Spurs 139, Wizards 130
BRIAN KEEFE: I'll start it off. Credit to the Spurs. They played a great game. They made some tough shots.
But again, one thing that we've talked about in our group is our resiliency and our ability to fight back. We did not start off the game well. We answered the bell, we came back. We didn't start the third quarter well again, made a run. They made a run in the fourth and we cut it down until the end.
Good progress with our team. No moral victories for us, though, but growth, which is what we're looking for. Getting ourselves into tight-game situations, learning how to play in those. I thought our offense was back to what we want to play with, a fast pace, getting the ball up and down the court, paint touches, kick-out threes, but they made some tough shots tonight, so credit to them.
Q. Is it frustrating, you guys did a lot of things well today, but to go against a guy like Wemby who has a career-defining night like he did tonight, what is that like?
BRIAN KEEFE: Yeah, credit to him, tip your hat. The guy made shots, hit some really deep threes. Those go in, tough. But we tip our hat, and we move on to the next game. But credit to him for sure.
Q. What was it in the third quarter because it seems like the last couple of games now that third quarter has kind of given you guys some fits. What can you find to get what you got towards the later half of that first quarter where you guys were punching back to happen in that third quarter?
BRIAN KEEFE: Credit to the -- you're playing an opponent, so credit to them. They came out, he made some tough shots. I thought that caused us to lose our poise a little bit, to be honest.
They went on a quick little run there at the six-minute mark. It was only a six-point game, so we actually started okay, then they made a little run.
But that's going to happen. Guys make shots in this league. That's the lessons you have to learn. Guys can make tough shots in this league. Can you move on to the next possession, continue to play the right way. I thought we got sped up offensively, rushed a little bit. When we just played out of our flow and out of our system, we got great shots, and that's what we've got to continue to do for 48.
Q. You mentioned the runs. That fourth quarter, 39-point fourth quarter for you all and it was capsulated with a 24-9 run to try to make this thing interesting and give yourselves a shooter's chance. What was it outside of the things on offense but defensively for you that was allowing you to thrive offensively?
BRIAN KEEFE: Yeah, I mean, that's a great point. We got stops, and when we get stops and we can rebound, you can see the pace for how we want to play. It's hard to guard because we can attack in multiple things. We have multiple handlers.
The key is the stops. That's what you've got to have consistency throughout the game. That's something we've got to keep getting better at. But when we get stops, we're hard to guard because we can play and we can pass and we can shoot. That's how we got that run. That started with our defense.
Q. Really quiet game from Bilal. What did you see from him?
BRIAN KEEFE: I thought he was fine. He started off good. His defense, he got on the boards, which is great. We challenged him to rebound, so I thought eight rebounds, three assists, blocked shots. I thought his defense was good. Had a couple times he got into the paint. He probably could have turned the corner more, but I thought he had a good game. Sometimes the ball just doesn't come your way the way we want to play, but he was aggressive when he had it; defense was good, rebounding was good.
Q. What type of spark did JD bring you guys in the first half? Got himself a double-double in I think 10 minutes. It seemed like the way he was playing, it was trickling throughout the rest of the guys on the floor. What spark did he give you?
BRIAN KEEFE: That's why he's here. This guy has got a tremendous amount of experience, played in this league for a long time, has played in a lot of big games, not only just in the NBA but FIBA. This is why we have him, to settle us down, to help our team grow, and he produces when he's out there. Gives us a sense of physicality, of rebounding, and then his play making. He really helped us, stepped us up. That shored the game up when he came in that first quarter for sure.
Q. What type of fluidity did Jordan play with tonight, especially on the offensive end?
BRIAN KEEFE: This is how we want Jordan to play, aggressive. It's not just him scoring. He puts pressure on the defense. Some of those were not just his assists; there was probably secondary hockey assists that come off of that. His ability to touch the paint, he puts pressure on the D, and that's how we want him to play. That opens up the game for everybody else.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports