Postgame quotes, notes — Hornets 121, Jazz 117 OT

Official postgame quotes and notes following the Jazz's 121-117 overtime home loss to the New Orleans Hornets on Thursday.

Notes: The Jazz are now 38-21 all-time versus New Orleans and 22-8 in Salt Lake City...Forward Paul Millsap tallied 12 of his 33 points in the first quarter and 14 during the fourth quarter, he finished with 11 rebounds as well, his 18th double-double this season...Al Jefferson's double-double was his 32nd of the season...Guard Earl Watson dished out five of his team-high eight assists during the opening quarter to go along with his season-high 14 points...Jazz record in overtime games this season is now 5-1.

Tyrone Corbin – Head Coach (5-14 this season) On the game"It's a tough loss. The guys had a great chance to win the ballgame. I probably should have told Paul (Millsap) to miss a free throw at the end of the ballgame because they had no timeouts left with only one-point-something seconds left, but (New Orleans) made a tough shot to send it to overtime and they won the game. This league though, guys make spectacular plays, and they did that tonight. I take responsibility for that, I probably should have had him just miss the free throw."

On Paul Millsap's play"He's been a pro about (the recent changes with the team). He's come out, we're undermanned, but he hasn't complained about anything. He's picked up the slack and played hard on both ends of the floor."

Paul Millsap – Forward (33 points, 11 rebounds) On final free throws in regulation"You know basketball I.Q. I should have known the situation, I actually knew the situation. I probably should have missed it."

On trying to get team another victory"Everybody working hard. Nobody wants to lose. It just happen guy hit a tough shot to put it into overtime. They just had more energy then we did at the end."

Al Jefferson – Center (22 points, 13 rebounds) On the game"Honestly it is frustrating but at the same time I'm upset that we lost but overall it was just meant for them to win the game if you just think about it. We could point to things, we could have done this different or done this different, but at the end of the game that was a heck of a shot he made."

On Millsap's game tonight"Yeah, that was why it was tough for us when he was out. He's a big piece for us on this team and him going the way he was going tonight helps the team and makes everybody around him better and I'm happy to have him back."C.J. Miles – Forward (11 points, 4 rebounds) On the game"It was tough. We had a slow start but we got back in the game and fought and fought and had a chance to where we were up with a few second left and Emeka (Okafor) hits that shot. I bet he would even say it was a lucky shot, but it got them to overtime and they made some plays down the stretch."

On what he thought when Okafor's last second shot went in"I couldn't believe it went in, and it happened so fast like the tip and he just turned around and kind of just threw it up there and hit the glass. I thought for sure when it was headed for the glass that it wasn't going in then it was kind of like shock, like I couldn't believe it and then it was like well get ready for the next five minutes, you gotta play."Notes: The Hornets opened the game on a 9-0 run...The Jazz did not score until the 9:53 mark of the first quarter...Entering tonight's game, the Hornets had won five of its last eight games...The Hornets fell behind by as many as nine points in the second quarter but outscored the Jazz by seven points in the second quarter to take a 56-54 halftime lead...David West scored 20 first-half points...The Hornets are now 4-2 in games decided in overtime....The Hornets are 2-1 against the Jazz this season and have one game remaining against the Jazz this season....Tonight's game is the first game the Hornets have played on a Thursday and they are now 1-0 on Thursday nights...The Hornets are now 14-5 when they score more than 100 points in a game... Chris Paul finished with a double-double, with 24 points and 12 assists...David West finished the game with a team-high 29 points...Entering tonight's game, all five Hornets starters average double digit scoring and all five starters scored in double figures tonight.

Monty Williams – Head Coach (41-31 this season)On the game"Shout out, props, whatever you want to call it to Aaron Gray. He didn't play the whole first half, comes out in the second half, dominates on the boards, keeps those guys from getting offensive rebounds and then he knocks down free throws when no one expected him to knock down free throws. He was the difference tonight. We hit some shots. Chris [Paul] was great. Trevor [Ariza] was efficient. I thought Jarrett [Jack] brought some juice tonight. And David [West] was phenomenal before he got injured."

On role of Aaron Gray"Well that's what he does. He's so big, he gives the guards a chance to get to the basket. He takes up a lot of space. He's stepped up and played every time I've put him in the game. He's been efficient for us, he's been productive. To do that on this floor, in a game where I felt like we didn't get any calls that meant anything tonight especially from a offensive rebound standpoint for them. Our guys played through it and we got a win."

Emeka Okafor – Center (12 Points, 6 Rebounds) On the last second shot to force overtime"All we had was a desperation play. I saw Chris [Paul] down there and I new [Aaron Gray] was going to try to get it to him. The ball went up and in the mix I saw Chris [Paul] jump, saw the ball bounce and all there's time for is touch and go. I just looked at the rim, just to get an idea of where I'm at and let it go."

On David West's injury"That was a real scary moment. He's a great player and a great person and whenever you see a teammate go down like that you just pray for the best. I didn't even see what happen. I saw him get a dunk and I didn't even notice. Coming back on defense and I saw Jarrett [Jack] running back and that's when I saw he was still down and you could tell he was pretty hurt."

Chris Paul – Guard (24 Points, 12 Assists) On the last play in the fourth quarter"I saw they had Earl Watson on me and I told coach I was going to go down court, just hopefully [Aaron Gray] could throw it up in the air and I could jump up and try and score. I jumped and I got undercut, you know what I mean? I didn't even see what happened. I didn't know till a couple seconds ago that [Emeka Okafor] was the one that hit the shot. No, I was too mad with the fact that I got put on the floor."On David West's injury"No I didn't see it. You know when you lose somebody like D. West its devastating because that's our guy. He's our go to guy. But if anybody can bounce back from it it's D. West. We're praying for him and he's going to be alright."

— Brian T. Smith

Twitter: @tribjazz