Phil Jackson Played Quotations

Obviously the game was determined by Howard leaving so early. That took a lot of energy away from them and we played well as a group.

He had a so-so game. He played adequately.... Everybody's a work in progress right now.

I thought we played in spurts tonight. We came out with a little more energy in the third quarter, compared to our last two games, which helped a lot.

I thought we were despondent when we came out of that regular time, going into overtime and played like it the first three minutes, but we found some energy at the end.

Kobe played a game in which he really controlled the offense from his position. He really doesn't play guard very often. We had people open because he got double-teamed. In the first half, Cook hit his shots.

We played about as well as we played all season. They had back-to-back games like we did, but you could see their legs getting tired. I had a suspicion that we could win this game tonight, but they played above my expectations.

They almost made me get up and walk out of the building in the third quarter. They got it righted and played good defense to get back in the game. I knew that Kobe would find a way out there to help us win.

I've talked to other players that were there, but that was played in like complete silence. I guess there was a radio announcer there, but there was nothing else that you could even document it. People don't even know if they had a backboard or nets.

It was the way the game played out. We had guys open, there were situations that were going right.

The team played well enough to win it, but they didn't finish. When you're on the road, you have to do some things to win, because it's a bit extra special.

They played Kobe tough and a little harder than the refs wanted to see.

It seems like they played really hard against Sacramento, didn't they? That was their other opponent they had an option to play. It would seem like they want to choose us.

It was a big win for us. We caused a lot of turnovers and stepped up the tempo knowing they played last night.

In the second half we came out and played well offensively and defensively.

He played a great game, and they gave him 'Kobe (stinks)' or something at the end. I thought that was really poor sportsmanship, especially for a game as competitive and exciting as that game was, down to the last minute to be decided. I'm sure his demeanor and his poise and his character on the floor are saying lots.

He played with the energy and the enthusiasm and threw his body around out there, things that we want to see players do. That helped us. I thought he ran out of gas at one point in that fourth quarter. Otherwise, I probably would have had him stay on the floor.