Cavaliers 140, Wizards 101
Q. Was it the second that was more consequential or was it the way they came out in the third?
WES UNSELD JR.: Well, I thought that gave them a little momentum for sure. Three-point game, I think 1:30, 1:35 to play, they go on a 12-2 run at that point and obviously stretch it a little bit. Third quarter I think they amped up their physicality. Wasn't necessarily turnovers. Turnovers were not an issue. Obviously cleaning up the defensive glass was a problem. 18 for 35, you leave yourself little room to recover.
Q. I wanted to ask you about their bench, too. They came out pretty strong in the second quarter. Your second unit has been really good. What did you see from them today specifically where they struggle a little bit?
WES UNSELD JR.: Well, I thought the middle of the second I thought we were really good. That bench unit was pretty good. They got it on all levels, the glass, the paint, and obviously 20 made threes. Pretty much anything and everything.
You know, we'll have to diagnose the film, look at where we can get some gains, but I didn't think we brought the requisite amount of physicality to this game tonight.
Q. After a recent game Kuz was saying that he's encouraging Bilal to be more aggressive on the offensive end. 12 shots tonight, couldn't get the ball in the offensive hoop. What is it you need from him to break out of the slump he's in?
WES UNSELD JR.: I wouldn't call it a slump necessarily. I thought most of the shots were quality. We tried to put the ball in his hands a couple times after time-outs to make a play. Whether that goes in or not, if he's making the right read, taking the right types of shots, I'm okay with that.
The ball found him a couple times in the corners. He was open. He just missed them.
Just continue to play with confidence. He's going to do what he does defensively. Offensively when the ball finds him, you make the right play.
Q. When you guys are working in practice and you are seeing offensive growth in other areas and it's the rebounding that lets you downtime and again, you said that's not something you can necessarily drill in practice --
WES UNSELD JR.: Well, we do drill it. You can drill it and it's got to be a mindset. It's one thing to do it in practice. It's one thing to feel that in real time.
It's just something that's got to be a priority for us because it keeps popping up.
Q. I just mean does it feel like it almost -- that just being the continuous problem, the growth on the other end?
WES UNSELD JR.: I don't think so, no. That's a problem that we have to continue to hammer away at, but we're still seeing other things that are trending, and so we'll still highlight the positives and continue to lean in on some of those, but we're not going to overlook some of our shortcomings. We have to continue to teach and hold a certain standard in certain areas. We're not there yet. Once again tonight we paid the price in that area. But that doesn't detract or take away in any way from some of the other positive things we've done.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports