The main topic of discussion after the game was the on-court back-and forth between Matt Barnes and Kobe Bryant, but both teams touched on a variety of topics.
Click below to read what each team had to say.
Orlando Magic
Head Coach Stan Van Gundy
On the game…
"“That was just a battle. That was much more of a battle than a basketball game. It was extremely physical, both teams fought extremely hard the entire way.”"
On what went wrong …
"“Nothing was ever easy and it was just a game, where, you know, I didn’t think we played very well, to be honest. 20 turnovers is not good .I keep saying it, but we’ve got to find a way to handle the basketball better. We missed key free throws down the stretch. So, I don’t think we played very well, but I thought we played very very hard.”"
On Jameer Nelson…
"“Jameer gets nine rebounds, he’s like my size, I thought our guys fought extremely hard…he had some key turnovers, he missed a big free throw, and I’m trying to put him down, but I’m not going with the “he did everything right,” 5-of-14 from the floor, OK. But I thought what he did is he created shots for us. Against a team that it’s very tough for us to get good looks, but he was in the paint, drawing people, making plays, hitting some of his own shots. Don’t get me wrong, he was instrumental. There’s no way we win that game without the plays he was making, he was phenomenal.”"
On what the win means…
"“What it meant to me was how hard we played. Dwight came in and obviously commented on the fact that we didn’t play well down the stretch and he said, “we got the win, that’s all that matters.” And I said that’s not all that matters. What matters even more than a win and I mean this, is, how hard we played, because I know we can play better but if we play with that intensity level all the time, we will be very very tough to beat.”"
On his third quarter interview…
"”By the way, I gave a good third quarter interview today. A very good third quarter interview. Get a quote from Lisa Salters about that. That was a very good interview.”"
Vince Carter
On the aggressive play…
"“I was just trying to take what was there; they put so much emphasis on Dwight that they won’t let him get easy catches. I was trying to be aggressive and not force anything. In a game like this, with two defensive teams going at it, there won’t be a whole lot of open shots to take.”"
On the late-game missed free throw…
"“That bothered me. After I made 12 in a row in the game, then to go to the end of a game and miss one? It bothered me for sure.”"
Matt Barnes
On how he keeps his cool…
"“You have to remember that it is a team sport, there are no individuals out there. If I get in trouble or get a technical, than I am hurting the team. Our team helps each other out with the intensity. If one of us gets out of line we hear about it from one or two guys, which has gotten us out of some trouble this year.”"
Jameer Nelson
On the team’s improved defense…
"“Just focus. Our focus is unbelievable right now. We’re getting into people. Our game plan that coach puts out there – we focus on that and we just have to continue to get better.”"
On if the Magic are at a championship level…
"“Our team’s goal is to win a championship, so no, this game doesn’t win us the trophy. The next few weeks will determine which level we will be at. It matters how hard we work and how committed we need to be. We need to work as a team, play well together and win some games.”"
On his rebounding…
"“I’m a rebounding machine.”"
Dwight Howard
On how physical the game was…
"“Oh no, every game is physical. The Lakers are a big team, with a big lineup. They have big, strong guys that come off the bench so that type of game is what we expected. We just wanted to play our brand of basketball and get the job done.”"
On how good it felt to get the win…
"“It felt great. From the time we stepped onto the court, all we’ve been thinking about is “W.”"
On Jameer Nelson’s play…
"“He’s been playing better. I think he’s getting better. He’s not allowing anything to frustrate him. He’s the point guard so he has to get everyone involved but he has to get himself involved.”"
On Nelson’s rebounding…
"“He was the second best rebounder on the floor tonight which is great coming from a guy who’s under 5’5. Oh he’s 5’2? To be a dwarf, it’s unbelievable to see a guy like Jameer get up and rebound. He’s bar-none the best dwarf to ever play. He actually climbed up on Matt (Barnes) and got a couple of rebounds.”"
On Matt Barnes…
"“He just plays hard. We needed someone who was going to defend, be tough, be physical and play the wings. And he does an excellent job of that.”"
