Official postgame quotes and notes following the Jazz's 101-87 home loss Friday to the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Notes: The Jazz are now 71-87 all-time against the Oklahoma City Thunder/Seattle Supersonics … All five starters for the Jazz scored in double figures, led by Al Jefferson with 20 points on 9-18 field goals … Utah was outrebounded 46-32 and had a season-low six offensive rebounds for the game (previous low was 7, Feb. 1 vs. LAC, Feb. 7 @ IND) … The Jazz entered the game fifth in the NBA in free throws made per game at 20.1, but were only 8-13 from the free throw line (season lows in both FTM and FTA, previous low was 11-16 vs LAL on Jan. 11) … The Jazz now leave for their first and only back-to-back-to-back set of the
season.

Tyrone Corbin – Head Coach (13-12 this season)
On the Utah’s energy level
“We were flat there in the second quarter for a little bit, but for the most part, especially at the end of the game, and pushed the ball up the court. We missed shots is what happened. I thought we ran the floor well. I thought we pushed the ball down the court early. We just missed shots.”

On the rebounding and free throw discrepancies
“They did a good job, the two big guys, Perkins and Ibaka inside. Between the two of them they had eight offensive rebounds and double figures (in rebounding) for each guy so that hurt us a little bit. I thought the biggest difference was they shot 32 free throws to our 13. I thought we were attacking the basket a lot. We just didn’t get anything out of it. They got a lot of free throws.”

On the upcoming back-to-back-to-back road trip
“They all are crucial for us now. We have to continue to work hard and understand what is going to give us a chance to win. That’s getting maximum effort from everybody. We want to make sure we give ourselves an opportunity to win each game and make the adjustments as we go.”

Raja Bell – Guard (13 points, 2 rebounds)
On what happened after the Jazz were rolling in the first quarter
“The momentum was just seized by them and we could never regain it.”

On the game
“They (Thunder) played well. They took the game to us. They were aggressive. We got stuck in one mode and were never able to transition into something else to see if it could get going. That’s what happens.”

On how to prepare to play three games in a row
“Well, you try to go out and get your work done early. Maybe get some blowouts so you can get some rest. Other than that, you try to eat right, try to sleep, stay off your feet, make sure you’re hydrated. Just the basic stuff they teach you in training camp or going through any rigorous training.”

Paul Millsap – Forward (10 points, 9 rebounds)
On the game
“We got shots we wanted; we just didn’t knock them down. Point blank shots, open shots, shots we normally hit we just didn’t.”

On the upcoming three games in three nights
“It’s a tough stretch, but everybody goes through this. We’ll figure it out. We’ve got a few games on the road. Games we should win, but we’ll figure it out.”

On being outrebounded
“I guess it just comes down to not being aggressive.”

Al Jefferson – Center (20 points, 8 rebounds)
On the foul discrepancy
“We could say there were a lot of missed calls, but I think it’s just not being aggressive. They kept attacking the basket and we weren’t. We started settling for jump shots.”

On the upcoming three games in a row
“We’ve got to come back to Utah with a winning record. Regardless, we’ve been struggling on the road. We’re struggling right now, every team goes through this, but this separates the good teams from the bad teams. Instead of getting down on ourselves and giving up, we’ve got to come together and find a way to win on the road.”

Notes: The Thunder is 5-1 this season in games played after a loss … Oklahoma City is 7-2 on the second or third night of a back-to-back … Russell Westbrook has scored 20-plus points in 15 of the Thunder’s last 17 games …The Thunder lead the NBA in free throw shooting accuracy at 79.5%, they shot 84.4% tonight (27-32) ... Last season OKC led the league with 82.3% which was the fifth highest in NBA history … Serge Ibaka scored 16, his career-high is 22 which also came at Utah (11/15/10) … OKC ended the second quarter on a 15-6 run and had a 16-4 run in the third quarter … The Thunder had a season-low four made three pointers as well as a season low in three-point percentage with 20 percent.

Scott Brooks – Head Coach (22-6 this season)
On bouncing back after the loss at Sacramento
“We have always been a good bounce-back team after a loss. Tonight was a good indication of how we play. We didn’t have a lot of things going for us early. We were turning the ball over, but we fought, we stuck together and we competed. I thought the way we finished the game was good basketball. We only had two turnovers in the fourth quarter. We gave ourselves a chance by just moving the ball and relying on our offense to score for us. It was a good win. “

On Serge Ibaka’s defense and energy
“He brings it – every night. He protects the basket, he alters shots, he blocks shots, he gets rebounds, he is much better at finishing around the rim. We just need to get him more shots on the perimeter because he is an excellent midrange shooter. Their fours and fives, that’s a pretty serious combo they have. Knowing, going into the game, we had to really defend them well and make them take some tough shots. (Perkins), Nazr (Mohammed), Nick (Collison) and Serge (Ibaka) did an outstanding job defending those guys.”

Kevin Durant – Forward (19 points, 5 rebounds)
On the Thunder’s outside shooting
“I thought we shot the ball pretty well. We shot 49%, we shot the ball well, 47%. We did a great job of focusing and playing hard. We gave up 30 points in the first quarter and I think we kind of locked down after that and we gave some easy baskets but we kept playing hard and played together and got a good win.”

On if this is the way championship teams play
“Yeah, that’s what good teams do. We’re trying to be in that elite group but we’ve got a ways to go but I think we play like this and bounce back after losses like that, it was a tough one last night and we came here and played a tough Utah team in their arena. For us to play well like that was a good sign.”

Russell Westbrook – Guard (28 points, 6 rebounds)
On finishing the road trip on a high-note
“This is a tough place to play at. After a tough loss yesterday we had to come in here with a good mindset defensively. That’s what I tried to set.”

On keeping the crowd out of the game tonight
“We just have to get to the basket. We had a couple of fouls that quieted the crowd down. We got some steals and got on the fast break and got some easy buckets.”

The Salt Lake Tribune

Twitter: @tribjazz