The defense was good for the most part all night. I thought early on, Chris Paul, that was the game plan, just try to get the ball out of his hands and make somebody else make plays.

I think both teams settled into 'this isn't our night mode'. The home team has to win those games, and that's what we did.

They are the rare team that has three great players. Most teams have two - except Miami maybe has 2 1/2 with Shaq and Wade.

We played as soft as a team can be. They were tougher mentally, physically and there was no way we were going to win that game.

I don't know if it was vital [to get the win], but it was big. We needed the win because I look at the whole picture. We still have a lot of work to do, but it was nice that we just played better. We played solid basketball.

Paul was absolutely sensational tonight. I didn't realize they had 50 and 43. I knew they had a lot. I could sense that. I just didn't know it was that high. Pretty cool.