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Mavs defeat Jazz 122 – 114
HEAD COACH RICK CARLISLE
(On today’s game…)
“I was very concerned at halftime; we had low assist numbers, we were stagnant, we were showing some uncharacteristic ball stickiness. We were able to talk about it at halftime. The second half we moved it better, we defended better, our energy was up. They did pull their starters, and certainly, I’m not going to over look that as a factor in the game. But our brand of basketball in the second half was much more like playoff basketball, and that’s where it needs to be. A couple of other things I want to point out here, Michael Kidd Gilchrist — 18 minutes, plus-21 and did not take a shot. He had an amazing presence for us defensively. Our offensive energy was coming off our defense in the second half. Obviously we had a lot of guys step up and make shots down the stretch. Hardaway and Curry were tremendous. But our ball movement was much better and was where it needed to be.”
(On Tim Hardaway Jr. and Seth Curry finding offensive rhythm…)
“Anybody on our team is going to shoot the ball better if they’re touching it and if there’s an unselfish feel to the game. We didn’t have that in the first half. The second half was a night and day difference. Look, you get into playoff basketball, you’ve got to generate shots randomly. You have to generate it by trusting the pass, trusting your teammates. In the second half, we did. The first half was really — it was ugly, very ugly. I’m glad both of those guys got into a rhythm offensively. Where we are right now and where were going for the next two games and then the playoffs, the playoffs are about rhythm in some ways, but it’s about a tenacious attitude as to how you go into the game. If everybody goes in thinking about hard defense, moving the ball and getting the best shot for a teammate — that’s what we need to do.”
(On the team’s largest comeback win in four years…)
“I”m happy for them. The feeling of winning is an important feeling to have as you’re preparing for the playoffs and everything that comes with it. This game had some quirky things; we sit three guys, Utah sits its super star. The second half they come out sitting all their starters with a 16-point lead. Their depth guys come out and go on a four or five nothing run on us right off the bat; the lead goes over 20. From there, we did what you need to do to win games, which is grind defensively and be really unselfish offensively. I love the comeback. I love winning, I hate losing. But I love winning for the feeling that our guys get doing something together.”
MAVERICKS FORWARD SETH CURRY
(On how good it felt to get into a good rhythm today…)
“It is good. There was more opportunity out there with a lot of points missing tonight because of certainguys sitting out. So there was opportunity for me and some other guys to get a rhythm, get a few more looks and get the ball in our hands a little bit more. We had to take advantage of the game to work on some stuff but also to try and get that competitiveness back and try to get a win. Every game is leading up to the play offs. You might not win the game but, win or lose, it is about trying to work yourself into as good of shape as possible to get ready for the first round.”
(On potentially moving up into the sixth seed in the Western Conference…)
“We are focusing on trying to get in the best health and shape possible and trying to get our rhythm for the first round. We are not in full control of who we play, so it is about going out there every day and competing. In a week we will be ready to go no matter who it is.”
(On the feel of the offense without Luka Dončić…)
“Everyone is just a little more involved as far as getting the ball in their hands and trying to make plays with the ball. Obviously, Luka has a big role in our offense, making a lot of the plays through the majority of the game. It is going to be different without him out there so we had to do it as a group. Tonight we saw a lot of guys out there making plays. It is a chance for us to get into a rhythm and work on some stuff while we are missing 50 or 60 points.”
MAVERICKS GUARD TIM HARDAWAY JR.
(On finding his groove before the playoffs start…)
“It is great just being able to get shots up and being able to attack the basket to get myself going that way instead of settling a little. I think that really helped me out a lot just to see the ball go in the basket. Of course, you have your two all-stars not playing, so it is always next man up and you have to be able to take the weight of those guys and push through it.”
(On how a game like this helps the team ahead of the playoffs…)
“I think the resilience of this ball club is continuing to grow. Coach really emphasizes for us the importance of closing out ball games. It was close going down the stretch, but we got a lot of stops when they were on that end of the floor and we made our shots when we were open. It was a total effort from everybody.”
(On how much they’re paying attention to playoff seeding…)
“I can’t speak for everybody, but I definitely do. I see it and I know Utah was in the sixth spot, I believe, coming into today’s game. I knew that we were two or two-and-a-half games behind them. So I knew if we were able to get one of these wins up it would help us out. Moving forward we just have to make sure we win these two games going forward. We control our own destiny at this point. With that being said, I am pretty sure we are happy that we reached one of our goals this year to reach the playoffs. Now we have to compete when we get there.”
(On his thoughts about the atmosphere with no fans…)
“The virtual fans are doing great. It somewhat feels like there are fans there with the fans and the noise in the arena. It is playing a huge part in some cases. Realistically, we know no one is there so it doesn’t really help as much. But with all that said we are happy to be back here playing basketball and doing what we love most.”
MAVERICKS CENTER BOBAN MARJANOVIĆ
(On if he is aware that the Mavericks are on pace to be the most efficient offense in NBA history…)
“We are good but when we play on the court, we try to get everybody involved. There are not guys just hanging out in the corner, it is a team game. If somebody goes in the game we try to cheer on the bench, give our teammates support, do our job and play for the team. Everyone is just focused on the game right now.”
(On how it is to play in the bubble with no fans and how the virtual fans atmosphere has been…)
“So far, if you listen to a game, you really feel like people are in the arena because they do such a great job with the noise. Someone is the visitor and someone has home court and they do a great job with that. You feel like you hear fans there. The reality is that they are not here, but still you can hear everything. I think so far everyone is enjoying the game and don’t pay too much attention on that, but everyone is focused on why we came here.”
MAVERICKS GUARD J.J. BAREA
(On potentially having the best offensive in the league history…)
“We know that we have the best offense and all that, but we don’t make it a big deal. I think we know for us to win games our defense has to be better. We definitely take pride on our offense being number one and we work on it every day to get better at it, but we don’t really make too much of a big deal that we’re about to be in the record”
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