Kobe Bryant on the emotion of receiving his MVP trophy from Commissioner David Stern:

"It was an emotional night for all of us, I think. What we tried to do was try to ride that momentum, particularly to start the game. (We wanted to) feed off the energy, and we were able to do that."

Every fan was given a gold T-shirt that said: "Our Team. Our Time. Our MVP."

"It was special tonight," Bryant said. "When we ran out we saw all of the signs up and everybody in the shirts; we hadn't seen Staples Center this electric. I had goosebumps running out because of all the appreciation from the crowd and how much they jumped into it. It was special."

Phil Jackson on Utah squeezing off 101 shots, 33 more than the Lakers:

"Well, you know, you can see the second chance points on the stat sheet, 21-2, so that tells you something about the offensive rebounding and put-back opportunities that they're getting against us. It's just the type of game they play.l They take the ball to the basket, they crash the boards, they're in the lane on top of the ball, you know, the point of where the ball's coming off the rim. So they've been successful with tha tagainst us, and we're going to correct that if we're going to win in Utah."

Utah coach Jerry Sloan on the game's pace:

"I'd like it if things slowed down a little bit, especially when they're shooting layups."

Sloan on Carlos Boozer's difficulties in this series and whether he's pressing:

"I think every player goes through stages when things don't go especially right for them. I think knowing Carlos, I think he was trying to fight out of it. I thought he had a much better run in the second half obviously than he did in the first half and seemed to be a bit more alive. Sometimes that's the only way you get over it is to try to fight back, get rebounds, play defense and play yourself back in it. If you try to do it the other way then you don't have much to rely on, don't have much to fall back on. I think that probably hurt him a little bit."

Boozer on his foul trouble -- two fouls within a minute and 10 seconds in the first quarter, another one at the very start of the second quarter:

"When I get in foul trouble I feel like I'm letting my team down. At the same time, I've got to figure out a way to stay out of foul trouble. That way I'll be able to help my team."

Utah guard Deron Williams on being more aggressive in the second half, and finishing up 9 for 17 from the field for 25 points after making 1 of 6 shots in the first half:

"I just wasn't very aggressive in the first half. I tried to turn it on a little too late."

Williams on the return to Salt Lake City for Games 3 and 4:

"We think it's going to be a different ballgame when we go back home. Hopefully guys can get their confidence back shooting-wise because we still have not had a good shooting game and they played great defense on us. So hopefully we can come out and use the crowd's energy to our advantage next game."