Official postgame quotes and notes following the Jazz's 99-98 win against the Miami Heat on Friday.
Tyrone Corbin – Head Coach (17-18 this season)
On the game
“I tell you what man, this was a great, great win for these guys. They did a great job of just hanging in there. Give Miami a lot of credit; they did what they do, they made big shots. We talked about it before the game, how special LeBron and D-Wade and this team are, and they showed it tonight. They made runs at us, they made big shots, but our guys, I can’t say how proud I am of these guys of just staying in there and not getting their heads down and continuing to fight and fight. As a result, we made a big play at the end
and Devin made a big shot for us. Great team win for us.”
On playing a complete game
“You’re absolutely correct. These are things we’ve talked about the last few games where we’ve had situations where we could have closed teams out that got away from us a little bit but the feel we get from this game is what we have to take forward.”
Enes Kanter – Center (11 points, 6 rebound)
On the game
“We played great defense (tonight) and smart offense. We won the game; that is why I’m so happy. We (seemed) to want it more. We kept fighting, every minute (of the game). It was a great game and an important game to us.”
Devin Harris – Guard (13 points, 5 assists)
On the finish
“You’ve got to give the team credit. We could have buckled after LeBron (James) got hot in the fourth quarter, but we stuck together and won the game.”
On holding off Miami
“You know that a team like that is bound to make a run at some point. The first half we did a good job of hitting first, but with guys like (Miami has) you know they are going to come back. We took the hit and won the game.”
Al Jefferson – Center (20 points, 6 rebounds)
On the game
“Great win to head out on the road with. It’s a win against a great team and we proved that when we can stay together and word hard we have a chance to win.”
On Haslem’s final shot
“I really didn’t know (if it was going in or not). It didn’t matter who took it, I’m just glad they missed. I have seen (Haslem) hit that shot before. I think we did a good job on LeBron (James) on that play and (Haslem) had the right shot and thank God he missed it.”
Notes: The Jazz opened the second quarter on a 10-3 run and outscored the Heat 30-18 in the second quarter … During the first half, the Jazz outscored the Heat 36-14 in the paint and outscored the Heat 20-5 on second chance points in the first half … The Jazz outrebounded the Heat 29-13 in the first half and had 15 first half offensive rebounds … Utah finished the game with a 43-28 rebounding advantage …The Jazz opened the third quarter on a 14-10 run … The Jazz are third in the league in blocked shots per game with an average of 5.85 and tonight had six blocked shots … The Jazz average 13.8 turnovers per game and
finished tonight with 11 turnovers.
Notes: The Heat had won nine consecutive games by 10+ points coming into tonight’s matchup, the second-longest such streak in NBA history … Miami’s record with Shane Battier in the starting lineup dropped to 5-1 with the loss … A Heat player hasn’t fouled out in 88 consecutive games, the longest streak during the shot-clock era … LeBron James scored 17 points in the fourth quarter … Miami had outscored their opponent by an average of 7.8 points in the first quarter during their nine-game winning streak before being outscored 27-26 in the first quarter tonight.
Erik Spoelstra – Head Coach (28-9 this season)
On the loss to the Jazz
“We did not play in the first half, got ourselves in a hole, but made a tremendous effort to dig back into it. We had a four-point lead right there late and the opportunity to get stops and rebounds. We couldn’t get those quite when we needed to. It’s a shame, because it was a very tough-minded game to crawl back into it. LeBron was brilliant. It was a brilliant basketball game, particularly there in the second half to bring our squad life and get us back into it. We got a good shot there at the end, give them some credit, we are a noexcuse
team.”
On the final shot of the game
“We got an open shot. (LeBron James) made the right play. Like I said, we had a couple of opportunities to rely on our defense to get stops that we needed to and we couldn’t quite do it. You hate your games to be decided by the free-throw line like that and it could have been a tie-score but, regardless, give them credit. They played very well tonight.”
Dwyane Wade – Guard (31 points, 6 assists)
On Utah dominating the boards
“They wanted it more early. As a team they came out and were getting to all the loose balls, jumping quicker than us and getting to all the right places. They played very well, especially early. We knew they were a good home team and they just came at us and brought their ‘A’ game early on.”
On the fourth quarter comeback
“We are a very confident team. We never feel like we are out of the game. You just have to keep chipping away. We have guys that can make plays on both ends of the floor so we are always very confident that we can get back into the game, especially on the road, to give ourselves an opportunity to win. At the end of the day that’s all we try to do. We gave ourselves an opportunity to win and a lot of things didn’t go in our favor, but we did what we wanted to do to be there in the end.”
LeBron James – Forward (35 points, 10 rebounds)
On the final play
“Josh Howard stayed on my right hand and forced me down and Millsap was at the elbow. Knowing the percentages of what (Udonis Haslem) shoots from the free throw line. He got a good look at it. With him not getting as many looks that might have played into the fact that he might not have felt comfortable taking it. We got a good look, it just didn’t go.”
On managing the second guessing
“I just try to make the right plays and do what it takes to win basketball games. At the end of the day, games are not lost on one shot at the end or me not taking a shot, but I know the chatter will begin. I wanted that game as bad as anyone else on that floor.”
