QUOTEBOARD: Mavs Talking After 113-106 Win

It was all hands on deck for the first time in weeks, and all mouths standing at attention as we assemble a Quoteboard from Mavs 113, Bulls 106:

When asked about lineup changes in response to weak starts
“Anything’s in play . . . But I’d rather get our best players starting the game and playing their best and playing well together.” - Coach Rick Carlisle

On being inactive while recovering from surgery to repair a fractured orbital bone
"All that stuff (get well cards, best wishes) helps you, especially when you're at home . . . and your team's out there battling, and you're not able to be out there with them." - Jason Terry

On Jason Terry's return to the lineup -- hit his first three shots and went 4-10 overall
"A lot of very good signs, a lot of very good things . . . He was making the right plays, didn't get the ball to go down a couple times, but all in all very happy with the way it went." - Carlisle

On whether he's concerned about surrendering big leads
"Not that much . . . we know we need to get better at that, but hey, as long as we keep getting those leads and as long as we keep getting Ws it's all fine." - JJ Barea

On talking with Coach about expectations
"(Coach said) 'Don't change who you are.  Just be who you are.'  So it made it rather easy for me, to just continue to be aggressive and play my same style of basketball.  He said, 'We'll fit in to what you do.'  And that's the best news a player could ever get." - Caron Butler

On JJ's impact in the fourth quarter, after Chicago had cut Dallas's lead under 10
"He was a great force offensively, with shot-making.  Defensively, he drew a charge one time.  He helped us get through it . . . we needed to make some plays and he was involved in a lot of it." - Carlisle

On why Kidd didn't play in the fourth quarter
"He's had some soreness (in his knees) the last couple days, and about a minute or two into the fourth he asked if he could ice down." -  Carlisle

"You’ve got to sometimes pick your spots to rest.  They didn’t need me tonight.  We had the game under control, so I made the decision to let the other guys play." -Jason Kidd

"He's a fossil, so he definitely needed (rest) the most." -Dirk Nowitzki

On what's next and what's left for the regular season
"We've got a couple more days now, then we've got one of the better teams in the East (Boston) coming in."  - Carlisle

"We're gonna take that day off tomorrow -- I think we need it.  From here on out after Saturday the games keep coming . . . get some rest, got a light (practise) Friday, and definitely a fun game, big challenge coming in on Saturday against Boston." - Nowitzki


Cheers to ESPN Dallas, 103.3 ESPN Radio and TXA21 (graphic).