HEAD COACH BYRON SCOTT

(On the game tonight): “If you look at their record right now, they’re the best team in the Eastern Conference, so you have to give them a lot of credit for coming in here and playing the way they did. The one thing that I did tell our guys is that when you’re playing against great teams, and I do consider that Celtics team with the guys that they have, the hall of famers and Doc, a great basketball team, the one thing you have to do, especially on the defensive end, is that you have to trust each other. We got away a little bit from what we talked about doing. Anytime you give up 60 points in the paint, it’s going to be hard to win.”

(On what changed when they lost the early lead): “I think in the second quarter, they decided to play a little bit. They decided to come out and be a little bit more aggressive on both ends of the floor. It’s almost like that boxing match where you get punched in the face and you want to see how you are going to react. I thought we staggered, but we never really threw a punch back and I thought that was pretty much the difference.”

(On how hard it is to keep their defensive principles against Rondo): “It’s difficult because the one thing you want to do is try to keep him out of the paint as much as possible which is easier said than done, obviously. You still want to stick to the things that you are trying to do on the defensive end, despite the fact that he’s trying to get to that basket. We just didn’t do a real good job of clogging the paint and forcing him to shoot contested jump shots…It kind of looked like a layup drill at times.”

(On J.J. Hickson): “Offensively, he’s still trying to find his way, but he had 11 rebounds. He’s still searching but he’ll be fine, just like the rest of our guys. We’ll be fine.”

DANIEL GIBSON

(On losing the lead in the second quarter): “I think at that point, we stopped doing the things that got us the lead: that was pushing the ball, moving the ball and being aggressive. I think we started to let the ball stick and once you start to let the ball stick against that team, it gets really tough to score.”

(On Boston scoring 60 points in the paint tonight): “You can’t allow that. You have to be the more physical team and you can’t allow a team to have their way in the paint with you like that. That’s nothing but just willing (yourself) and doing what you have to do to stop that. There’s no set defense to stop that from happening.”

(On if Rajon Rondo looks to be more aggressive against them than he does other teams): “I think so. I think with us and because of the way that we play and because of the way that we are set up, I think he may feel that he needs to be more aggressive to get his guys going. I can see that. Tonight, he did his thing. He had assists, points and he pretty much controlled that team.”

(On if it will be weird playing the game on Thursday): “It won’t be weird. These things happen. Z is over there, a lot of teammates that I have had have left. It will just be another day at the office.”

(On if Thursday will be just another game): “It’s another night at the office, it’s the next game. I think it’s only game 18. You can’t make it any bigger than what it is. You have got to go out there and as a team, continue to get better. We are striving to be a playoff team. Miami is our next game and our next game to make that happen.”

(On how they will be able to avoid any distractions in preparing for the game Thursday): “There’s a focus that you have to have. I think this team has that focus and we understand what this is all about. The media will say that it’s the biggest game ever, but as players, we have to be focused and we have to be ready and understand that this is our next game. This is our game to get better and it’s an opportunity for us to get things going back (in the right direction).”