Magic 119, Wizards 109
Q. What changed in the second half for you guys on offense?
BRIAN KEEFE: As expected, they upped their physicality to start the second half, got us on our heels. But then we responded. We made a good push. They made a run at the start of the third quarter, and then we kind of fought for the rest of the game until I think it was a tie game. I'm not sure the exact time left but pretty much near the end, and they just made a little push late.
They upped their physicality, which is normal in a game, but I liked how we responded.
Q. Specifically to the three-point line, I think you guys had 10 threes in the first half and two in the second half. What did they do to shore up the perimeter?
BRIAN KEEFE: I actually liked our looks. I think we had a lot of clean looks that we had in the first half, we just didn't make them. So the process was good, and we're going to continue working on getting those type of good shots.
Q. Johnny scored eight points tonight. Am I reaching too far by saying he looks a lot more confident on both ends of the floor, especially in the second half?
BRIAN KEEFE: I think Johnny has been good. I think in the minutes he's played, the defense has picked up. Him and Richaun both brought a lot of energy to the game when they came in, specifically Johnny, defensive intensity, defensive focus, and then when he had the opportunity to shoot them, he's letting them fly, which we want him to do, and he'll continue to do that.
Q. Speaking of Richaun, what did you like from him tonight? He had 12.
BRIAN KEEFE: Physicality, defense, screening, and then good play making in the pocket and then finished around the rim. He was a big factor for us playing well.
Q. Kind of similarly to the Utah game, you guys weren't able to get as up tempo as you like to play. Do you feel like you guys learned anything tonight? Did you see anything different that you liked or didn't like as much?
BRIAN KEEFE: I thought there in the end, I thought we got good shots. I thought we learned some lessons from that Utah game. The shots just didn't go down, but our process was good. I thought we actually got some good looks that we would take again. I trust our guys to make those shots. I think if we keep working on the process of getting ourselves organized and shots we want, which we got, that we'll break through.
Q. Obviously you guys tied a franchise losing streak tonight. I wonder what you told the guys. They've been pretty good at dealing with it. Did you address that at all?
BRIAN KEEFE: Didn't address that at all. We're all competitors in there. I have a group of competitors who want to win every game. Our organization is competitive people. But this group is getting closer. We're playing better. We've just got to put it together for 48 minutes. These guys are learning from game to game, but this is a committed group, and they're committed to each other.
Q. You said you liked watching Johnny let it fly. What do you think is the next step for him? What do you want to see him progress at? Is it creating his own shot, penetrating the line?
BRIAN KEEFE: I think the defense is number one for him. That's what's going to keep his career going. Then when he's open, shoot it, and then if someone closes out, just make the right play and play make, which I think he's actually very capable of doing all those things. I've been very happy how he's played.
Q. How like you like the small ball lineup that you went with? Pretty good?
BRIAN KEEFE: Pretty good. We used that for different laps throughout the game. We mixed and matched. Gene coming in, too, played small with Gene. I liked some stuff we can learn from and stuff we can get better from. I thought it was decent.
Q. What dimension do you want to add to that starting lineup?
BRIAN KEEFE: Corey brings us spacing, energy, driving the ball to the basket, physicality on defense. He's just a threat for us, and he brings a lot of movement to our team by the actions he creates.
Q. What's the challenge of defending Franz Wagner and Paolo Banchero?
BRIAN KEEFE: We fouled them a little bit in the first half. Wagner didn't get any free throws in the second half. You've got to keep them off the line.
But give them credit; they hit some tough shots that were contested late, especially late. Keep them off the free-throw line, try to keep them out of the paint. They hit some tough contested shots we have to live with.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports