Game 51: Pelicans-Thunder Postgame Quotes 2-2-18

Pelicans Head Coach Alvin Gentry
On the game:
“I thought we approached the game correctly right from the start. I thought we played with energy. I thought we maintained our poise throughout, even in the first quarter when they made their run and in the second quarter when they got a little separation. Our guys, I liked their attitude when they came to the bench. They felt like they missed some easy shots or maybe dropped a couple defensive assignments, but, I felt like we had confidence. Then obviously the third quarter start was big. We've struggled so much in the third quarter that to have a start like we did gave us even more confidence, and then we were ready to play the rest of the game.”

On the focus on not turning the ball over:
“You just can't turn the ball over with this team. You turn the ball over and you've got Westbrook coming at you one-on-one or one-on-two, it's not a good situation. So we talked about meeting the basketball. We talked about passing it away from the defense, and we talked about making good solid plays and not having the high-risk ones. I thought we did a good job of that.”

Pelicans Forward Anthony Davis
On winning under the circumstances:
“Everybody just competed. We stayed poised. We just kept at them and kept fighting. Guys made plays; it was a great team effort."

On becoming the franchise leading scorer:
“It’s huge. A big time for me, but it’s a team effort. Guys put me in the position to score and be successful, everybody from guys who were here my rookie year to guys who are here now. Everybody played their part and allowed me to get this accomplishment.”

On what he thought of their defense against a good offensive team:
“Yeah we just wanted to come out and play aggressive. You know our third quarters were our worst quarters. I think we were last in league, and we just wanted to come out with energy and we knew that it started with defense. We just had to come out on the defensive end and just attack, make guys take tough shots and then go back on the other end and score.”

Pelicans Guard E'Twaun Moore
On Anthony Davis having over forty points:
“Yea he was cutting and we were just really active, setting screens and trying to get him open, trying to find him. We were just active, cutting and moving."

On the Pelicans’ defense:
“I mean it was pretty good. That was what really won us the game, kept them to about a hundred points and that was huge for us.”