Pelicans 128, Wizards 107
Q. 68 points in the paint for New Orleans tonight. How hard is it to overcome having a night like that?
BRIAN KEEFE: They do that very well. Obviously they obviously exceeded what they usually do. But give them credit; they were able to attack us. Some of that's off turnovers, too. Some of it in transition. A little bit of that, too, but obviously you don't want that to happen.
Q. Why didn't Marvin Bagley suit up tonight?
BRIAN KEEFE: I wanted to give Tristan a look. Marvin has been playing a lot of minutes here lately. He'll be back soon, but I wanted to give Tristan a look. He's been working hard, practicing. We've noticed it and wanted to give him an opportunity tonight. I thought he played really well. Gave us really positive stuff out there.
Q. What did you see from Kyshawn in his return?
BRIAN KEEFE: Doing what he normally does, ball movement, got us moving, making scoring passes. Obviously you see some of the scoring, the shooting. Just nice to have him back out there on the court.
Q. AJ Johnson has been getting three and a half minutes the last half dozen games or so. What have you seen from him?
BRIAN KEEFE: He's got a great ability to put pressure on the rim with his driving. I think his defense is getting better. He's long, using his hands, being active. I thought he gave us good minutes, and he was really positive tonight when he was out there.
Q. I think Vukcevic had three or four blocks if I remember? Five? What did you like about his defense?
BRIAN KEEFE: Yeah, that's something that we've been noticing. That's why he got a little bit of an opportunity tonight. He's been protecting the rim. He's been working hard. I thought he did a great job. He gave us great energy on the defensive end. Good ball pressure, too. It was good to see him out there. I thought he had a nice game.
Q. Just wanted to get your impression of Derik Queen now that you've seen him up close and personal?
BRIAN KEEFE: Yeah, obviously he had a terrific game, good player. I'm sure the home crowd, being home, nice to have him, nice for him, but I thought he played a good game tonight.
Q. Obviously Corey and CJ McCollum are gone and Trae Young is not ready to play yet, so how do you navigate these lineup changes in the middle of the season? How do you plan on seeing this play out?
BRIAN KEEFE: Yeah, that's part of the deal in the NBA. Things change. We've had lots of different lineups here lately. It's not something that we're not accustomed to. Everybody has an opportunity to step into the rotation and make the most of it. We'll grow with some of that stuff. Obviously new starting lineup tonight that hadn't played together, but that group will grow together, too. Nothing unusual.
Q. A little bit of an uptick here with the turnovers as you get set to head west for a handful of games. What do you want to see to try to limit what you've seen with that uptick?
BRIAN KEEFE: Just don't play in crowds. I thought we actually, when we were -- when we made the run to get back in the game, we were really moving the ball pretty well. We were just making the simple play, making quick decisions. When we hold it, play in crowds, that's how you get turnovers, every team. When we were doing that tonight, that's what caused some problems. But when we did the right thing, we made a nice run. Give a lot to credit to our guys coming off the bench tonight. I thought they really got the ball moving really well tonight.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports