I am so proud of our guys, especially Dion. It is gratifying when you have a player like Dion that was with us most of the season come back after a trip to Mexico. His intensity is incomparable and his loyalty is without question.

Every single player, especially the young guys, should look at the way Luc carries himself. He comes to the rink with a smile and most times, he leaves with a big smile. He really has a love for the game.

Vince Carter is such a great player that we need two guys to try to stop him. When we got there to try to stop him, we got there too late and he either made the shot or we fouled him.

You just want to win by one. To win by over 50 percent is especially gratifying.

You could see out there guys were hungry. It's a big game. The pressure was there, especially when you go back home after a month. We've just got to feed off this game and go forward.

When you burn a bridge sometimes -- it doesn't matter if it's a significant player on a team, especially a significant player like Kobe -- you might say let bygones be bygones, (but) there's always that underlying, 'Oh, you talked about me,' Me personally, I don't think it'll work out. But who knows? Crazier things have happened.