornets vs. March 27, 2013 Hornets Post Game Quotes

Hornets Monty Williams: On the game: “I thought for the most part we forgot a bit about how we won these past three games – defending, moving the ball and playing with a level of force that’s necessary to have a chance to compete. I thought once the fourth quarter started, they had control of the game. (They outscored us) 26-14 in points (in the fourth quarter), but just the feel of the fourth quarter was different. The way we ended the first half by giving up those threes, they were tough shots. They banked a three; you can’t do anything about that, but they had so many open looks tonight, and we haven’t been in those situations. I thought they did a really good job of moving the ball, and we didn’t. The ball just stayed in guys’ hands for a number of seconds, and that allows teams to go elbows and boxes, and then, it’s hard to drive the ball. I thought even when we scored, they were hard scores. It wasn’t like the other night when we were scoring in transition and knocking down shots because somebody else drove to the basket. So, from that standpoint, I just didn’t think we had the carryover from the last three games.”

On the Clippers’ run late in the second quarter: “I thought it was a tough way to go into the half. You have a chance to have it be down by two, maybe even three, and we go down by eight, but it was the way we went down. We turned the ball over. They knocked down a couple of threes, and we just feel like we lost the momentum, but then I thought we got it back in the third quarter because we just played hard. I thought the third quarter was the only time tonight when we played Hornets . Outside of that we were spotty at best, so it’s not a step back for us. I just thought that we kind of lost the identity that we had consistently throughout tonight’s game. Make no mistake about it; we just played a playoff team that really knows how to play. I thought they pushed us around a little bit tonight. I didn’t see a physical presence in the paint. I thought our guys didn’t back down but didn’t match that and try to exceed it.”

Hornets Guard Brian Roberts: On the Clippers three shooting: “We knew they had shooters to go along with their inside play. We had a few breakdowns defensively that got them open looks and got them rolling. We weren’t surprised by it at all. They just got some open looks from our breakdowns and that was the key.”

On if the defense was disappointing from the last three games: “It was different. Like we’ve been saying since day one, we are a defensive team. When we can’t get stops that puts a lot of pressure on our offense, and we can’t do that. We have to come out and play hard and play 48 minutes of defense, and we didn’t do that tonight.”

Hornets Forward Ryan Anderson: On the game: “We kind of beat ourselves. We really didn’t move the ball very well and we took tough shots. We didn’t have that energy that we’ve had the last couple of games. We weren’t as aggressive. Sometimes you have those games where you are a little bit flat coming out. It just looked like we couldn’t get ourselves going all game.”

On offensive possessions going deep into the clock: “We put ourselves in that position. We messed up some plays after time outs. Things like that all add up. We had a lot of late clock shots. We didn’t really battle. We just didn’t have it like we had the last couple of games.”

New Orleans Hornets vs. Los Angeles Clippers March 27, 2013 Clippers Post Game Quotes

Clippers Head Coach Vinny Del Negro: On what allowed the team to distance themselves from the Hornets in the final quarter: “I thought that we got some very good production. Jamal (Crawford) got going there in the fourth (quarter). I thought that Eric Bledsoe and Ryan Hollins gave us really good energy. It was just a solid team win. Those guys came in and gave us a big boost. I was able to rest Chris (Paul) a little bit and Blake (Griffin) at times. I thought that we got some stops in the fourth, and defensively, we were able to control the tempo of the game.”

On the difference in the game tonight: “Everyone has got to step up. Last night, we weren’t able to capitalize on some of our shots that we usually can make. Tonight we were able to do that. We had some good execution. We were able to spread them out a little bit. They (the Hornets) played very hard. They have been playing very well. This is a good win for us.”

On the team missing plenty of three point shots lately: “If they are good rhythm shots, I’m fine with them. Sometimes, I feel like we force them a little bit at times. We’ve got to do a better job with that. It really helps open the game up for everybody obviously when we are making shots.”

Clippers Guard Jamaal Crawford On coming back to win after a tough overtime loss the night before: “You should have seen last night on the plane and on the bus, guys felt terrible. Games like this couldn’t come fast enough for us. We just wanted to get back on track and I thought we did a good job right from the start.”

On how aware the team is about competitors in Western Conference for playoff seeding: “I’d be lying if I said we weren’t aware. We had an opportunity last night with both of those teams [Denver and Memphis] losing, and us losing as well, but tonight we took care of business.”

Clippers Guard On the difference between yesterday’s OT loss to Dallas and today’s win: “We had [Chauncey] Billups in the first half. He carried us. I think tonight we got a real team effort. Our bench was amazing with [Ryan] Hollins and Eric Bledsoe. That’s very important, because down the stretch they tried to trap, and tonight we were able to make them pay when we found Matt [Barnes] in the corner for the dagger.”

On coming back after a tough loss the previous day: “Once you throw the ball up, last night is gone. We knew this team right here wasn’t going to feel sorry for us. We know they execute and they play hard, so this is a great win for us.”

On playing his former team: “They play hard, they’re in every game that they play every night; I watch them all the time. They execute and they’re going to be fine with those young fellas. Anthony Davis had a great game and Greivis Vasquez will lead them.”