Doc Rivers Third Quotations

I thought our first half was as soft defensively as we'd been all year. We started the third quarter the same way but then our bench picked us up. Even though (our bench) was outscored, I thought they were the reason we won the game.

I thought, for whatever reason, our spirit was broken in the third and fourth quarters.

You just got to feel at some point, it's going to turn our way. I felt horrible for them. They fought their butts off. I thought other than the middle of the third quarter, when we stopped playing for one stretch, I thought we played just great basketball.

It was a hard-fought game. They made some timely shots, late clock shots did us in. I thought the third quarter, the one stretch, just really, really hurt us. I thought we really lost our intensity. We started watching them play for a while. And I thought that really hurt us. And our bench has to do something for us.

The end of the third quarter and the beginning of the fourth, Paul Pierce took over the game.

The difference now is that he keeps his teammates involved. He scored 36 in the flow. The guy's in the third year of his career. To understand the game the way he does, he should coach.

We just kept scratching. I told our guys at halftime that I thought our first half was as soft defensively as we'd been all year. And we started our third quarter out the same way. They got three or four open shots and I had to burn two timeouts but then I thought our bench, even though they were outscored in a big way, was the reason we won the game.