Rick Carlisle Second Quotations

Our point guard position was really tremendous, especially in the second half. That's the kind of production we need at all our positions. Let's face it, we're the kind of team right now where we're playing eight guys (Friday). We need six out of eight (players) playing at a high level to beat a team like Sacramento.

I thought in the second half, we did a good job of sticking with what we had to do to give ourselves a chance. Our undoing is not playing 48 minutes at that level.

Our undoing tonight was the second quarter. In the playoffs you've got to play a full 48 minutes. We're still working on it. We've got a ways to go.

Our start to the game was OK. But the second quarter, they had 32 (points) and we couldn't keep them under 30 after that. They played great offensively. During this 15-game period, we've competed hard on a consistent basis and tonight we had a letdown from that.

I think we hade eight turnovers in the third. The eight turnovers, and what they lead to, was our undoing in the beginning of the second half. They were the aggressor. We were on our heels.

We now have to prove we can put two great games together. Orlando has proven over the second half of the season that it's one of the better teams in the league.

We dug ourselves into a hole and spent the rest of the game trying to dig ourselves out. We managed to give ourselves a chance in the second half, but the Wizards were able to put together a few scoring runs, and we couldn't stop them.

The second and third quarters hurt us defensively. We struggled and had some stretches where we couldn't stop them. Detroit is a team that is going to do a good job in the last play type of situations, but I'm more in tune to what happened in the second and third quarters than on the last play.

Not only was he the scoring leader, but defensively he generated a lot of energy for us. Especially in the second half.

It seemed like we were throwing it to the guys in orange the entire first half. We were (lazy) with the ball and on defense and they were able to build a double-digit lead. Second half, we were able to buckle down, get some stops, get the lead, and hold on for a much-needed win.

In the second half, his disposition was different at both ends. He made great decisions, he played unselfishly and he made big shots when we had to have them. We couldn't have done it without him.

The key part of the game was the end of the second quarter. They did a great job finishing plays and giving themselves a chance to win. ... We couldn't get over the hump.

A.J. had a great night. In the second half he did a great job of running the team. His efficiency in shot making and courage to step up in some tough spots put us in a position to win.

It's always good to win and we had a lot of good things happen. The way we are structured right now, we have to play more up tempo, but the key to the game was the way we picked up our intensity on defense in the second half.

It's just too bad, because we really played hard for three quarters. The second quarter was really a disaster for us. It put us in a bad position at halftime, but we fought back and really put ourselves in a good position to win.

We had the game going pretty well and we were playing good basketball. They made a run at the end of the half and they got the game tied and I thought that gave them a lot of momentum going into the second half. They did a great job of finishing off plays.

We felt the like the playoffs are our second chance, and guys played like it really meant something to them. My hat is off to them.

If he's not able to play on the second night, then we just won't play him.