On what the do-or-die win says about the group:

"Just that we were ready to fight, ready to extend our season and get our spot in the playoffs. Nobody wanted to go home today, so I thought we just came out and played really motivated."

On the urgency to play better and set the tone in the paint:

"Great players have to respond. That's what they pay you to do. You can't settle for subpar performances, especially in do-or-die, winner-go-home situations. You got to show up for your teammates and set the tone. I thought I did that. I thought Jaylen did that. I thought Anthony Black, Desmond Bane, everybody. I thought we all set the tone coming in. Wendell hitting two threes. It was just a full team effort."

On playing with a proactive mindset instead of being indecisive:

"For sure. Hesitation doesn't get rewarded. I just wanted to come out and take whatever I wanted — not necessarily just letting the defense trick me into doing what they want. If they're backing up, I'm still going to drive the ball and make them have to react instead of just falling into their trap. When I want to shoot the three and I feel good about it, I'm going to take the three. Just being confident, being decisive, and not hesitating — I think that was the main thing tonight."

On Desmond Bane’s defensive contributions:

"He's just one of those players. He's the first on the floor. He's never afraid to get his hands dirty or get on the floor. He's in there scrapping for rebounds, picking up on defense. That says a lot about him as a player and as a person. Everybody knows what he does offensively, but he's not afraid to put his head in there on defense and make game-changing plays. Another play he had was when he stole the ball from LaMelo in the third quarter when they got it down to like 22. That could have been a game-changing play if they come down and score right there. He was able to create a turnover and we got a bucket on the other end. He was great defensively and he's just a leader on the team."

On the importance of setting a physical tone from the start:

"We knew that if we were going to be able to win the game, it was going to have to be by being extra physical and setting the tone with the physicality. They're a team that loves to run, play offense, and shoot a lot of threes, and that gave us a lot of problems in the regular season. I think just us learning from those games that we lost to them in the regular season and coming in with a plan — this is different, this is a playoff environment — we set the tone on our home floor."

On the confidence this dominant performance gives the team heading into the next series:

"It's just a good feeling, a good momentum builder. But it's a new team that we have to face, a new opponent, a different style of play, so we just got to get ready for that series against Detroit. Everybody's confident. This was a good performance, but we're on to the next now, which is Detroit."

On what the team needs to do to win the series against Detroit:

"Just matching Detroit's physicality. I think that's their calling card. They're probably one of the most physical teams in the NBA. They play defense. Offensively it runs through Cade and Duren in pick-and-roll, and they got good roll guys around those two too. Got to come in locked in on the personnel and just be ready for a 48-minute fight. It's going to be a dog fight. Expect nothing less. I'm excited for it and just ready to step up to the challenge."

On his mindset going into the series against Detroit as potential underdogs:

"Just one game at a time. Obviously in the position we're in, we got to win on the road to win the series. That's something that I think we all understand. Stepping into Detroit for these first two games, we got to be focused. We got to win the game on the road. We haven't in the past two years in the playoffs. If we want to get over the hump, it's going to take winning on the road to do it. So we got to be extra focused and together to get that done."

On the team's dominance in the paint and the ball movement:

"That's one of our strengths — when we're able to get in the paint and create from there. We all know that. We've talked about that as a team and I think we were just relentless with that tonight. Myself, Franz, Wendell on the boards, Goga on the boards — it was just a complete effort from the whole team. If we're able to dominate the paint like that, we give ourselves a real good chance to win and it's going to have to continue."

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