Miles on holding down Durant and Utah's improved perimeter defense: "We've been a lot better. The biggest thing we've done is focus on guarding their guy. You know you're going to be helped, but don't push 'em to the help. Play 'em like there's no help. … So that way, [teammates] don't have to help as much and we haven't extended our defense as much."
Tinsley on a move that saw him bounce the ball between the legs of OKC's Nazr Mohammed, catch it, then hit a running floater: "Aw, I've been doing that for the longest. It was a great opportunity and a great spot. He stepped up. Usually when they step up like that, they don't tend to think people are going to do that, and I've been doing that for a while."
What's made the difference for the Jazz: "We're trusting each other. That's the big key. If we keep trusting ourselves on the defensive end, that's going to give us a better chance to win. Then we learn how to close games out and finish games. And we've got guys that don't care about scoring."
Tinsley pointed out a situation against the Thunder where Corbin called a play for Jefferson. Utah's center deferred, though, and made sure Paul Millsap recorded a basket. "That's trusting your teammate," Tinsley said.
Jazz's confidence, chemistry and selflessness: "That's the great thing about this team. You've got young and older guys [who] have only got one agenda in here, and that's to win ballgames. They don't mind other teammates scoring a lot of points. Don't mind other teammates getting a lot of rebounds. They don't mind other players getting a lot of assists. We've all got one agenda here, and that's to win ballgames. That's a key when you've got a bunch of younger guys and a bunch of older guys. Usually people have hidden agendas, and there's none of that."
"Our guards and our bigs are stepping up on defense and we are just playing together and for each other," Tinsley said.
Millsap on his overall offensive game being better than ever: "I would say so. I'm more in tune right now. I got out of synch for a little bit. But I'm back in synch and I'm starting to pick and choose my shots. I'm just playing off everybody else."
"We're definitely playing better together."
Jazz starting to believe they're truly playoff-worthy: "Yeah. We're turning into a winning basketball team. The mindsets of everybody, you can tell that guys want to win and they're better on the defensive end and helping each other on the offensive end. The mindset is there. We've just got to continue to push."
Devin Harris on Jazz's chemistry and selflessness: "That's the way you win games, especially against these good teams. Ball movement, [defense], rebounding the ball, sharing the ball. We continue to play this way, we're a good team."
"They pay so much attention to our inside guys. Al came back tonight, he kicked it out and it's our job to hit those shots. He trusts us."
Jefferson: "It's all about confidence right now. We've got it and we're rolling."
"It's good to be back with my second family here. My teammates are playing like a family now because we trust each other to make the right play."
Ty Corbin: "We should be very confident right now. We're understanding that we need to count on each other, especially at the defensive end of the floor and depending on each other to make the right plays."
"They hit some shots but our main focus had to be on (Durant and Westbrook) because they're going to have the ball in their hands at the end."
"I don't know if it sends a message to anybody else but to us. Our goal is to get into the playoffs. It's always been that. We're in good shape now, but there's a lot of basketball left to play."
Kevin Durrant: "They played good defense. You have to give those guys credit, but I can't miss seven shots in the fourth quarter as one of the main guys."
"Just couldn't make a shot. I put that on myself. I had a few good looks. Maybe I should have pulled up. When you get to the rim and you get charges, it messes with you a little bit. It messed with me tonight, but I still have to be aggressive. I just missed shots. I can't make any excuses up."
“I just got to be stronger with the ball.”
Scott Brooks: "They were the physical team and we had to match that, but they did a good job at winning that part of the game."
“They did a good job of trapping our pick-and-rolls. When we're at our best, our pick-and-roll game is really good and they did a good job of stopping our pick-and-roll game and trapping it and forcing us to go to the weak side.”
“I thought they did a great job of playing physical basketball,” Brooks said. “They scored a bunch of points in the paint. We gave them two areas that we wanted to not have trouble with: turning the ball over and offensive rebounds.”
Nick Collison: “That's how Utah wants to play. They want to throw the ball inside and they want to attack the rim. And we weren't good enough tonight to keep them away from it.”
“We haven't been playing well consistently lately. We need to turn it around. We need to play better. Hopefully it will start in the next game.”
