76ers 131, Wizards 126
Q. Seemed like you got really comfortable getting downhill and attacking the rim and being aggressive tonight. What accounted for that?
BILAL COULIBALY: I'd say I've been working on that these past few weeks with BK, and whenever I'm starting like that, I feel way more comfortable for the rest of the game, so that's how I want to start now.
Q. Can you take me through that dunk you had on Paul Reed in the fourth quarter?
BILAL COULIBALY: Yeah, that was a good one. Yeah, I saw him, like his feet was not in position to play good defense, so I was like, yeah, I've got to drive it, and I was wide open. I said, yeah, I'll dunk it.
Q. Do you think that's your best NBA dunk so far?
BILAL COULIBALY: Oh, for sure, yeah, definitely.
Q. At the beginning of the first half, you had the fake with Deni and were able to get to the rim. Was that something that you guys had game planned?
BILAL COULIBALY: Not really, that was not planned. I just saw like kill grew was a little bit like inside DA's shoulder, so I said, I'm going to try it, and it worked.
Q. What did you think about when you stripped Embiid in the backcourt?
BILAL COULIBALY: Yeah, he was a little bit too comfortable, and I had to take it to show that I'm here to play defense and I'm not afraid of something.
Q. Do you have any kind of connection through anything France --
BILAL COULIBALY: Not really, but he talked to me during the game. He was speaking French, and he was saying, how you doing and everything, so yeah, he's a good guy.
Q. You have a relationship with Nico?
BILAL COULIBALY: Yeah, definitely. I practiced with him last year during a week, and yeah, we kept in touch.
Q. How cool is it to go head-to-head on the NBA court with people like that? I know you said you don't have much of a history with Joel, but with Nico?
BILAL COULIBALY: Yeah, he's been somebody I've been watching on the French national team with my father when I was younger, and now playing against him, it's like a blessing.
Q. It seems like going through the whole progression since Summer League, then preseason, start of the season into now, it feels like your ball handing and gotten tighter and gotten better. Is that something you've been working on specifically?
BILAL COULIBALY: Yeah. Like I said, I was working on my shot for most of the time, but my handling, too. Yeah, that's something I've been working on since Summer League, and it's getting better. I'm proud of that.
Q. How tough is it to be in that game pretty much the whole way through and just not having it happen at the end?
BILAL COULIBALY: Yeah. You know, we've got that winning mentality, so it's always tough to lose. But I was like, I'm just going to give it everything possible. If we lose, it's okay. We gave everything.
Q. Where does that next-play mentality come from for you so easily? It seems easier said than done.
BILAL COULIBALY: Yeah, I used to stay on that when I was like two years ago, and it affects my game like crazy, so at some point I was like, I've just got to get on to the next play. That was like a vet last year that told me that, so it's been helpful.
Q. As you continue to get comfortable, and you kind of alluded to it earlier, but is a part of your game wanting to make sure that other players know that you are also to be respected in this league?
BILAL COULIBALY: That they don't know yet?
Q. Right, they don't know yet, but as you're playing, is that something that you also want to prove?
BILAL COULIBALY: Oh, yeah, for sure, because I feel like sometimes they're disrespecting me, sometimes not playing defense on the two-point line and everything, so I just take those shots. Even if I miss it, I just took it, and the next time it goes in.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports