On Desmond's big bucket down the stretch:

"It was huge. He made a ton of winning plays. It wasn't always pretty what we did. But our guys' ability to bounce back and respond the right way. That's what we asked for. That's what we asked them to do and that's the competitive spirit that these guys showed tonight."

On how disjointed tonight's game was with all the fouling and stoppages:

"It's part of the game. It happens. You got to make sure that you just stay tied together. We talked to our guys at halftime understanding exactly what it was going to be. We got to respond better coming out of the third. But our ability to stay with it the entire time regardless of the calls, good, bad, doesn't matter. We've got to focus on what we were doing."

On the defensive effort, starting with eight steals in the first quarter but giving up 21 points, then holding the opponent to 17 in the fourth:

"That's what I said to the guys in the locker room. We started the game the right way first and then we finished the game the right way with execution. Stops down the stretch, end of game planning, end of game execution. The communication was at the highest level. Our guys did a really good job there. Now we just got to clean up the in between."

On whether a game like this can be built upon for confidence moving forward:

"We know what we are capable of doing and I think that says a lot. What we were asking more for these guys was a response. How do you respond? And they responded the right way and that's the beauty of this team. That's the toughness of this team. That's the resiliency of this team. We started the game the right way. I'm going to say it again. And we ended the game the right way. We got to clean up the in between."

On Paolo guarding the opponent's best player and cutting off Booker's driving lanes down the stretch:

"I thought it was big. They were calling him up because that's what you do to guys in moments because he's got a heavy burden offensively and then that's what they're going to try to task to go at him defensively. So he sat down and guarded. We were able to stay home to take away the three in those last moments. And that's a big part of the execution and holding them to 17 down the stretch. I think that energy that he brings, as well as the energy of our crowd tonight, I thought was really important for us to be able to get the job done."

On whether the team still needs reminders of what they're capable of as the season goes on:

"I think honestly everybody needs reminders. In the day and age that we're in, if you're not doing a great job, you're going to hear about it. If you're doing a good job, you don't even hear about that as much. So our guys need the reminders as much as possible to say what we're capable of doing. But again, it's the same. You get punched in the mouth the other night. You're not as bad as you are in your losses and you're not as great as you think you are in your wins. And that's why we've got to keep an even keel. Keep our mind in the right direction and just focus on the next game that's coming up."

On the difficulty of playing 37 minutes for Dez, Paolo, and Jalen heading into tomorrow's game:

"We got to play a game. We've been on back-to-backs before. I told you how we do on back-to-backs."

On how the recent game in Atlanta will affect preparation for tomorrow night's game:

"We know what we're expecting. They're playing high-level basketball right now and we got to make sure that we understand what they're doing and how they're doing it and how we can guard it. But also, they're another team that likes to turn you over. And I'm not in love with our turnovers tonight. 25 turnovers. That's what we got to be better at. And I think that we will be better tomorrow and that we've got to be smart with it."

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