Celtics 108, Wizards 96
BRIAN KEEFE: I'll start off, our guys, like I thought they would, they answered the competitive response. They came out, they brought it, they were together as a group.
I thought our defense was way better tonight. Give Boston credit at the end; they hit some tough shots. It was a closer game because we were trapping and fouling at the end. Obviously guys are trying to get points in these games. But I liked the effort our guys put out there tonight. It showed their character.
Q. Coach, it was a really close game and seems like Boston was only able to pull away with a few minutes left. What do you think clicked for them late in the game that allowed them to do that?
BRIAN KEEFE: They hit some tough shots, to be honest, and sometimes you've got to tip your cap, pat them on the butt, say, tough shot. Those were contested twos which they don't want to shoot, and those guys raised up, hit a couple. But our guys were right there at the end. I think it was a six-point game, pretty tight at the end. I don't know the exact time on the score, but it was pretty close.
Q. Were you encouraged by the team's defense, holding the defending champions to only 108 points?
BRIAN KEEFE: Yeah, our guys were in their bodies. We were physical. We were committed. We tried to highly contest everything tonight, and I think we showed what we're capable of. It was a good step forward for our team, but we've got to get back to work tomorrow, keep working.
Q. Bilal Coulibaly seemed like he played tough defense on Jayson Tatum for the majority of the game. What did you see from that matchup?
BRIAN KEEFE: This is what we want Bilal to be. That's his first thing is be our guy on the defensive end, take all the tough matchups. Played him 40 minutes tonight. Impressive that he was out there guarding. Kept him on Tatum for the whole first quarter, then we put him on Brown, put him back on Tatum. Tried to make those guys take tough shots the whole game, and I thought he did that.
Sometimes guys are going to hit a couple but you just keep going. I thought his stick-to-itiveness was great tonight.
Q. Did Bilal guard Tatum mostly in the fourth quarter?
BRIAN KEEFE: He guarded him, but we were switching pick-and-rolls, too, a little bit. I think a little bit of everybody got him, but he had the initial assignment. Sometimes we would switch on some of their pick-and-roll stuff.
Q. To have such strong comments like you did after the Knicks game and then to see your team immediately respond, is that reassuring? How impressive is it to see that kind of immediate response?
BRIAN KEEFE: I knew they would. This is the character of our guys. Our guys, like I said, are workers. They want to be in the gym. They want to get better. We're going to continue to do that. We're far from where we want to be. But today was a good step forward. Tomorrow we've got to get back to work.
Q. Was there a moment in the last couple days of practice that signified to you that showed you, okay, these guys got the message, they're here?
BRIAN KEEFE: No, I mean, nothing, to be honest. We're all about, I think I explained -- you asked a question about habits before the game, and that's what we're about here. You come in, you do your job, you work, you get better and you keep stacking those days and that leads to consistency. That's the message we are giving to our players, but that's who they are. That's what we expect. That's the standard.
Q. How pleased were you with the rebounding given how much it was emphasized in recent days?
BRIAN KEEFE: Great. I thought they got a couple cheap ones, a couple bad bounces there in the second half, but for the most part, when we were putting bodies -- when we're able to do that, as you can see, we can get out in transition, and that's part of our strength of our game. Stops and rebounding off turnovers fuels our break, so it's a big part of what we're doing.
Q. What did you see from Brogdon? Obviously he had a pretty good game in the box score.
BRIAN KEEFE: Just his ability to get to spots, make plays, keep us settled. He's just getting his rhythm. He's just getting started. This is his third game. I thought he was terrific.
Q. Obviously we're interested in why the team played better tonight compared to the prior game. How much of the improvement do you think was from you changing your rotations a bit to have more veteran or more experience on the floor at more times than you had in prior games?
BRIAN KEEFE: I don't think it was that. I think to be honest with you, I think it was the last -- what we did. I think how we approached things. We've added more veterans in the lineup because some of those guys were injured, so now they're just back. So we're still learning what works best for us, who's playing with who. Those combinations are still -- this is really -- we're not completely there yet, but more healthy than we've been with having Malcolm back now for the third game. So we're still learning about our team and who fits with who, but I thought in the work is where we got better the last few days.
Q. With Malcolm coming back into the starting lineup, is that just an indication of the ramp-up in minutes for him or is that a match-up specific thing with the Celtics?
BRIAN KEEFE: No, that's his minutes had gone up, so we were allowed to get him -- it's hard to start when you only can play a certain amount, so now his minutes were able to go up, and he was able to play more starter's type minutes tonight, so that was good.
Q. Do you envision him staying in the starting lineup in lieu of Bub for the foreseeable future?
BRIAN KEEFE: I'm not going to give you that answer, but thanks for the question.
Q. Kyshawn again struggled to defend without fouling. How does a young player go about improving that other than just learning on the fly? How do you expect veterans to help him, and how can he learn on his own?
BRIAN KEEFE: We're watching film with him. He's watching tons of film. This is one of our most motivated guys. This guy studies everything. It's impressive for someone his age. Some of it is going through it. You've got to feel some of that stuff. Every player that plays in this league has to go through those moments.
But he's got a competitive desire, so some of that's that, too. Sometimes when you're that age they don't always give you the right calls to be honest. But if he continues to plays like that, the refs will know him, too.
Q. Other than Kyshawn, are there any players who really gravitate towards that kind of learning who have really gone deep into the film?
BRIAN KEEFE: I think it's our whole team. Our team is impressive with our preparation and how they approach things, but that's something that we take seriously as an organization, but our guys are into that stuff.
Q. There's that post-up for Kuz about 40 seconds left or so, that time and score a lot of teams nowadays would take a three, so wondering what was the thinking behind --
BRIAN KEEFE: It was both. It was designed for a three. If that was taken away, get a quick two. It was a multiple-action play. They took away the three, so he read it, tried to get quick one, then we were going to trap and foul again, so we had to get the ball -- score quickly, so it was a play for both.
Q. There's always talk about two-for-one management. Now people talk about three-for-two or even four-for-three. At what point do you get to trying to control the number of possessions left to maintain that advantage?
BRIAN KEEFE: We do all of it, too. I know they do it. Most teams are doing that type of stuff. You want to manage the game, especially at the end of the quarters. Those are big things. We've done pretty well with that this year, but those are things you work on in practice.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports