When we come out with that type of focus and that type of energy, it's tough for teams to beat us. When we play the way we played tonight, we make it look like that. We make the game look easy.
Rip and Chauncey have been doing a great job for us all season. Seems like every time we get in a tough situation, one of them steps up.
I think everybody is making a conscious effort to go out and get it done on the defensive end. We hang our hats on the defensive end, being able to get stops and forcing teams to take tough shots.
We had a little more energy because we were at home. It's tough to play away from home on Christmas.
We put ourselves in a tough situation. We had to bail ourselves out with our defense. If we play like that for three quarters, it's going to take an effort like that down the stretch to get a victory. We have to start giving that effort from the start.
Team basketball is a lost art nowadays, but it's always going to win. You can win in the regular season, but if you don't play together as a team it's going to be tough to win in the playoffs teams. And I think now teams are starting to recognize that.
It's different for everybody. Everybody's just different. It's just a tough situation to deal with. You don't want to play unless you're ready.
I didn't know anything about it, but I think that's a sign of consistency. We go out and play hard every night, not take shortcuts and we usually don't pick up fouls. We keep guys off the line, force them to take tough shots, force them to beat you, not beat yourself.