The season is over, fellas.
Ah, sorry, I only meant the regular thing.
We still have the playoffs and the parade coming up next. Bring it on!
Mike Breen
On the greedy NBA:
“This is the first time ever that no longer
can the home team announcers and broadcasters televise the first round. The entire playoffs exclusive to the national TV partners. … I personally think it’s a poor decision. Fans want to hear their team’s announce team, at least 1st round, because for so many of us, … the home team announcers become part of the family. … I get it. The networks pay a fortune for exclusivity … But I just think the fans deserve to be thrown a bone once in a while. This is our final telecast of the season.”
Mike Brown
On OG Anunoby’s ankle injury:
“I didn’t ask that question because we’re not in that position, but they say he’s day-to-day, which to me means he’s fine. I would assume he’s fine, but we [didn’t] even need to think about it so I didn’t check on it.”
On evaluating the regular season:
“I wish I could have figured some things out a little sooner than what I did. But we’ve had some — more ups than downs. You want to win your conference, you want to end up with the best record. So those two areas are disappointing. You’re out there trying to compete every night, no matter who you play. And so winning the [NBA Cup In-Season Tournament] was nice because our guys competed at a level when things were manufactured to mean more with those games. And then, going into the playoffs, we feel pretty good where we are offensively and defensively as a group. Feel connected.”
On waiting to learn the playoff opponent:
“Just wait until it’s over. At the end of the day, I’m sure somehow, some way, I might be told it. But at the end of the day, I’m a firm believer that trying to ask for this opponent or that opponent is not good for you, when you mess with the basketball gods. So whatever happens, happens.”
On scouting potential opponents:
“Our staff has been fantastic all year. We’ve had guys assigned to that stuff already, on both sides of the ball. Our two advanced scouts have been doing a good job taking care of it, too.”
On team standards and accountability:
“The things that you set as your standard are the things that I brought to the table. While I’m trying to hold people accountable, people are holding me accountable, too.”
On playing Mikal Bridges to preserve his streak:
“The streak that he has going is amazing and I definitely don’t want to be the one to screw that up. It’s crazy because load management is a real thing. And that’s something that’s thought of by everybody. Not just the medical performance group — by coaches, by individual players, by agents, by family members — people push to take time off for whatever reason. So for a guy like that to be at the number that he’s at in consecutive games played speaks volumes.”
On managing Bridges’ streak carefully:
“I’m sure he’s probably cool with [playing a few seconds to keep the streak alive] but at the end of the day, that’s definitely led by me. It’s a streak that he has going on, and I want it to continue, but in the same breath, I also don’t want him to get hurt or anything like that, so we’re gonna try to be as smart about it as best we can.”
On the Hawks as a playoff opponent and the overall playoff field:
“Atlanta’s a good team. They’re a good team. Everybody’s good. Everyone is going to pose challenges. I don’t know who we’re gonna play, but we’re gonna face different challenges from everybody because everybody is special at this time.”
On team belief entering the postseason:
“Going into the playoffs, we feel pretty good where we are offensively and defensively as a group. We feel connected. I feel like everybody on the team has sacrificed in one way, shape or form. You need that from your group in order to have some success. Our guys compete, and like I said, at this point in the season, I feel like the guys really believe, not just in what we’re trying to do, but in each other.”
On Miles McBride’s performance:
“He looked good. It was good to see him just go play free and take any shot he wanted and be aggressive … It was good to see the ball go in a few times.”
On the season’s resilience:
“Like most teams, you go through a lot of ups and you go through and it can get tough. And there can be plenty of opportunities for individuals which can turn into a collective group of guys to quit, throw in the towel any time. Any time we face a little bit of adversity our guys try to handle it the right way. I really like their resiliency and I like their openness to trying different things or new things. Because we’ve done some things differently here than what they’re probably used to when they had a successful run doing the things that they were doing in the past.”
Mikal Bridges
On playing 23 seconds on Sunday:
“It was nice, man.”
On playing every game:
“For the people that’s paying attention, I just want to try and play everyday. It’s who I am. It’s who I’ve always been. I don’t really look at [the all-time list] but I guess it’d be cool one day. Hopefully, I have kids one day and maybe brag about that.”
On the Hawks matchup:
“They play very hard and very fast and have a lot of good basketball players.”
Miles McBride
On the Hawks series:
“They’re a great team. I’m looking forward to the matchup. They are a team that defends really well. They’ve got guys who can go get a bucket on the offensive end, but their team defense is really something challenging. So, it’s going to be an exciting playoff series.”
On his return performance:
“Just being back out there healthy, playing with the guys, it was a great team win – I just wanted to go out and give it my all, really ramp my intensity up and get ready for this run.”
On his health:
“I’m solid. Being out for some long, just getting my wind back. Dealing with the residual pain of the surgery isn’t fun but it’s part of the journey – just trying to do everything I can to help the team win.”
Jordan Clarkson
On not focusing on Atlanta’s approach:
“We didn’t pay any attention to that. It’s just what they wanted to do.”
On the Hawks roster:
“Just a really good team. They’re led by Nickeil. He’s been playing great all year. They made some trades at the deadline and got CJ McCollum [for Young]. Down the line they are a really good team. So it’s going to be an exciting series.”
Quin Snyder (ATL Hawks Coach)
On the uncertainty of matchups and prioritizing health in the regular-season finale:
“Right now, I think we’re excited to be in this situation. Whoever we play is gonna be really good. It’s hard to even try to figure that out. It’s possible that certain teams wanna play us. The primary thing is for us to be healthy going into the postseason. That’s been the one thing that has been consistent the last few weeks and months — you don’t know what’s gonna happen. It’s hard to predict all these games, they’re all going on. Wherever it falls is where it falls, and we’ll prepare for the playoffs, regardless of who that is.”
