Celtics 108, Wizards 96
Q. Kuz, what did you like about the defense tonight?
KYLE KUZMA: I mean, we did a good job of containing. I think Malcolm helped out a lot, just being an extra physical guard. Sometimes in our switches, a lot of teams try to mismatch hunt, and we just had an extra body out there. I think that really helped a lot. Just as a team we did much better.
Q. You mentioned how much he helped defensively. Jordan was talking about how much he helped you and him offensively. How nice is it to have a player like Malcolm Brogdon in the lineup right now?
KYLE KUZMA: It's definitely better, just having somebody that's smart, high IQ, someone that's played a lot of games, knows the NBA, knows how to play defense. Those little things really helped us out as a team.
Q. You talked about how your role has been different than in past years. How much more comfortable does a game like today make you feel about that change?
KYLE KUZMA: I mean, the change really doesn't even matter, honestly, comfortable or not. It's just basketball. This game really doesn't even matter; I'm not really results driven as a person.
Q. For BK to have such harsh criticism for you guys after the Knicks game and for you guys to respond today with a pretty strong defensive performance, what does that say about his impact on the team and how his message is getting through?
KYLE KUZMA: What did he say? I don't know what he said.
Q. He says you guys lack of defensive (indiscernible).
KYLE KUZMA: I mean, we competed tonight. A step in the right direction. But in this league you've got to do it over and over. One game is one game.
Q. How difficult is it to finish in this league? Obviously Boston, you're right in there and Boston is able to finish this game. A lot of young guys playing significant minutes. How difficult is that? Is that something you have to learn as you play in the league?
KYLE KUZMA: Yeah, just something you've got to learn. The game is hard. It's hard to beat anybody in this league. This game just shows you, it's not a given for the reigning champs to win a game.
Yeah, it's tough, and especially for us, our margin for error is way less than most. To be in this game was good. Like I said, a step in the right direction.
Q. With you saying that it's a step in the right direction, moving on from that last game, what changes did you guys make to make sure you guys were in that right direction today?
KYLE KUZMA: Just play hard, play hard, play physical. We played tough. Played tough today. That was the difference.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports