Pelicans Head Coach Alvin Gentry

On fouls and turnovers:
“Well I don’t think they’re sending that one to Springeville anytime soon. I just thought we turned the ball over way too much, we’ve just got to get better in that department right there… and they’re careless turnovers, we’ve just got to get better at that. The fouls, you’ve got to adjust to the officiating and we have to make sure that we’re not just fouling, especially down the stretch. That puts them on the line when the clock stops, so we just have to do a better job in that department. We grinded it out and found a way to win and to me that’s the most important thing.”

On Kenrich Williams:
“Well he makes winning plays and that’s why we have to have him out on the court I think… so we inserted him back into the lineup and, I never even look at his stat-line because he just helps you win basketball games.”

On JJ Reddick:
“It did, for the first time this season I feel like we were able to free JJ [Reddick] up for some good looks that he didn’t really try to have to force up. I thought we did a good job early on with the pace of the game and we got him into a situation where we were able to drive and kick and have him have some good looks and he took advantage of it I thought.”

On closing the game:
“I think you’ve got to make shots, we had stops and we’ve done it before in other games where we just hadn’t made the play or made the shot and I thought tonight when we really needed to make a basket we came up with the baskets.” On Brandon Ingram: “Well he’s played that way for us so, that was not a surprise but… like I said we just have to make the plays, the winning plays down the stretch, we’ve been close enough and hadn’t quite got over the hump so we were really happy to get over the hump.”

Pelicans Guard/Forward Kenrich Williams

On the end of the game:
“I mean I think everybody just shared the ball, that’s big with our team… just being unselfish down the stretch, everybody got to touch it, and good things happen when you do that.”

On starting tonight:
“I mean my main goal is to come in and play hard, the past few games we’ve been really playing lackadaisical. Coach had drilled that into us the past few days, we’ve got to play hard, be the hardest playing team… I think that carried over into everything, from offense to defense.”

On defensive performance:
“I think we did a better job defensively, we were able to slow them down in transition… they got a few offensive boards toward the end but for the most part, we didn’t give up that many second-chance points and if we can do those two things we can win the game.”

On Brandon Ingram’s end-of-game performance:
“I mean B.I. [Brandon Ingram] is a baller, that’s our go-to guy, him and Jrue [Holiday] down the stretch we want to get the ball in their hands and just let them make plays even for themselves or for other people.”

Pelicans Guard Jrue Holiday

On how the starting lineup performed and the strengths it had:
“I think we started off fast. Again, there were a lot of fouls called today. I don’t think I’ve ever been a part of that slow of a first half ever, but a lot of fouls called, but we still tried to maintain our pace. I think that’s kind of how we got out early and from there they kind of slowed the ball down, but I think to be able to continue that with the lineup that we had – spread the floor, a lot of shooters – it makes it easier for us.”

On what the Pelicans did right down the stretch in the fourth quarter as the score got tight:
“Honestly, I think just made plays and that’s kind of what it comes down to. If I come off a screen and they double (me), make a play. See the open man. I feel like the ball was contagious within that last three minutes where guys got a lot of open shots.”

On Kenrich Williams tonight:
“Kenny-hustle. Kenny-hustle. I love it. I know what he’s going to bring every game: heart, grit, he’s going fight every time. If somebody messes up, if I mess up, he’s on me and I feel like we need that. We need that from everybody to hold everybody accountable. You’re going to get the same with K-rich. He’s dependable. He’s reliable. As you can see down the stretch, he made some big plays.”