Cavaliers 130, Wizards 126
Q. 24 points for Donovan Mitchell. What was it like as you were trying to slow his momentum?
BRIAN KEEFE: Obviously great player in this league. He made some tough shots.
I think the thing I really liked about tonight's game is the way we shared the ball. One of our higher scoring passes, and our resiliency in the game. They made a little run there at the end of the first and then we came out and answered the bell at the end of the second quarter.
Tip your hat to a great player. Lots of stuff on film we can learn from in late-game execution playing against guys like that, but really a lot of positives for our team. We'll continue to grow with games like this.
Q. Two consecutive season highs for Bub Carrington. What has been different for him?
BRIAN KEEFE: I thought he was terrific tonight. To me, we can see the scoring and stuff like that, but to me it was how he controlled the flow of the game, the pace, his passing, getting into the paint, and I thought it was terrific. This was one of our better passing nights, as I said, and that stuff is contagious, and Bub was the head of that. He started the game getting us doing that and was terrific.
Q. What did you like about the way -- the scoring was one thing for him, but the rebounding and the assists, he only had three turnovers for the game. What did you like about his decisiveness and his decision making that afforded him not just the scoring but being able to be the facilitator that he was?
BRIAN KEEFE: He was just aggressive, aggressive, looking to get into the paint, aggressive looking for his teammates. I just think he played a good overall game, but he set the tempo. He was the head of the snake for us tonight for sure.
Q. They went on a 27-1 run in that fourth quarter and you guys were able to at least withstand the momentum. What shifted for you when you were able to gain the momentum back and go on a bit of your run yourself and then it kind of went back and forth from there?
BRIAN KEEFE: Yeah, obviously give them credit, they came out and hit us a little bit at the start of the fourth, but we made a little run ourselves, and it was really just our ball movement. Jamir hit a big three, CJ kicked it out to him, I think, maybe it was Bub, I'm not sure. But we continued to just make the right play. I think that's what we need for our team is just continue to do the right thing. The game will turn back. But give them credit, they had a good fourth.
Q. Jamir Watkins, big night tonight, 15 points, eight boards, two blocks and three three-pointers, career highs across the board. What would you say about his play tonight?
BRIAN KEEFE: Yeah, he's been improving each game steadily. He just does a lot of winning stuff. Obviously the shot making was great tonight, but that's not what we're concerned about with him. We want to see him defending these type of elite players. Great lessons for him on how to guard some of these guys, but his activity, the things that he does on the court, he just does winning things. Really good player.
Q. You've always spoken very highly of Marvin. What was his impact tonight, especially down the stretch? Got those double-back taps to even give you guys another look at that three. Just what he's been able to do, especially inserting him into the starting lineup with the injuries. What has he meant to you in this stretch but especially tonight?
BRIAN KEEFE: It just really shows you his work and his preparation, his character. This guy really works. He's always ready, whether he's in the rotation or not. When his number is called, he always comes out and produces. It just shows the testament to who he is as a person and how he works every day.
But I thought he gave us great minutes tonight.
Q. Obviously Sarr was out tonight, but it seemed like the bigs were helping keep the game close. What do you think that says about the depth of your rotation?
BRIAN KEEFE: We have a lot of depth everywhere. Obviously we have quite a lot of wings on our team. But it just shows you the work behind the scenes for a lot of our guys. When they're not in the rotation, they're keeping themselves ready. Marvin and Tristan have been great since Alex was out, but I'm not surprised by that because I see the work that they're doing every day.
Q. Cam also didn't play again night. Was it the same thing just trying other lineups or what was the situation?
BRIAN KEEFE: Just looking at different combinations, different things. I thought we saw some positive stuff from our group tonight. Get ready for another game on Sunday.
Q. With Cam, is tonight's absence similar to the Atlanta one where it relates to him needing to meet standards?
BRIAN KEEFE: Look, I'm not going to discuss this any further after this conversation tonight. But we have a deep roster. He's going to be back in here in the mix at some point. It always works out in the best way. We're seeing different guys with Riley, Jamir. Those guys have stepped up and been playing well. Just looking at those combinations, nothing more than that.
Q. With Bub, how did you see him adjust as Cleveland tried to adjust to him based on how they were guarding him early in the game versus later?
BRIAN KEEFE: To me Bub was aggressive to the ball and got off it. If they weren't he was able to get in the paint and finish there. If there was crowd in the paint, kick it out. He just made the right play. Like I said at the beginning, he just kind of drove how we played tonight, and that was the best thing about him. Really aggressive, pushing the pace, getting us organized, and then just making the simple pass, and that started us with our ball movement and pretty much continued with that throughout the game, so it was really good.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports