Cavaliers 148, Wizards 114
BRIAN KEEFE: Biggest thing, difference was the possession game. We've been rebounding, we talked about that in the pregame, really pretty well this year, and we did not defensive rebound tonight.
Then you add that with some of the turnovers that we were having some issues with, that makes it very difficult to keep that in the game. Something we've got to identify. We have to identify that's what we've been doing a little bit here lately.
We have to own that, and I think all of us got to buckle in, get ready to play tomorrow, and that's the beauty of the game is there's another one tomorrow and get a solution to some of these problems that we're having. But that was the issue tonight.
Q. What did you see on some of your turnovers tonight?
BRIAN KEEFE: Give them credit; they were physical. They forced us into some tough areas. Our spacing wasn't great. But we can be better with our ball security and better with our setups.
Q. They obviously come out with the double big lineup of Mobley and Allen. With Bilal and Kyshawn out, you put three guards in the starting lineup. What led you to that decision and what did you see from that group?
BRIAN KEEFE: Actually I thought we started the game okay. It was in a decent spot. We wanted to get some speed into the game, some handlers. I thought those guys were fine. I don't think that was the issue. It wasn't too much of an issue. As the game wore on, we started giving up some boards, but that group was actually okay to start the game.
Q. Cam played five minutes and none after the first quarter. Was there anything injury related, first off?
BRIAN KEEFE: No. We had guys down tonight. Obviously we had Bilal and Kyshawn not in the lineup. It was a great opportunity to see a guy like Jamir, what he could do out there. We wanted to see some of the matchups with him defensively. Nothing to do with Cam. Cam has been great. Just another opportunity to see some different guys. I thought Jamir actually showed pretty well, showed some of the things that he can do.
Q. With Bub not playing as consistently well as he did last year - we're not in the locker room, we're not in the huddles - how does he carry himself in games like this?
BRIAN KEEFE: He just keeps going. He's a tough kid. He's got a stick-to-itiveness about him. He just keeps working.
But we like what he's doing defensively. We like how he's setting up our team. He had some tough moments, but the whole team had some tough moments tonight, and that's on us to figure out a solution to help us get the team to play better, and that's the most important thing.
Q. What did you think of Tre Johnson's first NBA start?
BRIAN KEEFE: He showed obviously his capability of shooting the ball. I thought his movement was good off the ball. He gives us some spacing; that's one of the reasons we wanted to go with a little bit of a smaller more shooting lineup, and I thought he gave that, to be able to stretch the floor. I think he gave CJ some space to operate, too, because you have to cover him. Gave him some gravity. So he did some positive stuff tonight.
Q. You mentioned seeing more of Jamir. What stood out to you?
BRIAN KEEFE: You could see his physicality, his ability to ball pressure, get into the ball, affect the game. He obviously had some hustle plays, some blocks and different things. Just his overall energy and his physicality.
Q. They made 23 and shot 44 percent. What was the issue there?
BRIAN KEEFE: They made some threes in the second half for sure. Some of those were on second-chance ones. That's what hurt us more. It was the rebounding, the offensive rebound kick-out on threes, those are the ones. The contested ones we can live with. They didn't take that many in the first half. We were giving up too much paint. I thought we made an adjustment on that in the second, but we didn't rebound. That was the game tonight, the rebounds and the the turnovers of the possession.
Q. Like you said with second-chance points and rebounding, what stood out to you that contributed to that, maybe outside of the size that they had?
BRIAN KEEFE: Give them credit; they came in and fought us pretty hard, but we just didn't hit first; we got pushed underneath the rim. We've been pretty good rebounding this year. Tonight we were not.
Q. With playing Jamir, why were the minutes taken from Cam?
BRIAN KEEFE: It was nothing specific with Cam. It was just different rotations, trying different things. We're very early in the season. It was an opportunity to get him in and see what he could do defensively versus some of their elite guards, and I thought he did good. Nothing to do with Cam.
Thanks, guys.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports