Jason Kidd
Nice to start the road trip off like this to set the tone?
Well, it snaps the road losing streak -- we hadn't won since Orlando. We played against a team that's chasing us so we came out. Everybody pitched in. Dirk ws big for us but Ryan came in and gave us a spark there in the third.
Did you come into this not only thinking it was an opportunity to knock Phoenix, out but also to be able to in front of you and chase them down?
I think we were just focus on Phoenix and not worry about anyone else. We knew that we'd been playing alright on the but hadn't gotten a a win. This is a big road trip so we wanted to get it started off on the right foot.
Talk about the two three's you were able to knock down to keep them at bay.
Dirk was going great so I said I had to be ready to knock down a show and take some of the pressure off of him. He became the playmaker and found me twice.
There were some unsung heroes, Barea and Hollins, how did those guys help the cause tonight?
Barea got us off on the right foot in the first quarter. Nash, it didn't seem like he was going to miss a shot. Barea was doing the same thing -- really being the aggressor. We needed that. JJ as great for us. And then Ryan comes in and plays big for us. Two plays on the offensive end was big on the defensive end.
Rick Carlisle
Everyone is big in the West, lets face it. It doesn't matter who you're playing against. They all count as one. In some cases these head to matches come into play and there's a long way to go. We take nothing for granted, but make no mistake we are trying move up. We aren't just trying to hang in this thing. We are trying to move up the seeding.
I'm happy with out second half. Our first half was not particularity great but we hung in despite some poor shooting from some of our key players. We found a way and that's what it's about.
On Ryan Hollins.
Hollins was a key factor in this game. He gave us energy. He hit some key shots. He brought a presence. It's an example of young player but takes a professional approach and stays ready. It was huge for us. He's going to have to stay ready because if he plays like this he'll continue to look at him.
Jason Kidd hit some big three's down the stretch.
Kidd's three's were enormous. It got them into fouling mode a little earlier than they probably would have. It was helter-skelter in the last minute. These guys are a nightmare because they can make plays. They'll throw in shots from anywhere, but we survived it. We're happy with the win and now we've got to the hell out of here because we have a game tomorrow.
A game of this magnitude and it looked like Dirk was going to will you guys to a win if he had to.
He was phenomenal. The free throw line iso was a huge play for us tonight. We actually officially put in a name for that play yesterday and really cleaned up some the stuff involved with the spacing. It was timely because it was one area that he was able to manufacture some shots. The post was difficult because of double teams. The pick and rolls they switched. He was great. He didn't shoot well in the first half, so being able to come back in the second half and get the ball in the hole and get to the free throw line was big.