Pelicans Head Coach Alvin Gentry
On tonight's win not coming easy:"No, I thought both teams played extremely well, defensively. I thought we did a great job. I think they're a really, really tough team to play. They're very handsy and very physical. They're really good at getting you out of what you're trying to do, initially. I thought we did a really, really good job on their best player. I thought (Victor) Oladipo, I thought Jrue (Holiday) and the guys that guarded him, Ian (Clark) and E'Twaun (Moore), I thought they did a really good job on him, but to me, it was just one of those games where both teams were really good defensively. I mean extremely good defensively and we just found a way to come up. Obviously AD (Anthony Davis) bailed us out on a couple of shots, but I thought we found a way to come up with a couple of a few baskets here and there and that was the difference in the game. They're really, really good, defensively."
On the fourth quarter offense:"Well I thought we found a couple of things that we could go to that was very effective. I thought Niko (Nikola Mirotić) jumped up and made a couple of shots for us that were big. There was nothing that was easy. We got nothing that was easy. We just had to...when you say grind it out, this is really a grind it out game with those guys. Then our bench came through, once again. I thought Cheick (Diallo) played a big role in us, from an energy standpoint, coming in and giving us energy. I thought Nico did a good job, as I said so our bench was pretty good about it. And then at the end, we were able to make a few plays. That was the difference in the game. It was a really hard fought, hard game to play because I think they're, like I said, they're excellent, offensively. They're a really good offensive rebounding team and they pound the boards and they make you really work for everything that you get."
Pelicans Guard E'Twaun Moore:
On what has worked well for him the last few games:"I don't know. Nah. I don't know, just being aggressive and I knew it was going to be tough for us today and I'm like 'I feel pretty good.' So I'm like 'man, I'm going to try to be aggressive, you know, give us a little spark, you know, try to help us win this game and uplift us.'"
On the Pacers defending the paint tonight and closely defending Anthony Davis:"They packed the paint for sure. Every time (Anthony Davis) put the ball down they were definitely on him. So I'm like 'man, we got to be ready to make shots and other people try to help make plays.'"
Pelicans Forward Anthony Davis:
On fighting fatigue:"Fourth one in five days so we knew it was going to be one of them grind games. We were a little fatigued, but coach has been telling us all day you just got to fight through it. It's going to be a mental game, see how mentally tough we are. We just try to keep fighting, keep fighting. You know they got the lead. Then we'll get the lead. They'll get the lead. We get the lead. So, we just came down with some big stops towards the end and made some big plays and able to pull this one out."
On defending pick and rolls with Jrue Holiday:"For me, I know that Jrue likes to get into the ball. You know, he wants to be very aggressive and so just knowing that I'm back there allows him to do that and me, it's my responsibility if they go by him. I've got to be there to help him, protect him. So it's just a little chemistry, just talking to him and making sure that he know where the screen is coming or if he's by himself or whatever, whatever it is and just trying to get a hand up. If the guard is shooting and he can't get back, he tries to crack back on the big and get the rebound and push him away. He's very feisty up there on the ball so I just got to make sure I'm back there talking to him."