CAVALIERS HEAD COACH MIKE BROWN

(On tonight’s game): “It was a tough game. It was a disappointing game. There was little that we did right throughout the course of the game. We can’t dismiss this game, we have got to look at it and see what we can do better in the next game. But, we have to get ready for Game 6. We will learn a lot about ourselves in Game 6 in Boston and that’s what we have to get ready for.”

(On LeBron having an off night tonight): “It is unlike him. He had an off night tonight, which is abnormal. He brings it for us almost every night and he tried to bring it tonight, but it was an off day. He will be ready to go in Game 6.”

(On hitting more open shots): “If we have an open look, we have to keep stepping in and knocking them down. You’ve got to give Boston credit, they’re doing a great job of when we do get open looks, flying out and contesting and trying to run us off the three-point line as best as they can. So, we either have got to let it go or attack the rim, one of the two. But, we have to keep being aggressive offensively.”

CAVALIERS FORWARD LEBRON JAMES

(On 3-14 shooting tonight and their defense): “Their defense had a little bit to do with it because they were on the court and they were very aggressive. I just missed a lot of shots. I missed a lot of open shots, shots I’m capable of making. You don’t see it out of me a lot so when it happens it’s a big surprise. I will go over the film but they played me the same way they have played me all series. I just wasn’t able to knock down those shots that I was able to get some good looks at.”

(On being more aggressive): “I wasn’t able to knock any shots down from the field but I was still able to get to the free throw line early in the game. I don’t think it was a change, I play according to the game and see how it’s flowing. We had a great flow. I wasn’t able to get anything offensively going for myself, but I was still able to do some other things, get some rebounds, get some assists and get guys going earlier in the game.”

(On Paul Pierce): “Paul came out aggressive. He did a good job of just trying to attack and just trying to get a good feeling for the game. He didn’t shoot the ball particularly well from the field but he was aggressive, he was able to get 11 rebounds also while doing. He is a good enough player that you can’t stop, you just hope to contain him. He was able to get it going; most of their team, their entire starting five, especially the Big Three had it going all game.”

(On his elbow): “It felt good. So I had no problems with it.”

CAVALIERS CENTER SHAQUILLE O’NEAL

(On getting back into the series): “Everyone has to come out and want to play defense. We know what we have to do and we just have to go out and win two. Simple as that. It’s hard to beat a team who has five or six guys in double-figures. We just have to go out and play hard.”

CAVALIERS GUARD DANIEL GIBSON

(On letting the game slip away): “It was tough because everyone’s mindset was to come out and be aggressive. As the game kept going, we had a lot of lapses defensively and we let them get comfortable.”

(On the team’s defense): “It’s hard to put your finger on it (why the defense has slipped). You have to give that team a lot of credit. For us, it’s understanding that as the series goes on, you have to learn what that team likes to do. Right now, our backs are against the wall and we have to pull out all the stops.”

(On Pierce, Garnett and Ray Allen tonight): “Those guys came to play. That’s the thing you don’t want is for them all to get out there and get comfortable. They’re a great team and we have to take certain things away. If one guy gets it going, we have to take the other guys away.”

BOSTON CELTICS HEAD COACH DOC RIVERS

(On slowing the pace down tonight): “I thought the execution was great. I thought the first six or seven minutes, both teams were going way too fast. When we used the one timeout, we just tried to slow them down and get the ball to move again. Once we got to moving the ball again, offensively, and sharing it and playing together, we were in pretty good shape…Everybody wanted to win the game. I just thought we came out, in the first five minutes, with each guy individually trying to win it on his own. We’re not good that way. We just can’t play basketball that way. I thought once we started sharing (the ball), we were in good shape.”

(On adjustments made at halftime to come out strong in the third quarter): “That’s just guys making shots. We didn’t make any adjustments at all. We were really upset at the end of the half giving up that three point play…we talked about it all year, on offensive rebounds, if you don’t have a quick put up, throw it out. That’s the best time to get three’s, off of offensive rebounds and we did that. I actually thought the biggest stretch of the game was the second quarter when we took Rondo out…For seven or eight minutes. It was huge for us because we didn’t lose the lead. We actually extended it a little bit and it allowed Rondo to be fresh to start the third quarter and I thought that was huge for us. Tony Allen and that group that was in did a great job.”

(On if they tried to exploit Mo Williams in the third quarter): “No. Obviously, we’re trying to play in-out basketball. When Mo picked up the foul, you try to be aggressive because he’s scary on the floor. You’d rather have him off the floor if you can get it that way. We were just sharing the ball, running our stuff and the ball found the open guy for the most part.”

CELTICS FORWARD GLEN DAVIS

(On the game tonight): “It was a good win. Today we had to come out and make sure that we executed and played good defense, and we did that. We made sure that we stayed up the whole game…It’s not over. We still have to go home and defend our home court.”

(On the importance of Game 6): “It’s Game 7 for us. It’s a must win. We have to win this game. We have to go home and make sure that we finish, and our crowd has to help us also. We don’t want to come back to Cleveland.”

(On defending LeBron James): “Paul, Ray and Tony Allen switched on him a couple of times and we frustrated him a lot today. We made sure that he didn’t get any freebies. He was aggressive and he got a lot of our bigs in foul trouble, but we took the punch that he was delivering and we made sure that we (did what we had to do to) win the game.”

(On his performance tonight): “It felt good to go out there and contribute. My job is to do the little things. I know that I’m able to shoot when I’m open, and guys found me when I was open. Some things happened at the right time and at the right moment.”

(On the Cavaliers effort tonight): “You saw a little fight taken out of them when we started hitting big shots…We started putting the pressure on them a little bit more, but they’re a great team and they’re going to keep fighting.”