Nets 122, Wizards 119 (OT)
Q. What's the feeling after a game where you guys lost but you had such good looks at the end, they just didn't fall?
JORDAN POOLE: Good fight tonight by our guys. We've been in a lot of dogfights these last five or six games or so. It's really hard to win consecutive games. Four in a row is tough, but we fought. We battled back in the fourth. We just had a couple looks that didn't go in. Just got to find ways to get stops, and we'll be all right.
Q. The 26 points you had in the second half were one short of the best half you've ever had in an NBA game. What was working for you in the third and fourth quarter?
JORDAN POOLE: Just being aggressive, playing my game, making the right play. Coach put the ball in my hands and allows me to make plays, not only for my teammates but for myself, try to get as good looks, kind of try to control the situation down the stretch. Just tried to put pressure on the defense all night.
Q. Kuz was saying he thinks you guys' success in tight situations late in game in the past little stretch was in part because BK has simplified things and everybody is very clear on those roles in that situation. Do you agree with that at all? How do you judge the late-game situations?
JORDAN POOLE: Yeah, we've really focused on that the last X amount of games. I want to say like 10 games or so. Earlier on in the season, we weren't in a lot of situations where we were close in games like that, so close. As of late we've been in a lot more recently. So just being prepared for whenever the opportunity comes. We know what we want to run, what positions we need to be in, who we're looking for on the offensive and defensive end.
After seeing so many game reps, live reps consecutively over and over, you start to really learn, and credit to our guys for just picking up on that and trying to find ways to execute as best we can late in the fourth or late in the game.
Q. Do you feel like your role is clear since you've been back in the starting lineup? Seems like there's a little bit more continuity, I guess, between the two groups. It seems like there's one really tone on the floor.
JORDAN POOLE: I'm playing my natural position now. I think the guys that I'm out there on the court with, depending on the rotations, are also starting to figure out how to play that way, how to get out in transition. I think it was a good example today where Deni had a good contest, I got the rebound and he just ran down the floor right away. We put out in transition, and we try to get out and get easy lay-ups. I feel like we played with a little bit of a faster pace.
We're all still figuring it out, working it out, trying to play off each other, continuing to gain chemistry. It's all a work in progress.
Q. You mentioned playing your natural position, which I assume is point given Tyus's injury. Talk about how comfortable you feel running point.
JORDAN POOLE: Yeah, I just think that I'm a threat being able to come down in transition off of a make or off of a miss. The defense isn't able to load up as much just because I'm trying to score, get downhill, create an advantage. Whenever we get an advantage, just trying to make the right play, whether that's a kick to Corey in the corner or finding somebody on the roll or kicking up ahead for an easy lay-up. I feel like it's really tough for the defense when they're in transition, and also just making the right reads, making the right plays. I've been getting trapped a lot, getting doubled a lot all season, but as of late recently, and I think our team is doing a really good job of just making the right play out of that, whether it's hitting the pocket, spraying it out to the corners, or if there's somebody that's happy to shake up and run through. It's been a learning experience, and like I said, a work in progress, as well.
Q. Coach Keefe said after the game that they have a lot of trust in you running the point. Do you feel like you running the point galvanized the entire team and lifted everybody up, given how good you are at ball handling?
JORDAN POOLE: Yeah. I also think that it's just -- I'm a willing passer, as well. Of course I want to be aggressive and of course I want to score, but I'm trying to win the game at the end of the day. If I see a teammate that's open or if I can find a way to create an advantage to get an easy bucket for my teammate, I think that's what I'm trying to do just as much as be aggressive and score the ball. I think my teammates are also starting to know that, so they're ready at all points in time.
I think there was a possession today where we caught them in a breakdown, I drove right, Corey shake up from the corner to the wing and got him an open look. Just constantly seeing that over and over and over throughout the course of the game the last couple games has been something that has been huge for us, and I think everybody else is also starting to kind of figure out ways to kind of play around it, as well.
Q. When you say your natural position, have you always felt that way, or did it kind of become crystallized this year by playing more at the 2?
JORDAN POOLE: I've always played back and forth, kind of like my entire life. Sometimes I played PG, sometimes I play shooting guard. Sometimes I get thrown in at the 2 just because I can score the ball has kind of been a focus, but I just think the way we're transitioning into the league are having bigger athletic guards, 6'4", 6'5" kind of running the point, and being aggressive offensively and creating looks for their teammate, I just think that's the way the game is going right now.
But previously I was also playing a lot of point. My first year in the league they tried to put me at shooting guard, as well, and it's very similar to the beginning of this year. But yeah, I've always been like a team player, and whatever you needed me to do, I would do. But I think now naturally just being on ball, making the right reads, being aggressive coming off screens, shooting the ball, trying to get downhill, creating breakdowns has really worked personally, and I think it's helped our team, too.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports