Wizards 120, Magic 112
Q. Alex, you basically went off in every facet of the game tonight. When you have games like this, do you think about how much you've grown so far in this league?
ALEX SARR: Yeah, I feel like obviously I'm better than my rookie season, having more impact on defense, on offense. Yeah, it's definitely good to see.
Q. Having a veteran like CJ to help settle things down, he lobs to you, then hits a jumper, then hits a three to finish it off, what's the value of having a guy like him on the team?
ALEX SARR: It's definitely nice. He can close out games pretty well. He's been doing it for a long time, obviously, and it's just nice learning from him and seeing how he closes out games.
Q. Late when you came in, you forced those two jump balls. It looked like you imposed your strength on the floor on defense. Have you noticed yourself getting stronger on the floor?
ALEX SARR: I mean, I definitely feel a little stronger than last year. But yeah, I feel like that's just multiple effort type of plays. It's more about effort, I would say.
Q. The last game against Minnesota, you had a tough matchup, and then tonight you bounced back and had a great game in all facets. Would you say that's a point of growth for you, that you are better able to come back from performances like that than you did last year?
ALEX SARR: Yeah, I think it doesn't really matter how one game goes. You should approach every game like a new one, not thinking about what happened last game, and that's what I try to do. I try to have a good game every game, but it doesn't always go that way. But yeah, I feel like just trying to take every day as a new day.
Q. Bilal said, and I understand you probably heard, that he kind of made a point to bounce back against Banchero, given how he played against him last time. What did you think about his defensive performance tonight?
ALEX SARR: Yeah, it was great. He had like five steals. We've been seeing him do that for a long time, I would say, and a few times this season. So it's just good to see, and I just hope he keeps going really.
Q. You had a really big game tonight. What do you think is the biggest difference between your rookie year and sophomore year as far as being a two-way player?
ALEX SARR: I would say just me being more aggressive offensively and kind of picking my spots, when to attack, when not to, and then defensively being earlier in my spots and trying to be more physical, I would say.
Q. All the great shot blockers all say the same thing: It's not how many shots you block, it's when you block them. I wonder if you had a sense of that tonight knowing that the game was kind of slipping away, slipping away, and all of a sudden you block those shots?
ALEX SARR: Yeah, I'm definitely trying to block the most shots I can, but definitely late in the game when we need a stop, I feel like that's the ones that really matter for sure.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports