Jackson said he expects about 25 minutes of hard-nosed defense from Green.

They consistently jumped to large leads and played solid, hard-nosed defense, reducing the Celtics to a two-man attack.

"This was just two hard-nosed defenses going at it, and we just couldn't move the ball when we had to."

Then we finally got our offense together and played hard-nosed defense and were able to minimize our errors.

In the Spurs' eyes, physical contact that was viewed as aggressive, hard-nosed defense in the Alamodome suddenly became a foul.

In his tenure at Detroit, Watson has fashioned a team that plays hard-nosed defense and rebounds well.

On paper, Seton Hall is gifted in a number of areas: size, depth, good outside shooting, a hard-nosed defense.

If we take this tough, hard-nosed defense on the road, then I think we will be successful.

"They played consistent, hard-nosed defense," said Cox, who had 4 receptions for 45 yards, the longest catch for 16.

Key to that enthusiasm has been the Hornets' uptempo offensive style, hard-nosed defense and all-round hustle.