Eddie Jordan Second Quotations

We played very hard, especially in the second half. I thought we waited a little too long to play at a high level, energy-wise. Allen is playing at a high level we really couldn't contain him tonight.

We'd like to go into the New Year saying we have a five-game package, that we're going to take it game by game and respect our opponents. We feel that we are coming together. We are competing. We've competed down to the last second most every game. We just have to continue to believe in each other and believe in the system.

We knew it wasn't going to be easy. They are a very competitive team and always have been. I think it took Miami a 16-0 run in the second half to win the game last night. They are so depleted with injuries and my heart goes out to Bernie.

We just want to go out and play the way that we did in the second quarter. We need to start winning these games on the road.

We didn't have the right intensity early. I thought we didn't have our legs, but in the second half we dug down deep.

The second quarter was like a defensive clinic for us. Holding somebody like the Celtics, who shoot close to 50 percent, holding them down to only 10 points. That kind of jump started us.

After playing a good first half, we gave up 61 points in the second half. We gave ourselves a chance, and they hit a tough shot at the end. The credit goes to them. They really brought it to us in the second half.

This is a tough one to lose. We gave ourselves a chance to win even though we played bad in the second half, you just can't give up 60 points in the paint and expect to win.

They just outplayed us in the second half. They were more physical than us in the paint and the same things continued to plague us - poor third-quarter performance, not competing in the paint, and being distracted by what's going on at the other end of the court. We have to learn to deal with adversity and not be distracted by missed calls or good defense being played against us.

You've got to give them (Memphis) credit. They came back with a lot more energy in the second half and they got the juice. I felt we were distracted by some of the officials' calls and we lost our focus. That was the part of the game I was disappointed in.