Tyrone Corbin – Head Coach (17-18 this season)
On the game
“I tell you what man, this was a great, great win for these guys. They did a great job of just hanging in there. Give Miami a lot of credit; they did what they do, they made big shots. We talked about it before the game, how special LeBron and D-Wade and this team are, and they showed it tonight. They made runs at us, they made big shots, but our guys, I can’t say how proud I am of these guys of just staying in there and not getting their heads down and continuing to fight and fight. As a result, we made a big play at the end
and Devin made a big shot for us. Great team win for us.”
On playing a complete game
“You’re absolutely correct. These are things we’ve talked about the last few games where we’ve had situations where we could have closed teams out that got away from us a little bit but the feel we get from this game is what we have to take forward.”
Enes Kanter – Center (11 points, 6 rebound)
On the game
“We played great defense (tonight) and smart offense. We won the game; that is why I’m so happy. We (seemed) to want it more. We kept fighting, every minute (of the game). It was a great game and an important game to us.”
Devin Harris – Guard (13 points, 5 assists)
On the finish
“You’ve got to give the team credit. We could have buckled after LeBron (James) got hot in the fourth quarter, but we stuck together and won the game.”
On holding off Miami
“You know that a team like that is bound to make a run at some point. The first half we did a good job of hitting first, but with guys like (Miami has) you know they are going to come back. We took the hit and won the game.”
Al Jefferson – Center (20 points, 6 rebounds)
On the game
“Great win to head out on the road with. It’s a win against a great team and we proved that when we can stay together and word hard we have a chance to win.”
On Haslem’s final shot
“I really didn’t know (if it was going in or not). It didn’t matter who took it, I’m just glad they missed. I have seen (Haslem) hit that shot before. I think we did a good job on LeBron (James) on that play and (Haslem) had the right shot and thank God he missed it.”
Notes: The Jazz opened the second quarter on a 10-3 run and outscored the Heat 30-18 in the second quarter … During the first half, the Jazz outscored the Heat 36-14 in the paint and outscored the Heat 20-5 on second chance points in the first half … The Jazz outrebounded the Heat 29-13 in the first half and had 15 first half offensive rebounds … Utah finished the game with a 43-28 rebounding advantage …The Jazz opened the third quarter on a 14-10 run … The Jazz are third in the league in blocked shots per game with an average of 5.85 and tonight had six blocked shots … The Jazz average 13.8 turnovers per game and
finished tonight with 11 turnovers.
Notes: The Heat had won nine consecutive games by 10+ points coming into tonight’s matchup, the second-longest such streak in NBA history … Miami’s record with Shane Battier in the starting lineup dropped to 5-1 with the loss … A Heat player hasn’t fouled out in 88 consecutive games, the longest streak during the shot-clock era … LeBron James scored 17 points in the fourth quarter … Miami had outscored their opponent by an average of 7.8 points in the first quarter during their nine-game winning streak before being outscored 27-26 in the first quarter tonight.
Erik Spoelstra – Head Coach (28-9 this season)
On the loss to the Jazz
“We did not play in the first half, got ourselves in a hole, but made a tremendous effort to dig back into it. We had a four-point lead right there late and the opportunity to get stops and rebounds. We couldn’t get those quite when we needed to. It’s a shame, because it was a very tough-minded game to crawl back into it. LeBron was brilliant. It was a brilliant basketball game, particularly there in the second half to bring our squad life and get us back into it. We got a good shot there at the end, give them some credit, we are a noexcuse
team.”
On the final shot of the game
“We got an open shot. (LeBron James) made the right play. Like I said, we had a couple of opportunities to rely on our defense to get stops that we needed to and we couldn’t quite do it. You hate your games to be decided by the free-throw line like that and it could have been a tie-score but, regardless, give them credit. They played very well tonight.”
Dwyane Wade – Guard (31 points, 6 assists)
On Utah dominating the boards
“They wanted it more early. As a team they came out and were getting to all the loose balls, jumping quicker than us and getting to all the right places. They played very well, especially early. We knew they were a good home team and they just came at us and brought their ‘A’ game early on.”
On the fourth quarter comeback
“We are a very confident team. We never feel like we are out of the game. You just have to keep chipping away. We have guys that can make plays on both ends of the floor so we are always very confident that we can get back into the game, especially on the road, to give ourselves an opportunity to win. At the end of the day that’s all we try to do. We gave ourselves an opportunity to win and a lot of things didn’t go in our favor, but we did what we wanted to do to be there in the end.”
LeBron James – Forward (35 points, 10 rebounds)
On the final play
“Josh Howard stayed on my right hand and forced me down and Millsap was at the elbow. Knowing the percentages of what (Udonis Haslem) shoots from the free throw line. He got a good look at it. With him not getting as many looks that might have played into the fact that he might not have felt comfortable taking it. We got a good look, it just didn’t go.”
On managing the second guessing
“I just try to make the right plays and do what it takes to win basketball games. At the end of the day, games are not lost on one shot at the end or me not taking a shot, but I know the chatter will begin. I wanted that game as bad as anyone else on that floor.”
