Pacers 115, Wizards 103
BRIAN KEEFE: I thought the third quarter started pretty good, but both teams were just scoring. Then we had a couple turnover stretch, but then we cut it at the end of the third. Then our defense really amped up in the fourth. I thought it was pretty good. I don't know what the total number is, I think it was 23 if that's correct. Then we just couldn't make some shots there at the end.
But I liked the shots we got. I liked our fight. Give credit to the Pacers for closing out at the end, but we played a pretty good game. Just didn't get the win.
Q. What went into the decision to put Kyshawn in the starting lineup versus Bub?
BRIAN KEEFE: Just a little bit of match-ups, some of their size, some of the things we were doing defensively. Give us a different look, put a little more size on their wings. We were doing some different coverages tonight. Just wanted to use his size on the perimeter.
Q. That third quarter, the turnovers, is that what allowed them to find themselves at the free-throw line a little bit more frequently than you would like tonight?
BRIAN KEEFE: Yeah, I thought the first four or five minutes, both teams were scoring, and we talked about that in time-outs, like hey, we're scoring but they're also scoring, and we got into a little bit of a rut offensively, and that led to some of their run-outs, some of their transition threes, but then we battled back and had a little run the last two minutes and kind of cut it, but that little four- or five-minute stretch, turnovers hurt us, and then they were able to get out and get some easy baskets and get some fouls.
Q. You did have six players in double figures. You were mentioning that void of Jordan has got to be by committee. What did you like about the way it was a lot more of a balanced scoring than what we've been seeing?
BRIAN KEEFE: Yeah, just team our team is growing in terms of that type of stuff. Like I said before the game, we're still learning and growing. This is Malcolm's fourth game.
You've asked this question, we have multiple guys who can make plays and multiple guys who are ball handlers, so we want to play a system that allows guys to make decisions, made reads. I thought for the most part, we did that. We just had that little bit of stretch in the third where the turnovers got us. For the most part, we played a pretty clean game; the turnovers were low in the first half.
Q. With Malcolm, he plays a much slower speed than the rest of the team at times. How do you like the change of pace he provides?
BRIAN KEEFE: He plays slow to fast. He does a little bit of both. He gets us steady but then he's very quick getting to the rim, so he's got a good change of pace to him. But this guy is a great player, a veteran player. Seen a lot, has really helped us these last couple games, and I know he's going to keep getting better as he gets his legs underneath him.
Q. In the preseason and early in the season you talked about wanting your team to be organized on offense as well as running fast. What does he do with that?
BRIAN KEEFE: Just gets us into stuff that's recognizable, stuff that we know that we can get to that leads to comfortability for our other players. They know where their shots are going to come to. He has control of the offense. He's played this game, as I said, for a long time, but he just steadies us.
Q. What did you like about the way Alex was pretty consistent on both ends of the floor tonight, a great double-double for him?
BRIAN KEEFE: Activity. When Alex is active protecting the rim, on the boards on both ends, running to the rim on his screens, getting the rolls -- his activity was high and then obviously you see that he's switching on to their guards. How many guys can do that? Like this is a 19 year old who's switching on to their guards and guarding them pretty well. So we're able to see different things. He was able to do multiple things defensively tonight. That's always the biggest key for us tonight is his defense, and he set the tone early I thought.
Q. There was a stretch in the fourth a couple possessions where you guys needed to get a couple of stops and there was one where it was a complete switch amongst all guys, Kyle, Bilal, and it seemed like you were on a string. Can you talk about the fact that since the road trip, the communication defensively, it's also been the players knowing that they need to take it up a notch. What did you like about the way you guys communicated tonight?
BRIAN KEEFE: Yeah, you could hear them. You could visibly hear them with my own ears out there, which was great. It's a loud crowd, and just their intention to try to get stops, to try to do it as a collective, and I really thought in the fourth, we really did that. We made them make tough shots. They were playing one-on-ones and they've got some good one-on-one players, and we were standing them up, making them take tough ones. We were able to get to the rebound. We just didn't convert. I thought we had some good open threes that we didn't hit, but we were getting the stops in the fourth, which was good.
Q. With Alex, what is it like trying to get that level of activity on a consistent level?
BRIAN KEEFE: It's just part of the work. It's just part of the process of learning what the league is and the schedule and who you're playing and your opponent and tendencies of guys, throwing different coverages at him. He's taking it all in. This guy is a worker, so this guy is putting in the time and he'll continue to get better with all that stuff.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports