Oklahoma City Thunder 147, Washington Wizards 106
Q. I think you summed last night up as a step back. Would you say the same about tonight?
BRIAN KEEFE: I would say the last two nights, we had built some momentum going into the break. I think we've had two tough games versus two tough teams. We really didn't finish the quarters well. The first three quarters they kind of made big runs in each quarter, and that kind of extended the game.
But we have a long rest of the year, and we are going to get back to work and keep getting better.
Q. Were the defensive breakdowns between tonight and last night, did you see similarity across the board, or were they exploiting you guys in different areas?
BRIAN KEEFE: It's a little bit different because the personnel both teams have, they both present different challenges.
But yeah, this is an area we have been focused on. We have been better but the two performances weren't up to our standard.
Q. What do you feel like was the biggest weakness tonight?
BRIAN KEEFE: Just penetration, and then to be honest, they hit every shot in the first half. I mean, I don't think they missed much. I think they shot like 70 percent. That probably wasn't going to stay at that level the whole game. They were comfortable shots. We didn't make them miss. Give credit to them.
Q. Saw John, Eugene, Patrick early on. How much is this last stretch of the season about taking a look at those guys? And when the whole team is off, what can you glean from them on a night like tonight?
BRIAN KEEFE: I thought those guys gave us a good minutes. Those guys were all in the game when we made a run. I think we cut it to five, and they were all in the game playing good team basketball.
So we are going to continue to explore our roster and develop them for the rest of the years, and those guys have always been asked to play. Those guys did a good job to the paint.
Q. How difficult is it for them when everybody on the team is being asked to do different things, and them specifically, guys like Justin coming in and playing for three games. Do you give them leeway or how does that factor in?
BRIAN KEEFE: We coach everybody. We expect everybody to play the right way. We are going to coach the full 48. So we want them to play the identity that we play, which is defense and sharing the ball. Those guys have been great.
You know, I've talked about the G-League before. Those guys have been trained well down there and that continues when they play are to us, but the expectations are the same for everybody on our roster.
Q. Johnny I think had seven boards, some defensive missteps otherwise. How do you rate his defense?
BRIAN KEEFE: I think Johnny has been actually a little bit of a bright spot the last couple games. His physicality and his ability to put bodies on people. Obviously the rebounding is a skill for him, but I'd say actually the last two games, his defense has been pretty good.
Q. Second night in the rotation. What did you see out of the starters?
BRIAN KEEFE: I think we are still finding our rhythm with that. The one positive is you see Jordan getting to the free throw more. Last two games, I think he had 7-for-9 the last game and I think he had five again tonight.
That shows he's getting downhill and attacking and if we can get our free throws up, that's a great way to make us more efficient.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports