“We’ve got to have some pride,” and other quotes from the Mavericks’ loss to the Knicks

Rick Carlisle post game

What led to the defensive collapse in the second half?

“We did a very poor job of containing defensively. We’ve got to get better. We need practice time but there’s no excuse for any team to come through us the way they did.

“Give them credit; they attacked all night long. Our level of resistance has got to be much, much higher.”

Is it an individual defense issue or a team defense issue?

“It starts with me. I take responsibility for this game and the way our team is struggling. I’m the leader of this thing and I’ve got to do a better job of getting these guys playing harder and playing more together.

“What we did tonight was very disappointing. The last couple have games have been well contested at the end but tonight this whole second half was dismal. There’s a certain pride that you have to have every night in this league and tonight in the second half we just weren’t there the way we needed to be there.”

Are you going to make any changes in the lineup?

“We’re going to look at everything and we’ll see where we are.”

Do you feel that Luka’s role in the offense could or should be more than it is right now?

“I’m really so much more focused on defense that the questions about offense to me are very insignificant.

“We gave up 55% shooting again and that’s just become too commonplace. I know we can do better.”

DeAndre Jordan post game

How do you guys fix the problems you guys have defensively?

“I don’t know. We’ve just got to play harder and pay attention to detail. We’ve just got to have some pride at this point.”

“We’ve been giving up how many points in the first quarters? You can’t win games like that in this league. Guys are too talented if you give them that much confidence. They’ve got a team that plays extremely hard, is well-coached, and they can score the basketball.

“When you give up 30 points in first quarters it’s tough to come back from that. We’ve seen that in six games in a row.”

Are you guys connected on defense?

“At times but you’ve got to be connected with five on a string for the entire possession for the hundreds of possessions you have in a game. We’re not there yet.

“We may have three on a string or four on a string but that’s not good enough. We need to get everybody on the same page for the full 24. It shows when you’re not connected.”

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No other players talked to the media after the game. Wesley Matthews was in the locker room when the media were allowed in but he shut down any attempts by media members to talk.

Leading up to Carlisle's comments it felt like a game where he would shoot down the majority of questions, but to his credit he took the media punches on the chin. He exuded the vibe of a parent who isn’t mad, they’re just disappointed.

Hopefully the next game will produce a more talkative locker room.