This is courtesy of HoopsWorld.com’s Alex Kennedy.
"Howard, on the other hand, coined the phrase “Matticality” because of the physicality that Barnes brings to the team."
And for maybe the quote of the night outside of Howard…
Mickael Pietrus
On the lack of reporters around him (instead flocking to Carter, Barnes, Nelson and Howard)…
"“None of you are invited to my bar-be-que.”"
Los Angeles Lakers (Lakers quotes are courtesy of the Orlando Magic, Hoopsworld.com’s Alex Kennedy, and Charlie Bernstein of ESPN Radio AM 1420 St. Augustine as I was in the Orlando locker room).
Head Coach Phil Jackson
On if being outrebounded contributed to the loss…
"“I don’t think so. The offensive rebounds were the same. The points scored off rebounds were the same. We just didn’t shoot the ball well. We had 15 more shots than they did and didn’t complete. Obviously, when you foul that often, you’re going to get more foul shots. And turnovers were quite a disparity. We did a good job in that arena. But the little things. A toe. The length of a toe.”"
On Matt Barnes…
"“He was very feisty. He was a feisty player today, but his three was kind of the shot that hurt us the most.”"
On Ron Artest…
"“Well, the first time I kind of looked at him, I thought he was Dennis Rodman. He kind of reminded me of Dennis. His shoulders and his hairdo and whatnot, but he had a struggle today. He couldn’t make a shot and everything was a foul on Carter. He ended up at the foul line many, many times. He shot 14 foul shots. A lot of foul shots, so Ron really didn’t get a chance to play the defense that he’s touted to play.”"
On if the Magic are better than they were last season….
"“I can’t comment on that really. They beat us twice last year. We’re one and one this year in the series. We don’t see them that often. Jason Williams looked like he was a help out there today. Barnes did an admiral job of standing up Kobe during the course of the game. Carter had a scoring night. He was effective out there as far as what he did. I think they’re as good, maybe better, a little better than they were last year.”"
Ron Artest
On Matt Barnes…
"“He played decent. He hit some shots. They played good team ball. For me it was regular game with a lot of effort that didn’t translate into a win.”"
On the three game losing streak…
"“It is not that (a three game losing streak) that is something to worry about. It is just that when we came into the season we all had one goal. Everybody knows what that is. There are some things to fix probably but we are hungry. It’s a good thing for us.”"
Lamar Odom
On the loss…
"“When you actually win a Championship, everybody is going to come at you like you are the World Champion of the world and try and beat you. This year we have made a lot of opposing teams happy especially on their home court. They will be partying tonight in Orlando and I am sure they are excited. We beat them here last year.”"
On Matt Barnes…
"“Matt Barnes…he was an action figure today. He was really involved and really into the game. It is too bad are not going to see them again (during the regular season). It is too bad we are not on the East Coast. He was really riled up today.”"
Kobe Bryant
On the game…
"“It was a great game. These are the types of things (physicality) that we like to see when you start getting into potential Finals contenders. We had a game before the trip vs. Denver which was kind of the same way. It is that time of year. It is good to get a little chippy.”"
On his three-pointer that was later ruled a two-pointer…
"“I knew I was going to have that look before the game. I was sitting on that play the whole game. I got exactly what I wanted but my damn toes. I knew I should have cut my toes this morning. That was exactly what I wanted.”"
On the final shot…
"“It felt a little off when it left my hand. I didn’t release it the way I really to so I tried to compensate for it because I felt the ball slipping. That is my shot. You give that to me 10 times and I make it 9 times.”"
On if the Magic have improved from last year…
"“They are very similar. They have more length with Barnes and Vince.”"
On what effect Barnes has on him…
"“It’s entertaining. It’s entertaining.”"
Matt Barnes cleared some things up on his twitter account and Tania Ganguli, who was at practice on Monday, cleared up some other things.
(Andrew Melnick is Howard the Dunk’s lead blogger and a contributor at NFL Mocks Subscribe to his RSS feed, add him on Twitter to follow him daily and you can get the HTD app here).