Trail Blazers 129, Wizards 121
BRIAN KEEFE: We all got to handle all that stuff. That's part of the game. You're going to get calls either way. Doesn't matter if it's right or wrong. That was just part of our poise tonight that wasn't there that we had the other night. We've got to grow and get better.
Q. Blazers had 101 field goal attempts and the Wizards only had 83. What do you think accounted for that discrepancy?
BRIAN KEEFE: Offensive rebounds and turnovers. When you lose the possession game like that by that many shots, it's hard to win. It's amazing that we actually kept that game close. But that's hard to overcome when you have that type of stat.
Q. Richaun was perfect from the field and perfect from the line with 20 points. Can you speak to his production?
BRIAN KEEFE: He's been great. This is what he's been doing since he's been in the starting lineup. He's been terrific anchoring our defense, obviously finishing around the rim you're seeing. But he had a good one tonight. They went small so we went smaller to match up, and we needed to score a little bit at the end, but he played a good game.
Q. Rebounding struggles, what did you think about Tristan in that area?
BRIAN KEEFE: Some good, some bad. It was everybody, though, not just him. That was our whole team. Too many second-chance points, too many offensive rebounds. When we made our run the second quarter, we really limited to them. But the game was too many.
Q. Was it poor boxing out, ball watching? What did you see?
BRIAN KEEFE: Probably a little bit of everything, yeah.
Q. What happened on that call with the technical call with Marcus late?
BRIAN KEEFE: Not quite sure. I didn't quite see it, to be honest, but we've got to have better poise in those situations.
Q. Can I get your thoughts on the young defenders and their ability to hang with the quick-twitch guards like Sharp, Simon, Scoot?
BRIAN KEEFE: Our guys you're talking about?
Q. Yeah.
BRIAN KEEFE: Yeah, I thought we were okay on them. Those guys made some tough shots, so I think we did okay on them. But again, too many second-chance points was really what killed it for us.
Q. How comfortable are you with how many sets Bilal is spending in the corner? Do you want to see him more involved, or is that by design?
BRIAN KEEFE: He's been involved a lot this year. Tonight's game was a little bit different rhythm, but he's been handling the ball quite a bit. We've put him in a lot of actions. We're integrating new guys into our team and learning our chemistry, but he's been good.
Q. Can you speak to just Richaun Holmes' growth over the season? Obviously he didn't play as much in the beginning, but it seems like he's gotten really involved recently. Can you speak on both ends --
BRIAN KEEFE: This is what he did last year. It's not much of a change. This is what he's capable of. He kept himself ready, was not in the rotation for a long time, so big credit to him for keeping himself sharp, his body and mind, and he's been producing since he's been in. It's great.
Q. Vukcevic entered the rotation around this time last year, too. What kind of strides have you seen out of him as a defender?
BRIAN KEEFE: Much better. He's understanding our concepts, our schemes. His communication has gotten better. A lot of growth in that area.
Q. Have you been tempted to change how he's playing with pick-and-roll coverage?
BRIAN KEEFE: No.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports