Clippers 125, Wizards 109
Q. What do you think unraveled there in the second half, especially in the third quarter?
BRIAN KEEFE: I loved our fight in the first half. I thought we came out and we competed. Only down six at the half, they made a quick burst in that third quarter. I think we had a little more turnovers than we probably would have liked that quarter that led to some run outs.
So that was the quarter that really got us. That was the difference in the game.
Q. Kuzma had 16 in the first quarter and finished with 27. So he slowed down after that. Do you think that was just because the Clippers were throwing different looks or maybe he wasn't getting the ball as much?
BRIAN KEEFE: I think what he did was great in the first quarter. I think he felt, which good players do, he felt the game and he felt like we needed someone to be aggressive and he kind of got us going.
And in the second half, I don't think it was him. I think we just got a little bit sloppy with the ball. They beat us to some 50/50 balls in turnovers, and that really turned the game.
Q. Davis got some minutes tonight. What have you seen from him over the season and what are you looking for?
BRIAN KEEFE: Yeah, I thought Johnny's minutes were actually really good. He came in and had great energy. Was getting deflections, getting on the ball, getting over screens. I loved his energy tonight, and that's what we want from Johnny. We think he can be a good defender, physical guy and he showed that tonight.
Q. What was Corey able to take advantage of especially early on?
BRIAN KEEFE: Corey plays always with great speed and pace and he always finds openings for his shots. He's a guy we count on to do that. We had a couple obviously guys out and he stepped up and filled that void when we needed it and it was needed tonight in the first half.
Q. I think I saw Jordan in shootaround this morning, but when did he start feeling ill?
BRIAN KEEFE: Almost right before the game. Came down with a little bit of bug and just couldn't go. Didn't feel good.
Q. So with Miami coming in, what are the focal points for that contest, and I know you said the run outs on the turnovers, you want to clean up but what other aspects do you want to take into that game that you want to clean up?
BRIAN KEEFE: Obviously a great team. They play super physical, well-coached. We've got to see how we bounce back from this and I think that's a good test as we are trying to grow and build this thing that we're doing. I'm excited for that.
I think our guys played a good first half. Like we said, we struggled a little bit in the third quarter, but this will be a good test coming in on Friday against a good, physical team, and we are going to have to bring it.
Q. I was just going to ask for you to evaluate Gafford's rebounds. I know he had pretty good numbers in the fourth quarter there, but for the rest of the game?
BRIAN KEEFE: Not our best on the boards. We've been better. Last game we challenged our guys, we didn't have that same fight on both sides of the glass. That's something we're going to keep harping and keep working on.
Q. Just as a bench point, coming into this game you were fifth best in the league with 41 points. You got up to that, but it wasn't really until late that you went deep into the rotation. What was the discernment there to not go deep into the bench until late in the game?
BRIAN KEEFE: Yeah, we had to make some changes on the last minute towards rotations and stuff but I liked what our guys did coming in, the guys like Jules Bernard and Johnny Davis, Patrick Baldwin, Jr., those guys gave us good minutes; Anthony Gill.
So when they came in, we tried to push it a little bit more with our starters to see if we could keep ourselves going in the game, and they really did that for the first half. Like I said, the third quarter is are where they kind of got us. But those guys coming in gave us great minutes down the stretch and that's what we expect them to do when they play, so that was good to see.
Q. Was Danny hurt, shaken up? Looked like he left the game a little sore.
BRIAN KEEFE: No, nothing that we know of. You know, we just felt like we wanted to give a couple other guys -- the game was getting a little bit high up in points, so that's when we brought in the other guys. Nothing yet.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports