Hawks 130, Wizards 126
Q. What do you think made the difference tonight?
KYLE KUZMA: I mean, we were in the ballgame. I think we just didn't hit shots. We had a lot of great open looks as a collective, and sometimes they go in, sometimes they don't. We gave ourselves a chance. Most of the game it was a ballgame, but yeah.
Q. It was a franchise record for three-point attempts as a team and also for you individually. What was it like playing that type of game?
KYLE KUZMA: I mean, that's just how game was. A lot of times they were just sagging off. A lot of teams recently have been just kind of waiting for me to drive into the rim, just opening up for myself really, because I'm confident in my shot.
Q. What do you feel like you guys were doing well the rest of the game?
KYLE KUZMA: Playing with pace, moving the ball, sharing it. How many assists did we have? 34 assists, right? Yeah, I mean, that's good.
Probably could have gotten more stops. Yeah.
Q. What kind of did change in the second quarter?
KYLE KUZMA: They went on a little run, and we didn't hit shots. I mean, that's the story of the game really. We shot 37 from three? That's not bad. Oh, that was them. 32. Yeah, exactly.
Q. This is Corey's fourth straight game with 13 or more points. What have you seen from him lately?
KYLE KUZMA: Just being Corey. Coming off shot ready, letting it fly, being ready to shoot, hunting shots. When teams close him out hard, running, getting to the paint, and-ones. He's playing his game. He's been playing his game all year.
Q. He had that nice drive and and-one, and then he also had a play off the bounce where he hit Gafford with a no-look pass for a dunk. Do you think the off-the-bounce game of him is still a little underrated?
KYLE KUZMA: I mean, it's only underrated because people -- like people that don't watch basketball or whatever probably. But I'm sure the scouting reports say run him off, but he can do things off the bounce, as well.
I mean, I'm not really surprised.
Q. You guys won on Friday. I know you lost today but made a push toward the end. What have you thought about the way you've been playing in recent weeks compared to the rest of the season?
KYLE KUZMA: I mean, in recent weeks, okay. We got our whole team back a little bit now. Sometimes I feel like it's been a little clunky with that, obviously trying to get Delon in there and then him having a restriction, Sham back, introducing Musky a little bit more because we haven't played so, so much with him this year.
Q. Kuz, you had a season-high 38 tonight. What do you think you did right?
KYLE KUZMA: Made some shots. Yeah, made seven threes, took my time, took good shots.
Q. Bilal finished with two points, and I think he hasn't been able to get into double figures for five out of the last six or something like that. Would you like to see him be more involved in offense, or is it just feeling out the game and picking his spots?
KYLE KUZMA: It's just him being aggressive, rebounding and pushing and going, attacking close-outs, all those type of things that he can do. Like 17 minutes, 0 for 3, he should be more aggressive. I tell him that all the time.
He'll figure it out. But definitely more aggressive for sure.
Q. Do you think it's tough for a rookie to sort of build a consistently aggressive game plan? I'm sure it helps having veterans like you telling him to be more aggressive, but is it hard as a rookie to have that be part of your consistent game plan?
KYLE KUZMA: Yeah, for sure because it's a mindset. Like you have to, as a rookie -- I never went through this, but I just kind of see like you can get down on yourself real quick. But to have an aggressive mindset, you've got to have like an F-it mentality a little bit. That's the only way you're going to have like consistent confidence, too; you know what I mean? That's something he has to learn and just grasp.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports