"This is what the postseason is all about," James said. "Both teams struggling to score offensively, and defensively, two very good defensive teams. It's a possession game. That's what happens in the postseason. The game slows down. Not many fast-break points. You've got to work for every attempt, work for every shot."
"We wanted it bad, but they wanted it more," Noah said. "That can't happen."
"This season's been a long, short year," Wade said. "But this is the time of the year we all love and enjoy."
"Every time we play them that's how it's going to be," Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau said. "You have to have the mental toughness to get through all of that."
"Two people that are trying to out-will each other and fight to help their team win," Hamilton said.
"It was a physical, competitive game against two teams that defend," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. "That tends to lead to a little bit more passion. And nobody was really backing down."
Suns 93, Clippers 90.
"It wasn't our type of game, really and it wasn't a clean game by either team," Nash said after the Suns' 10th straight home win over the Clippers. "We found a way to hang around when we could have gone south a lot of moments tonight. But we hung in there and found a way to just scrap and claw -- you know, big win."
Griffin was sent to the court on a flagrant foul by Robin Lopez with 6:14 to play. "I thought it was dirty. He is trying to take him down," Clippers coach Vinny Del Negro said. "The league has got to do something to protect this kid. We can only get so many technical fouls. We can only do so many things and guys are taking shots at him. It is getting bad. The kid is in pain right now."
"I was just going for the ball," Lopez insisted. "He got by me and I was just trying to go for the ball and he got a bit farther and I tried to go for his arms. It was what it was. It is my job to protect the rim. I tried to go for his arms.
Hornets 105, Rockets 99.
"A lot of people expected us to tank, but you've got to play for the fans and give them something to look forward to next year," said Gordon, whose Hornets have won only 20 games all season but also have seven victories in their past 10 games. "We knew (the Rockets) were still trying to make the playoffs, but the best team won tonight."
"A very tough one for us. We needed this one tonight to hopefully try to get back in the playoffs," Budinger said. "This one definitely hurts everybody, hurts our team and hurts our chances. ... You can never give up. There's definitely still hope for us. You've just got to win out and hope that other teams lose.
"I really don't know what happened," said Scola, who finished with 11 points. "I'm trying to find the answer and I just can't it. ... All of a sudden we started missing shots. We felt the pressure and could not finish the game."
"It's been tough. I've pretty much been playing off adrenaline and the urge to try and get into the playoffs," Camby said. "I'm just trying to give the team everything that I got. I reached my limit today."
"That third quarter was terrible," Houston coach Kevin McHale said disgustedly after one of only three questions he answered before cutting off the postgame interview. "We just need to get ready and play (Saturday night at home against Golden State). This is the NBA. You just need to get it done."
Timberwolves 91, Pistons 80.
"We finally got a win," said Barea, who finished with 13 points, 12 assists and six rebounds to help Minnesota snap an 11-game overall losing skid. "We had a lot of energy and we moved the ball well."
"Except for parts of the fourth quarter it was pretty good," Minnesota coach Rick Adelman said. "We just want to see if we can turn this around in the last two games and end the season on a positive note."
"We looked a little punch drunk at times out there," he said after his team's starters shot a combined 16 of 50 from the field.
Pacers 118, Bucks 109.
"We've got a lot more to lose in that situation if something happens, if anyone throws a punch or anything like that, so we have to have that composure to back away and realize our season is far from over," Granger said.
With just over 9 minutes left, Milwaukee's Mike Dunleavy drove to the basket and Leandro Barbosa fouled him hard. Dunleavy fell onto Indiana's Tyler Hansbrough, and Hansbrough and Dunleavy had to be separated.. " Some words were said, some tempers were lost," Hansbrough said. "It happens."
"It's not that we didn't play hard, it's that you need an extraordinary effort against a team like this, not an ordinary one," Skiles said. "It's a great club. They'll be a tough out in the playoffs."
"We try to preach to everybody on this team that we've got to protect this house," Hill said. "This is our house. We can't let anybody come in here and try to take advantage of us, push us around. We've got to be the ones who go out and do that."
"It's not my decision," Hill said. "It's the GM's decision and the coaches' decision who they want out there on the floor. I just know they gave me the opportunity to do it (start) and I just try to take advantage of it. At the end of the day, when D.C. comes back, we're going to get another great player back and whatever coaches ask us to do, I'm going to try to do it the best I can."
All credit goes to: ESPN
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