Magic 127, Wizards 119
Q. What went right for you in the fourth quarter? You had 18 points and seemed to have it going from all over the place. How did you feel and what went right for you there?
JORDAN POOLE: I feel like being aggressive down the stretch, we needed to make one last push around nine minutes or so. We strung a couple stops, just tried to be aggressive getting to the basket, taking advantage of the opportunities. The crowd got involved a little bit, so it gave us some energy. But we needed to make a push in order to win the game late in that fourth quarter.
Q. How helpful was it to have the crowd behind you? It seemed like they were really engaged in everything you were doing.
JORDAN POOLE: Yeah, it's always helpful. Whenever we get the crowd involved, get the crowd engaged, whether it's a small chant or just cheering in general, as players we feed off of that. I know I personally do. But they gave us energy down the stretch. We kind of built off of it. That's a really good team that we played tonight, and they were just able to close out.
Q. Coming into D.C. you have a bigger role, different coverages, specifically designed against you. It seems like you're more letting the game come to you as of late. Have you seen anything that's helped you slow the game down and improve recently?
JORDAN POOLE: It's all a work in progress. It's also just trying to figure it out. What are we, 30 games into an 82-game season? Rotations are different. Some guys are in and out of the lineup, some guys are just figuring out game by game. I haven't changed anything. If anything, trying to be more aggressive. But figuring out when to get to my spots, when to get others involved, when I need to be aggressive.
Still working things out.
Q. Coming from Golden State, an organization that's won a lot recently, then coming to the Wizards, you guys haven't as successful this season. Has it been difficult not winning as many games as you're supposed to?
JORDAN POOLE: Yeah, just being a competitor, my entire life you just want to go out there and win games. But it's all about building foundation right now, building something in the locker room that's sustainable, just playing the right way, just consistently putting in the work each and every day to try to get better. Staying in the present and trying to focus on the games that we're winning but also giving yourself grace and preparing for the future, preparing for later in the season, preparing for next year.
It's a process. It's a slow process. Just got to stick with it. Things will come around soon. It just takes time.
Q. You and Tyus combined for 52 tonight. What have you noticed about the chemistry between you two as the season has gone on?
JORDAN POOLE: Tyus is a great player. Being able to play with him, he sees the floor so well. I like how aggressive he's been, taking his open opportunities, but he's really hard to guard in the pick-and-roll, and he makes the right play. Whenever he can get out in transition, whenever he can kind of put guys in positions to be successful, also playing his shot, it's huge, especially as our point guard. Just playing alongside him and trying to be aggressive, too, to kind of take a little bit of pressure off of him, we need to step up and have big nights, and he's been playing really well the last couple weeks. All season really, but he's picked it up the last couple weeks, and it's been helpful.
Q. What do you think of Daniel Gafford's consistency and stepping his game up to the plate, as well?
JORDAN POOLE: Huge. The guy has been amazing all season. I think he leads the league in field goal percentage. He's up there. He's up there. He's amazing. Protecting the paint, blocking shots, coming over to help us with the contest at the rim and then just getting out in transition, guarding the offensive glass is huge for us. He's guarded it all year. He's been battling. We're undersized most nights, so just to see his resilience and the way he's been playing, he's been huge for us, and he's a great player. Definitely keep it up.
Q. What was it like having Delon back and having the roster whole for the first time in a while?
JORDAN POOLE: It was huge. Delon looked really good tonight. Good to see him back on the court. He came in and gave us impact right away, offensively, defensive. We know what he brings to the table, at the end of the day, having experience. It was good to see him back out there on the floor tonight.
Q. I noticed before the game you had a kid passing the ball to you during warmups and you were also getting a lot of love from the kids in the crowd. What was that like for you?
JORDAN POOLE: It's always special. It's always dope. I don't think I'll ever get overseeing kids in my jersey, which is really cool. Letting them have their jerseys, short, socks, shoes on today, I thought Wes might throw them in the game.
No, it's just cool, just trying to show love just because when I was a kid, that was something I would have wanted. Kids look up to you, and there's nothing to being a nice person, so just try to reach out whenever I can, give them a really cool experience, give them an opportunity.
Q. What do you want to see carry over to tomorrow's game from tonight's game?
JORDAN POOLE: Yeah, just play with the energy that we played with. Corey had an amazing game, too. He really kind of helped us in that first half, spacing the floor, knocking shots down. Each and every night, just continuing to get better. Like tonight we fought really hard in that fourth. I think we were down 17 with nine minutes or something left to go, so just to even close that lead and get it close just shows the fight that the guys -- that we've been picking up over the course of the season, and just sticking with it, of course we want to pull the game out, but it's not going to go that way every time, but you look at the positives. Luckily we've got another one tomorrow.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports