Despite a six-game skid, Mosley emphasizes sustained intensity, resilience, and decisive execution as keys to winning close games and breaking the losing streak.
On his message to the team in the locker room after the game:
"I'm proud of how hard they played tonight for 48 minutes. There was intensity, there was urgency, there was a focus level to them. Obviously we turned it over a couple too many times. They gave them some breaks. They hit some tough shots, communication breakdowns. But at the end of the day, we've got to make sure we continue to play with this amount of intention and urgency for the remainder of these 10 games. And we give ourselves a chance every single night."
On what he needs to see from the team to get out of this losing streak (no moral victories at this point):
"That same type of effort and energy. You have to give Cleveland more than a ton of credit for how they played. You have a Hall of Famer and two Hall of Famers over there that had an unbelievable shot making towards the end of the game. Our guys continued to battle, continued to fight no matter what was happening. We got it close to two and then they end up hitting some tough shots. But our ability to sustain that effort, be resilient no matter what's happening within the game. So what do we need to do down the stretch? Play this hard, play this focused, and understand that it's going to be a game of runs and make sure we take care of home in this next game."
On what else can be done defensively against shooters like Harden and Mitchell when they're having a night like that:
"It's tough. There were times we got it out of their hands and then they swing it to Sam Merrill and he did an unbelievable job of reading the close out and attacking it, getting downhill. So we've got to be better of taking his—we got him off the line and took the three away in that moment. But they understand rotations. They've seen it all. The guys that have been playing with them also stepped up big. We've just got to continue to make sure we're communicating at the highest level, making sure we're physical without fouling in those situations. But again, if we continue to play with a level of urgency and intent this way, we're giving ourselves a chance every single night and then we'll come out on the other side of it."
On how much more difficult it is to play to the team's standard when missing four of their best defenders:
"Our standard is always going to be our standard no matter who's on the floor. This is the second night of giving up 130 and our ability to sit down and guard has got to be the first thing. Obviously it got away from us in that second quarter and then they had 33 and 31 on the back end. So we've got to just sustain our defensive effort and then we got to know that that's what's going to carry us all the way through. Our ability to get stops to get out and run—not just trying to score the ball, but in our guys' urgency, intent and focus to get the job done and the resiliency on a second night of a back-to-back. I give them credit and I'm proud of them for that. But now we've got to look at putting it in the other column."
On Jamal Cain's first start of the year:
"I thought he was excellent. I thought he did all the small things within this game—offensive rebounds, block shots, defending some of the tougher players. Just little things without having to say a word. He just did his job. And in the last stretch he almost had that steal that would have given us an opportunity to go out on the break. But his care factor is just so high that all he's trying to do is the right thing for this team in order to get a win."
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