Maurice Cheeks Team Quotations

Forty points and 10 assists. When he wasn't scoring, he was creating opportunities for other guys. Tonight was a prime example of a team effort. Our intensity was much better from the start.

Pierce thrives in those situations. He looks forward to his team being down so he can take the big shots and make the big shots.

Paul Pierce thrives in those situations. He looks forward to his team being down, coming down and taking big shots.

It is a tough way to start the game when you put yourself in a hole against a team like the Mavericks. The pressure bothered us a little.

It certainly will give us a boost to get ready for the second half. We needed a boost to get us back feeling good about ourselves and playing against a team like San Antonio, the defending champions, gives you a chance to feel good about yourselves.

We needed this one badly. We knew coming in here we were just playing a team that beat us on our home court.

When you see Kyle shooting the ball the way he's capable of shooting the ball, and giving Andre more offensive opportunities, and even Sam, I think we're a more dangerous team that way.

We started out so poorly. You can't do that against a team like Dallas. We were climbing uphill the whole game.

We know how these games are. We've been on the other side. We had games we thought we won, and the other team came back. San Antonio had the game won.

We knew we were coming in here playing a team that had just beaten us on our own home court. I told our guys that until we are mathematically out of this we need to keep up the effort.

When you play a team like Miami, you cannot start the way we started. You put yourself in such a hole, and you have to climb out of it. You can't do that against a good team. They space the floor, they have a great post player. ... Then they spread the floor with their shooters.

Coming into a building like this, playing a very good basketball team like this, you know if you get up 20 points they're going to make a run. They had a chance at the end. But our attention to detail was big, from the first minute of the game to the last minute.

When you have a bad season, everything is possible. As a team we failed. It certainly wasn't what I hoped or wanted, but that's the way life is sometimes. I'm going to try to make myself better and this basketball team better.

When you play a team that has come back and beat you each time in some form or fashion, it can play little mind games on you.

Us coming off back to backs and playing a team that gets out and runs was going to be a challenge for us. I'm not totally upset about this game. We knew it was going to be a tough game just based on the way they play.

That game was a prime example of a team effort and a team really trying not to lose a basketball game.

That part of the game is better than the overall game. We'd like our defense to get better for 48 minutes. But I think as the game unfolds and when another team needs a basket, I think our defense gets a little bit better. Certainly if you're going to win games, it has to be better down the stretch.

This was a heck of a win. Everyone fought hard for us all game. This game was a prime example of a team effort to not lose a game.

This game was a quality game for us because Memphis is a quality team. The other night I challenged our team on the defensive end and our defense was great tonight.

You're kind of watching the game, watching the score up there, trying to see what this team is doing, and then you're watching your team, and your team is trying to stay focused.

Every time you're in an NBA game, a team is going to make a run and they're going to make some shots at some point. Early on they missed a lot of shots, which allowed us to get the lead that we had.

Anything that happens with the team is a reflection of myself. Any coach puts it on his shoulders when a team comes in and beats your team, regardless of whether you lost by one or 20.

It's something that we've talked about this season in terms of (Iverson) being a team leader. The past three games he's been phenomenal from taking over the game to his overall leadership.

They had 30 assists and we had 11, and that's not going to work. They look like a veteran team when they move the ball, and we look like a team that has to get better.