HEAD COACH ALVIN GENTRY

On tonight’s game:
“Nothing ever changes, you know. They (San Antonio) won’t beat themselves. They hadn’t done it in 20 years, so you have to execute and you’ve got to actually beat them. They’re not going to beat themselves. You know, I thought we had a good run in there at the – you know when we made up the 14 points, but you know you’ve just got to keep playing against this team. You know they just do such a great job. I thought LaMarcus (Aldridge) played well, and I thought Dejounte Murray played well. They just keep coming at you, and they’re as good as anybody in the league in executing what they’re trying to do: getting the ball to the right people in the right situations. I was happy… we just had to struggle. They took us out of the rhythm that we had over the last two or three weeks. They took that away from us. They did a lot of switching which bothered us some, and we just didn’t shoot the ball well… partially them, partially we just didn’t shoot it well.”

On Zion Williamson’s fourth quarter outburst:
“Like I said, it was going to be a learning experience either way. If he played well, if he didn’t play well. I think the big thing is that he was much more aggressive during that situation, and we had talked at halftime about…you know, I thought he was just deferring way too much. I wanted him to be aggressive, and I knew that he would make some mistakes, but you know I think what you saw there is a taste of once we really get settled in and he gets settled in, you can see that there’s a lot of things we can do with him. There’s a lot of potential there. It was good to see him do that, but you know I think there’s a really really high ceiling that he can reach. So we’ll just continue on, and we’ll continue to practice. If anybody has any questions, I’ll answer. And no he couldn’t go back in the game so don’t go there.”

PELICANS CENTER JAXSON HAYES

On Zion Williamson’s debut:
“I thought he played really well. He shot the ball well, four-for-four from three. It was all about just getting back in that rhythm after not playing for so long. I feel like today was a good debut for him.”

On if Zion Williamson will help with the playoff push:
“Oh yeah, for sure, 100-percent. We’re obviously going to need everyone on this team to get that playoff spot. If somebody goes down, somebody is going to have to step up.”

PELICANS GUARD JOSH HART

On Zion Williamson’s debut:
“(I liked) how effective he was and how efficient he was from the field. To start the game, he wasn’t going 100 miles an hour trying to get that first bucket and get that monkey off his back. He made the right plays and I think that’s the biggest thing, especially for someone (his) age. With so many eyes on you, and so much pressure on you, it’s easy to conform and whether we win or lose have your debut be successful. He went out there and made the right plays and played well defensively. He rebounded the ball and did a great job.”

On Zion Williamson helping this team going forward:
“He’s going to be a big help. We’ll play different line-ups with him on the court. Maybe we’ll play small, knowing we won’t be losing as much of a rebounding presence. I’m happy to have him back. Everyone is healthy and just about as healthy as we can be at this point in the season.”

PELICANS FORWARD ZION WILLIAMSON

On how it felt to get back on the court and play again:
“It was good to get back out there, obviously, but I didn’t have the outcome that I wanted. So I have to get better and move on to the next.”

On if not being able to play for the entire game was difficult for him to deal with:
“It’s very hard, honestly. I’m 19 and in that moment I’m not thinking about longevity, I’m thinking about winning that game so it was very tough.”

PELICANS GUARD JRUE HOLIDAY

On how, after so many weeks, he thinks Zion Williamson adjusted to the team and vice versa:
“I think he did well. His first official NBA game is against a pretty good team so, honestly I think the way he came out was very poised. The way he played, and even around us, and bringing energy especially down the stretch was something that, I guess you don’t see from somebody so young. Even on top of that, we are almost in February and he hadn’t played a game yet, so for him to be able to come out here and do that in his first game…is pretty elite.”

On what the Spurs did during the first half to disrupt the Pelicans’ rhythm:
“Just being consistent really, and I feel like that’s kind of the name of the game. They’ve always been consistent – packing the paint, just being able to keep us out of there. And again, we know it’s the Spurs and going in there and trying to draw fouls can be difficult, but we didn’t get to the free-throw line like we wanted to, but I think them packing the paint and making us shoot shots maybe we didn’t want to shoot.”

PELICANS FORWARD BRANDON INGRAM

On the energy in the Smoothie King Center during Zion Williamson’s three-minute scoring spree:
“Well the energy was great. He did a good job of asserting himself when he was open, having the confidence to pull the threes. Getting to the basket, causing all that attention. He’s off to a good start.”

On his reaction to the Zion Williamson MVP chants while at the free throw line:
“I don’t think I heard it. In those moments of the game I’m more focused in on trying to knock the free throw down, which I didn’t tonight. There’s a lot of love and support in the building and we enjoy it.”

PELICANS GUARD LONZO BALL

On the energy in the Smoothie King Center during Zion Williamson’s three-minute scoring spree:
“The energy was there from warmups. That is the most people I have seen coming out before the game even started. They were ready to go tonight and helped us get back into the game for sure.”

On if he told Zion Williamson anything during halftime:
“I wouldn’t even call it struggling. I mean, it was his first game. He told me before the game started he was going to ease his way into it. I told him to get a feel for it and then go from there. In the fourth, I think he was comfortable and they were sagging off of him so he was taking his shots.”

SPURS HEAD COACH GREGG POPOVICH

On Zion Williamson’s fourth quarter:
“Up until that point, he had five points in the game. And we went to a zone and he made four threes in a row. Before that, if you said, ‘Who is going to shoot four threes?’ We would probably rather have him do that. They were scoring like crazy, and he did that and just innovated [sic] the crowd and they played really energetic the rest of the basketball game. They got fired up. I was really proud of our guys. We took a huge blow. We stayed the course and just played. We got flustered, we just kept playing, and we were fortunate enough to win the game. Before the threes, he did a couple of things that were pretty cool. He got a (inaudible). He [went] to the post and drove it to the hole and started to show his speed. I think as the game went on, he started to feel his feet a little bit and he started to be who everybody thinks he is.”

On what the win says about the team:
“We’re getting better. We had a tough start with Dejounte (Murray) coming back after a year off, so we really did not have much rhythm at the point, and that’s important. That’s the most important guy on the court. It took us a while to get over that. And we figured out, us coaches, who we want on the floor and what combinations and all that. We’ve got a lot of young kids out there, so it took us a while, but I think we’re on the right track and we’re starting to play pretty consistent basketball. The best part is that they stay the course. They don’t get intimidated. They don’t get off of what we’re trying to do. In this game, 48 minutes is a long, long, time. All kinds of things can happen. I’m happy for them. To be able to do this on the road. It’s our third game in four nights…You know, it’s a pretty good sign for the young kids.”

SPURS GUARD DEMAR DEROZAN

On responding to the Pelicans’ late-game run:
“It was big for us to do it on the road. The crowd got into it. We didn’t let it rattle us. We just kept on being solid, just kept on coming down and being solid. He (Zion Williamson) went on a hell of a run. It was great that we held our composure, executed when we needed to, and came up with stops when we needed to.”

On Zion Williamson’s potential:
“He’s special. Anybody who has followed basketball the last two years and seen the talent he has… Hope he can stay healthy and be able to put it together. The sky is the limit for him.”

SPURS GUARD DERRICK WHITE

On LaMarcus Aldridge’s impact on the game:
“The whole game he was huge. Obviously, he hit those big shots down the stretch. Big free throws. He was huge all game…beast on the boards. He kind of controlled the tempo for us.”

On the mental impact it has on the team when a player takes over the game:
“Just have to stay with it for 48 minutes. I mean, you know they will make their runs. The crowd was loud. Obviously, anything Zion was doing they were going to get loud. Just stay controlled and stay together, and we found a way.”