Celtics 124, Wizards 90
Q. Brian, it seemed like they got off to a really hot start very quickly. Where did you see that things started to not necessarily unravel but where you kind of had things go left that you just couldn't get back on the rails?
BRIAN KEEFE: Yeah, they made some shots early, but really the difference in the game was the offensive rebounding, especially in the second half. I thought we were making a little bit of a push to get back into it, but they had 26 second-chance points. A lot of those ended up being three-pointers, so to me that was the biggest difference in the game. They had too many second-chance points. We didn't finish possessions with rebounding.
Q. Would you couple that with the way and the efficiency with which they also shot the three-pointer tonight?
BRIAN KEEFE: Yeah, a lot of that was off -- especially in the second half, that was off of misses, so they missed their first shot. We just didn't finish possessions, and that led to some second-chance points. You can't do that versus a team like this. You can't give them that many second-chance points.
Q. A lot of what you talk about is the process and making sure you're doing the right things through that process to get the end game, if you will. Seemed like you guys had really looks, especially from three tonight. They just weren't falling. Did it feel the same way from you as the coaching staff?
BRIAN KEEFE: I thought the first half we had good looks. Those guys, Jordan, Bub, Alex had shots that they'd been making. Didn't go in the first half, and that changed a little bit in the second half. Those started going in, but we didn't capitalize on that change with defensive rebounding. I thought that was the big difference. It was 21-21, I think, with under three minutes to go in the third quarter, and they made a little bit of a burst there at the end, and that was the difference.
Q. At halftime David Vanterpool said to me, the message at halftime was we've got to bring more physicality. Did it feel like that was the message and it was received in the second half, that the physicality was much more different than it was in the first?
BRIAN KEEFE: I thought we had some spurts where we did it. We just weren't consistent. We dove on the floor on some loose balls, made some hustle plays. Again, I'll go back to the rebounding. We just didn't finish possessions.
Q. You talked about the rebounding. How much of that was a function of not having Richaun or Tristan?
BRIAN KEEFE: No function. These are the guys we have. We expect everybody to go out and do their job. We just didn't get it done.
Q. What happened to Tristan? He played the last game but didn't play today.
BRIAN KEEFE: Just got banged up here in the last day or so. Nothing serious.
Q. What went into the decision to not play Marcus today?
BRIAN KEEFE: Yeah, again, we're at this point of the year where we're looking at different combinations, different experiences with playing different guys. We want to see different combos, who's playing well with who, developing our roster. We're going to see more different things as we go down the stretch.
Q. Leaving the game it seemed like there was something going on behind the bench. He seemed pretty agitated, was held back. What happened there?
BRIAN KEEFE: I just found out about it now. I just know that a fan crossed the line. That's all I really know. I just found out.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports