Clippers 119, Wizards 105
Q. Brian, how did the Clippers take such a large lead in the first half, and then what changed in the third quarter?
BRIAN KEEFE: I thought our guys -- give them credit. In the first half they turned us over. They were physical. Then we limited our turnovers in the second half.
I loved our resiliency. We challenged each another at the half. We came out with -- we went on a quick run, made them call a timeout, and then I think we got it down to one point.
It was our force, our passing, and then really started with our defense. We did a great job on the boards. In the second half we were able to get out in transition. Really good response the second half.
Q. Who did you bulk of the challenging at halftime?
BRIAN KEEFE: It's all of us together. Obviously I'm the voice of that, myself, but like we have a standard that we've been playing at and our guys wanted to come out and show they could play better and they did.
Really good response.
Q. How did the Clippers pull away there?
BRIAN KEEFE: They had a couple threes. We had a couple good looks that were not in and out for us. But give them credit. They made some threes when we were scrambling, taking the ball out of some of their guys' hands.
Like I said, great response.
Q. What was your view of Alex's technical? Questionable?
BRIAN KEEFE: Definitely the first one was ridiculous. That was not a technical. I've seen much worse. Done this for a very long time. I was shocked that was a technical, the first one. Got on two of those possessions. Their guys were saying the same stuff.
The second one, that's automatic. They have to call those. The first one was absolutely wrong.
Q. Did you feel like that sparked the turnaround? You had a nice push there.
BRIAN KEEFE: Yeah, who knows. I mean, I don't know the answer to that. I'm really pleased with our guys' second half response.
Q. (Indiscernible.)
BRIAN KEEFE: Just got locked up. That's the only information I have right now. I don't have much more.
Q. (Indiscernible.)
BRIAN KEEFE: Yeah, I think the developmental people's careers, like this is his third year. We started him from his first year guarding all the best players in the league and there is a learning curve to that. Like I like to say, you have to go through the fire of this league.
Now he is seeing the fruits of that. This is the third, fourth, fifth time he's seen some of these high level guys and he has just a great impact on our team when he's out there defensively, and then offensively putting pressure on the rim, attacking. He was missed when he was out, but hopefully this won't be a quick thing for him.
You can see that in his growth, and that's part of the maturation of going through these experiences. That's what this is all about for us.
Q. Brian, with Alex being out and then Bilal being out, you made the shift (indiscernible) to start the third quarter. What was it about the way he was able to facilitate and organize the group that allowed you guys to get that momentum that you had toward the end of the second half?
BRIAN KEEFE: I thought he had a really nice game. Seven assists and I think only one turnover. And that shows you can impact game when you're not always shooting the ball, which he's had a great run shooting the ball. You're not always going to have games like that, but he kept us balanced.
We got ball handler out there with Kyshawn. They were able to attack and spray it out for shots, and thought he had a great -- and his defense was great. His ball pressure was terrific.
Q. ... his communication part of his leadership, is when you guys are kind of trying to figure things out he's talking to the guys, organizing. How much of that has been a growth for him, too?
BRIAN KEEFE: Yeah, that's a natural instinct for hem. He's got a great voice for the team in the locker room, and that's another thing he's grown into, too. He's got great respect of the team, when to step up, when to say something. He's got a got a good feel for those situations, and we give him a license to do that.
Q. ...almost out of character for Alex Sarr? I mean, feel unusual and then your backups gave you really good minutes to make up...
BRIAN KEEFE: Marvin was terrific and Tristan came in and gave us good production when he came in, too.
Yeah, like I said, inexcusable what they called on the first one; deserved the second one. He's got to play better and knows that, know the rules and some of those things.
But the first one, no way.
Q. The questionable part of the first one... once you have one you can't get another.
BRIAN KEEFE: That's and I just said.
Q. First time for everything. Is this a lesson or what's the teaching point you'll make to him?
BRIAN KEEFE: Oh, Alex already knows. Alex feels responsible and he's not going feel great about that. He cares deeply about his teammates and he knew right away that put us in jeopardy a little bit. He's learn and grow from that and he won't do it again. You can always learn something from every game.
Q. What does it say about him that he was so invested in the game even when the team was way down that he cared so much that it did upset him?
BRIAN KEEFE: Never have a question about all of our guys, including Alex. He has great care for our team, feels responsible for what we're doing. High character. Our whole organization and team is filled with guys like that. Our guys are competitive guys. You saw that with the response in the second half.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports