Pelicans 133, Wizards 126
Q. What impressed you most about Deni's night tonight?
BRIAN KEEFE: That he was part of our group that was super resilient. We got down 20, and he helped lead the charge to get us back in the game, and we didn't hang our heads, and we continued to fight, got the lead back, and made it a tough fourth quarter game. Just being part of that group, the whole team that led us back from being down a pretty big number.
Q. What changes did you guys make before halftime? Was that just getting out and playing fast?
BRIAN KEEFE: We got a couple stops there at the end. We managed the end of the quarter. I think we got good execution on a two-for-one, so made two threes. That was I believe an 11-0 run to end the quarter, and that propelled us into halftime. Like I said, good fight, good resilience.
Q. What did you see with the perimeter defense tonight?
BRIAN KEEFE: Yeah, we struggled in the first half, I thought, 68 or 69, right? The ball was getting in the paint too easy. We weren't protecting the drive. I thought in the third quarter, that's how we got the lead. We started being a little more tight, a little more connected as a group. But they were putting pressure on the rim the whole night, but I liked our fight in the second half.
Q. What individually did Deni do well?
BRIAN KEEFE: Taking the right shots, what the offense gave him. Obviously we put the ball in his hands and he was attacking, but then when he was open from three, he let it go. He read the game well, and we put him in positions to take advantage of his quickness and his athleticism to the rim, but then when the ball was kicked to him, he shot it when he was open.
It was really a team effort tonight, and I think that was maybe a franchise record for threes we set tonight, so we really shared the ball. 35 assists, so we're seeing some growth in what we're doing offensively.
Q. You talked about all the good things, but five turnovers in the fourth quarter. What did you see from that execution?
BRIAN KEEFE: A couple coming out of time-outs where we didn't get exactly what we wanted, but we did struggle with turnovers in the first half. I thought we did a little better in the second. But yeah, some of those cutoffs was late. We're still learning and growing as a group. Fourth quarter execution was good, but it can be better.
Q. How much of Deni's success tonight came off of getting the rebounding going?
BRIAN KEEFE: Yeah, I think that's something we talked about pregame. We talked about that. Deni's rebounding triggers his offense, so for us, if we're a defense-first group, and when we rebound, and specifically when he rebounds, he has the ability to push that can lead for shots for himself but also can really lead to shots for others. It's a big part of our attack. He's shown that he's capable of doing that, and we're going to continue to ask him to do that.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports