Potent Quotables - Celtics 104 - Cavaliers 86

HEAD COACH MIKE BROWN

(On tonight's game):
"Guys tonight was real simple. For 48 minutes, we did not play with a sense of urgency...we tried the last few minutes of the game. They kicked our behind from the beginning. They got every 50/50 ball, they converted every offensive rebound into points and we did not fight back until late. We have to decide if we are going to take the fight to them and take these games. Nothing is going to be given to us at all. Ain't a (expletive) thing is going to be given to us at all in this series. We have got to come out and fight better than we did tonight. Coming from behind the first game, coming from behind the second game...that's not good enough. It's not good enough for me, it's not good enough for anybody in that locker room and if we expect to win this series, we have got to bring more of a sense of urgency than we what we brought tonight. Plain and simple, they kicked our behind. The series is one to one, we are going to see what we are made of come Game Three."

(On his concern with the team's defensive play):
"I'm concerned. I'm concerned our defense was not there tonight. We tried to turn it up for a little bit and we got physical and there was a sense of urgency in that fourth quarter for about three minutes, but we were down. We were down and we were trying to fight back into the game and we can't do that. We have got to go from the beginning of the game and take the fight to them. Not the way we played tonight and not even the way we played in Game One."

(On the Celtics being a more physical team):
"They were a lot more physical than us. They had seven offensive rebounds and those seven offensive rebounds were worth 21 points. You can't play a team in a playoff game and give up seven offensive rebounds that equate to 21 points. They got every single loose ball, every single 50/50 ball, they beat us to the punch and it showed out there. We have got to bring more fight to the table, we have got to be tougher than we were tonight if we expect to win this series."

LEBRON JAMES

(On if he is embarrassed with the team's play tonight):
"I wouldn't go that far, those are pretty harsh words. I know we didn't play well. The third quarter was one of the worst quarters we have had this year, offensively and defensively. When you look at it at the end of the day, it's a series that is tied one to one with two really good teams. We are looking forward to Game Three."

(On if he played tentative tonight because of his elbow):
"For me, I'm going to go out and continue to try to be the player that I am. I'm not going to use this elbow as an excuse, I would never use an injury as an excuse. Like I said before, if I'm on the court, I'm going to try and be as productive as possible. I feel like tonight I was OK. As a team, all of us were just OK. That's why we got handled by Boston tonight on our court."

(More on if he played tentatively tonight):
"I don't think so. I think I just have to adjust from game to game. I feel like they did make some adjustments and I didn't react to them the best way, but I don't feel like I was playing tentative. I was still able to get to the line 15 times even with the case of this elbow. I just have to be more aggressive (initially) and then figure it out."

(On the team's lapses in the third quarter):
"I think all five guys that were on the court at one time weren't communicating. We weren't in tune with one another and the game plan. There may have been three of the five guys or four of the five guys or two of the five guys were on the same page: when five guys at the same time aren't on the same page, then things can break down. That's exactly what happened. We had coverages that we wanted to go to and we had coverages that were in place, but everyone wasn't on the same page. When you have that in the system, then it breaks down very easily."

SHAQUILLE O'NEAL

(On the series being tied):
"I've been here before. We're a very resilient team. We have to go up to Boston and get one or two games. We're all about defense and tonight, we had a lot of slippage. We still fought there at the end to get it close, but we had too many defensive mistakes. We can't allow Ray Allen to get over the screens and we just have to play a little bit harder. We'll be fine."

(On Boston's defense tonight):
"We shot the ball okay, but they had way too many easy buckets. A team that has six players in double figures is going to be hard to beat. Our defense has to tighten up a bit more."

(On getting it close late in the game):
"We did, but we don't want to keep shooting ourselves in the foot by digging big holes like that. Now it's a series, they're a veteran team over there and we're a veteran team over here. We just have to go get one or two games there."

(On Rondo's ability):
"He just comes off multiple pick and rolls. We have to do a better job of staying attached to him, stay in front of him and stay attached to their shooters. He's a great player."

ANTAWN JAMISON

(On Rondo tonight):
"He's doing a great job of getting in the paint. We have to do a better job of containing him. You're not going to be able to stop him for 48 minutes, but it's to the point where he's controlling the game from the start to finish. We just have to make him more of a jump shooter. They do a great job of getting him into pick and rolls and that's helping him out a lot, but we can't let it be so easy. He's getting high-percentage field goals and getting other guys involved."

(On Boston's offense):
"They do a great job of going from one thing to the next thing. They make you play not just on one side of the floor, but the other side as well. You can contain that a little bit if you contain Rondo, but you can't let him see the floor the way he's seeing it. We just have to do a better job in making it more difficult for him."

(On the third quarter):
"You're going to have nights like that, but the one thing that championship-caliber teams rely on is their defense. We kind of put our heads down a little bit when things weren't going well with our offense. You have to put that behind you and key in more on the defensive end. We couldn't get hit shots, we turned the ball over a couple of times. They did a great job of running out and getting open looks. You're going to have lulls, but they don't happen that often and you just have to rely on your defense. We didn't do that at all. We didn't play well offensively for whatever reason and you can't let a team like this to get momentum on both ends of the floor because they are going to take advantage of it."