Three minute video of quotes can be found here:
https://www.deseretnews.com/article...nock-off-the-Oklahoma-City-Thunder-97-90.html
The Jazz demolished the Thunder near the basket, outscoring them 50-20 in the paint.
Tinsley on a move that saw him bounce the ball between the legs of OKC's Nazr Mohammed, catch it, then hit a running floater: "Aw, I've been doing that for the longest. It was a great opportunity and a great spot. He stepped up. Usually when they step up like that, they don't tend to think people are going to do that, and I've been doing that for a while."
What's made the difference for the Jazz: "We're trusting each other. That's the big key. If we keep trusting ourselves on the defensive end, that's going to give us a better chance to win. Then we learn how to close games out and finish games. And we've got guys that don't care about scoring."
Tinsley pointed out a situation against the Thunder where Corbin called a play for Jefferson. Utah's center deferred, though, and made sure Paul Millsap recorded a basket. "That's trusting your teammate," Tinsley said.
Jazz's confidence, chemistry and selflessness: "That's the great thing about this team. You've got young and older guys [who] have only got one agenda in here, and that's to win ballgames. They don't mind other teammates scoring a lot of points. Don't mind other teammates getting a lot of rebounds. They don't mind other players getting a lot of assists. We've all got one agenda here, and that's to win ballgames. That's a key when you've got a bunch of younger guys and a bunch of older guys. Usually people have hidden agendas, and there's none of that."
"Our guards and our bigs are stepping up on defense and we are just playing together and for each other," Tinsley said.
Millsap on his overall offensive game being better than ever: "I would say so. I'm more in tune right now. I got out of synch for a little bit. But I'm back in synch and I'm starting to pick and choose my shots. I'm just playing off everybody else."
"We're definitely playing better together."
Jazz starting to believe they're truly playoff-worthy: "Yeah. We're turning into a winning basketball team. The mindsets of everybody, you can tell that guys want to win and they're better on the defensive end and helping each other on the offensive end. The mindset is there. We've just got to continue to push."
Devin Harris on Jazz's chemistry and selflessness: "That's the way you win games, especially against these good teams. Ball movement, [defense], rebounding the ball, sharing the ball. We continue to play this way, we're a good team."
"They pay so much attention to our inside guys. Al came back tonight, he kicked it out and it's our job to hit those shots. He trusts us."
Jefferson: "It's all about confidence right now. We've got it and we're rolling."
"It's good to be back with my second family here. My teammates are playing like a family now because we trust each other to make the right play."
Ty Corbin: "We should be very confident right now. We're understanding that we need to count on each other, especially at the defensive end of the floor and depending on each other to make the right plays."
"They hit some shots but our main focus had to be on (Durant and Westbrook) because they're going to have the ball in their hands at the end."
"I don't know if it sends a message to anybody else but to us. Our goal is to get into the playoffs. It's always been that. We're in good shape now, but there's a lot of basketball left to play."
Kevin Durrant: "They played good defense. You have to give those guys credit, but I can't miss seven shots in the fourth quarter as one of the main guys."
"Just couldn't make a shot. I put that on myself. I had a few good looks. Maybe I should have pulled up. When you get to the rim and you get charges, it messes with you a little bit. It messed with me tonight, but I still have to be aggressive. I just missed shots. I can't make any excuses up."
“I just got to be stronger with the ball.”
Scott Brooks: "They were the physical team and we had to match that, but they did a good job at winning that part of the game."
“They did a good job of trapping our pick-and-rolls. When we're at our best, our pick-and-roll game is really good and they did a good job of stopping our pick-and-roll game and trapping it and forcing us to go to the weak side.”
“I thought they did a great job of playing physical basketball,” Brooks said. “They scored a bunch of points in the paint. We gave them two areas that we wanted to not have trouble with: turning the ball over and offensive rebounds.”
Nick Collison: “That's how Utah wants to play. They want to throw the ball inside and they want to attack the rim. And we weren't good enough tonight to keep them away from it.”
“We haven't been playing well consistently lately. We need to turn it around. We need to play better. Hopefully it will start in the next game.”
Three minute video of quotes can be found here:
https://www.deseretnews.com/article...nock-off-the-Oklahoma-City-Thunder-97-90.html
The Jazz demolished the Thunder near the basket, outscoring them 50-20 in the paint.
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