Magic 110, Wizards 90
Q. Where did you feel like the game got out of hand, in the third quarter?
BRIAN KEEFE: Yeah, right at the start of the third. They came out, they were the aggressors. They put their hands on us. They got physical. We got a level drop of intensity, and that really was the difference in the game. We played a terrific first half. Our energy was high. Our defensive intensity was great. Even with a low shooting percentage we played a really good first half. We didn't carry it over for the full game.
Q. What do you chalk that up to? Do you chalk it up to experience?
BRIAN KEEFE: No, we never use inexperience as anything around here. We will never say that. We just didn't get it done. Lessons to be learned. Come out better in the third quarter, keep that same focus we had in the first. But give them a little credit for upping their intensity.
Q. They are a notoriously physical defensive team. How much, if at all, did that impede your guys?
BRIAN KEEFE: You've got to always give credit where credit is due. They're a good defensive team for sure. I actually thought we had good looks. I thought we actually got to the rim. We had some missed lay-ups, and we didn't convert well in transition, which I thought could have gave us a little bit more of a lead at the beginning, at the first half. But good lessons to learn.
Q. It's been a tough offensive stretch for Bilal of late. What have you seen from him?
BRIAN KEEFE: I actually thought he played a really good game. First half was terrific. Defensively was terrific, got downhill. The whole team really struggled in the second half. But I liked his attacking. Got to the free-throw line. He just missed a couple of easy lay-ups that probably would have made his game look better, but that was lot of our guys. We just missed some chippies around the rim, some open threes that we usually made.
But our process for the most part in the first half was good. We got a little stagnant there in the second half.
Q. What have you seen even as defenses sag off him, can take away those driving lanes? What are you seeing him doing that allows him to still get downhill?
BRIAN KEEFE: That's his talent. He can get in the paint. That's one of the things he's really good at is he's got this ability no matter where people are guarding him to get downhill, touch the paint, make plays. He did a good job of that.
Q. Is it his athleticism that lets him do that?
BRIAN KEEFE: It's a little bit of everything, but yeah, that's for sure a characteristic that he has.
Q. Is there ever an explanation for missing the chippies that you guys did tonight, which is something you do typically make, especially that it wasn't just one singular person?
BRIAN KEEFE: No, no explanation. Sometimes that stuff happens. It's can you have the resolve to stay with it, which in the first half we did. I think we shot 40 percent in the first half, and we were winning for most of the half.
So sometimes the games are going to be like this where you're going to have to figure out to do it the hard way and do hard things. It's not always going to be pretty in this league. I love that our defense gave us a chance to win the game in the first half. We just didn't carry it over in the second.
Q. It seemed like Kyshawn with the three-point shooting, this game he had kind of that goldfish mentality of that one, forget about it, and keep shooting it, and the confidence to keep shooting it, and then he got one to go down. What does that say about a young player who can just, last play is last play but keep moving forward?
BRIAN KEEFE: It's a great thing, and I think he's learning that. Move on to the next possession, do the next right thing. If you're open, let it fly. We always tell our guys, if you're open, get a good shot, take it. We want our guys to be aggressive, and he's growing with that for sure.
Q. Richaun had a nice game as well, and I noticed he did a lot more verbal leadership than we've seen him maybe in the past, talking to the young guys, especially when things might have got frustrating with the whistle. Him now taking that step of having a focal kind of moment and verbiage with the guys, what does that say about him and finding his way of comfort?
BRIAN KEEFE: He's been great. Since he's been here, this is one of the things that he's done. Obviously he's getting more minutes now and he didn't early in the season. That didn't change who he was.
That's his character. He's got a good way about him, great teammate, and he plays a really physical hard game of basketball, which we like, and it's been nice having him in the rotation. He's been playing well.
Q. When there was that question about whether there was a goaltend or not in the third quarter, the two players who seemed loudest or most involved on the bench seemed to be Marcus and Khris. What does that tell you or reinforce about them that you maybe already knew or didn't know?
BRIAN KEEFE: Yeah, I didn't catch that live because I was kinda focused on what was going on with the refs. That was kind of a messed-up play. But that just shows you, I notice the other stuff they're doing, and they're engaged in the game. They were talking to each other, talking to their teammates during huddles. I'm not surprised that they were doing it.
Q. What did you think about Tristan on defense today?
BRIAN KEEFE: I thought he had some good moments and he had some moments that he needs to improve on. But he's shown that he's good protecting the rim when he uses his length. But he's an evolving, growing player. This is something we're working on with him.
Q. What were the things that you liked that you saw?
BRIAN KEEFE: I just said the rim protection was good.
Q. What about what would you like to see --
BRIAN KEEFE: Rebounding, but that was not just him. That was him coming over sometimes and having to make a second effort, but that was also guys on the backside when he was going to contest at the rim. But we struggled a little bit rebounding in the second half.
Q. Is the expectation that Marcus and Khris will play tomorrow night?
BRIAN KEEFE: To be determined.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports