That's What He Said, vs T-Wolves

That's What He Said
Timberwolves 110 vs. Celtics 98
Target Center - January 28, 2015


Brad Stevens
RE: Boston's overall performance:

I thought we really started defensively well in the first five minutes. Then we missed a ton of shots that were open shots. I thought Avery [Bradley] had a bunch of good looks, I thought Jared [Sullinger] had a bunch of good looks. It felt like we had a bunch of looks and after that I felt like our spirit defensively was taken, because we missed those shots. That's part of something you've got to fight through. I pressed all those guys to make them. Then I thought our second half start put us behind. We did a good job coming back and then Kevin Martin hit a couple of shots. As they get healthier, it's a different team than has played all year. Pekovic and Martin make a huge difference for them and they played well tonight.


RE: Minnesota's run to open the second half:

They were playing well. They made plays, they shared the ball, they were the aggressor. You go through all the adjectives there and we didn't provide enough resistance. That has not been the case for most of this trip.


RE: The athleticism of the Timberwolves' young players:

They were the most athletic guys out there, at least the biggest most athletic guys. When you start talking about [Andrew] Wiggins and [Zach] LaVine, you let those guys start feeling good and they can get to where they want to go. You have to make it as tough as possible. LaVine played great, I was really impressed, he did a great job. Wiggins I thought salted it away with some good moves late. Those guys are good players and their athleticism is elite.


Evan Turner
RE: The game:

I think sometimes when we were in decent positions they made shots and they got certain rolls and it was clicking for them offensively. When we tried to get into them, it was clicking, and we didn't ourselves in certain instances, but they made shots. They were playing well tonight.


RE: His level of fatigue at the end of this road trip:

My leg, obviously my body is fatigued of course but I think the biggest thing is to try and push through. I think at this point everyone is tired so the biggest thing is to try and grow mentally and go through it.


Jared Sullinger
RE: The Celtics' defensive effort:

What did they shoot, 50% from the field? We can't have that with what we're trying to get to, we've just got to play better.
RE: What Minnesota did to blow the game open in the third:

"It wasn't what they were doing; it was what we were doing. It was the lack of effort we had on the defensive end I think because shots weren't falling. That's our fault.


RE: Boston's bench:

They gave us a tremendous boost. Marcus [Smart] came off the bench and played well, [Marcus] Smart played well, Gerald [Wallace] gave us good minutes, Tayshaun [Prince]'s been giving us great minutes. It starts with the starters, with the way we started that 3rd quarter was awful.


Flip Saunders
RE: Having a scorer like Kevin Martin back in the lineup:

It gives you a better balance. We had seven guys in double figures; Sam [Mitchell] asked me when was the last time we had that, probably the first three or four games of the year when we had Ricky and everyone else in there. We had great point guard play. I thought Zach [LaVine] was very good. [Lorenzo Brown] came in, considering that the guy just went through a walk-through today he was great. We thought about putting Zach back in because he had been playing so well, but offensively it had been flowing so well it was best to go with those guys and let them try to finish the game.


RE: The emotional boost from this win:

It's a confidence level. In this league, winning a lot is trust. The more players you have on your team that the players are going to trust in their respective roles, the better opportunity you're going to have to have success. Our guys know that Kevin [Martin] can hit big shots, they know he's great at the free throw line, they know he knows how to get fouled. All those things played in tonight in big play situations.


RE: How Minnesota's bigs helps facilitate ball movement:

I thought [Nikola Pekovic] did a great job. We moved the ball well tonight. We didn't have as many assists as you would have thought, but we had a lot of pass-pass then a guy takes two or three dribbles to the basket and made some scores. I thought overall we did a nice job sharing the ball, looking for people and that's important.


Andrew Wiggins
RE: The game:

It takes a lot of pressure off everybody. I just think we were in a great flow today. Everyone played unselfish, passed the ball, got the ball from side to side. We made big plays down the stretch to close out the game.


RE: Kevin Martin's performance:

That’s K-Mart, that’s what he does. That’s what he’s known for. He’s one of the best scorers in the league. We know what we’ll get from him every night.


RE: If he sees an improvement in the team with injured players returning:

Oh, definitely. We’re good. With those guys back, it opens up so much more. They’re vets, they’ve been in this game for a long time. It makes things easier on all of us


Kevin Martin
RE: His first game back from injury:

It felt good, early on to see a couple go in. I went through a little stretch, knocked some rust off. Got back at it in the fourth. It’s just fun to get a win.


RE: If he felt any lingering issues with his wrist:

No, I didn’t feel anything. It all felt good.


RE: His adrenaline level:

Yeah, I think, as a shooter you go through stretches of missing shots. That’s what happened. You just have to stay with it and keep going. They’ll start to fall back. They’ll go back in.


RE: If hitting shots helped him keep his energy up:

Yep, exactly. I played the whole fourth, I wasn’t tired in the fourth. I was hitting shots.




bob



.