Official postgame notes, quotes — Jazz 105, Hornets 87

Official postgame quotes and notes following the Jazz's 105-87 victory against the New Orleans Hornets on Wednesday at EnergySolutions Arena.

Notes: Jazz guard Deron Williams is 12-3 vs. Hornets guard Chris Paul...Williams has also recorded 10 assists in 10 of the last 11 meetings with the Hornets... He finished with his eighth double-double of the season with 26 points and 11 assists...Williams' five steals tonight were the most by a Jazz player this season...Francisco Elson had a season-high eight points tonight, his previous high was six... The Jazz were 8-8 in free throws in the first half and shot 57.1% from the field and 55.6% from three point range in the first half and finished the game a perfect 19-19 from the line and 48.8% from the field and 42.9% from the three point line...Coming into the game, the Hornets average 12.9 turnovers per game and only give up 13.4 points off those turnovers, which ranks them first in fewest points off turnovers given up per game....Tonight, the Jazz forced 17 turnovers and scored 26 points off those turnovers.

Jerry Sloan – (11-5 this season)On the game"I thought we played pretty hard all night long, I thought we did a pretty good job starting the game and executing our offense and getting some decent shots. We got caught a couple times but for the most part I thought we executed pretty well. Same thing finishing the ballgame, I thought we did a good job."

On the play of Earl Watson and Ronnie Price"....That group has a lot of confidence in each other and seem to play pretty well together. Obviously any time you put them in the game and they play like that they give us a pretty good lift."

Deron Williams – Guard (26 points, 11 assists)On the game"This is a good win against a good team. It was a collective effort tonight. We got it from everybody, we were balanced. We made extra passes, we helped on defense. We finally put one together."

On playing against Chris Paul"We always have fun playing each other. We are good friends off the court. But on the court we always like to battle. "My team plays well against him, simple as that. It's not just me against CP it's our team and my team seems to perform well against him."

On the Lakers game Friday"Hopefully we don't eat too much turkey and stuffing. And we can have the same energy we did this game."

On the recent play of C.J. Miles"It's confidence, he's just playing with a lot of confidence. Early on he was struggling with his shot and once it came back everything started coming together for him."

On the play of Ronnie Price and Earl Watson"It helps a lot, essentially we haven't lost anything with that second unit, we've actually gotten better. The second group has given us a lift, extended leads and brought us back from being down so they've been responsible for a lot of our wins."

Paul Millsap – Forward (17 points, 7 rebounds)On the execution in the 4th quarter"It feels good. That's a good team that we played tonight, and for us to execute our stuff down the stretch was big for us."

About feeding off the energy of the second unit"We've been doing it all year. The second unit has been great for us. They come in and turn the tempo up, and when we come back in the game we feed off of that."

Can this win carry over to the Lakers game?"We hope it does. We know what we have to do to win that game. That is a good ball team, we know we will have to execute and play solid defense to win."

C.J. Miles – Forward (6 points, 2 assists)

On the game"It shows what we can do when we play hard, and we are going to have to do it on Friday."

On the execution in the fourth quarter"It was good to see that we could calm things down and focus. We had a chance to get some good stops and get some good baskets. Deron made some big shots, and Al made some big shots. We just played off each other."

On playing a balanced game"Defensively and offensively, this was the best balance we have had. The energy throughout the whole game was great."

Al Jefferson – Forward/Center (23 points, 10 rebounds)

On shooting performance"I just made my shots tonight. I didn't rush on them. I just took the shots that were given to me."

On Deron Williams vs. Chris Paul"When I was with the Timberwolves I use to always look for that match up. To see those two go against each other. To be a part of it is just amazing. Two great point guards going head to head and plus they are best friends too. It is just very exciting to see."

On play of second unit"That second unit is really important to us. They played big both halves. We started off slow the second half they came in and boosted us up big time. It is amazing how well they are playing right now."Notes: The Hornets are now 2-10 in their last 12 games against the Jazz, and 2-9 in their last 11 in Salt Lake City ... Chris Paul had 10 points in the second quarter, finishing the game with 17 points to lead the Hornets ...The Hornets ended the third quarter on an 8-0 run, but were only able to cut the deficit to five points in the second half ... This is the second consecutive loss for the Hornets, and third in their last six games ... They are now 11-3 after starting the season 8-0.

Monty Williams – (11-3 this season)On the game"I thought that was the deciding factor, to give up that many possessions. They had 82 possessions, we had 69. You cannot do that on the road, cannot do that at any time especially against a team like that. You know we had some things going in our favor. We went to the free throw line 32 times but we gave up possessions. I thought that was the game."

On the second unit"The bench has to maintain our increase and we haven't had that for awhile now. It is something I have to do a better job of putting the right guys into the game at the right time and I did not that. It's a tough situation for the starters because they come in and give us momentum and the bench gives in there and gives it away. I thought their pressure to us in a bind tonight. I don't think our guards handled their pressure particularly well."

On the Jazz front court this season"They have physical guys who can put the ball in the hole. To say it's different [from other seasons], I won't say that. I think they play a style of basketball every single night for the past 23 years; doesn't matter who's in uniform."

Chris Paul – Guard (17 points, 9 assists)On the Jazz defense"Scoring every time down. We were soft obviously and they really put it to us. They scored in all different ways and they got in our paint and made 11. That's what teams have been doing to us since the past few games."

On the matchup against Deron Williams"It's always the New Orleans Hornets versus the Utah Jazz. We have not played a one-on-one game since we've been in the league. It was a collective group for them, they executed and we didn't. It's simple."

On his performance against the Jazz over his career"In this league, it's all about matchups. It's always been a tough matchup for us. You can say it's my fault but we've never been able to grasp and beat Utah."

On the difficulty playing in Salt Lake City"It's always tough to play here. A few years ago, they lost only three or four games. They always have a good team. That's why they are always one of the best teams in the West."

David West – Forward (15 points, 5 rebounds)On the struggles over the last few games"I think these last few games we haven't played with the consistency that we played with in the first few weeks. We got a little too comfortable and we just haven't committed ourselves to playing together."

On biggest problem tonight"I thought we were too easy to guard. We're having to defend a lot of movement within their offense but we're not doing the same. We're not putting enough pressure on the defenders."

— Brian T. Smith

Twitter: tribjazz