Rockets 123, Wizards 118
Q. Brian, they were plus 32 in the rebounding margin. What happened in that area of the game?
BRIAN KEEFE: You've got to give them credit; they do well versus every team. We were undersized tonight, but that's no excuse. They beat us with some second shots for sure.
Q. Not only did they get a lot of rebounds, but preventing a guy like Justin Champagnie from getting to the glass, what did they do to limit some of your guys?
BRIAN KEEFE: They were pretty physical. Like I said, our crashing wasn't exactly where it would be, but we made a lot of our threes tonight. We get a lot of rebounds off of our threes at times, and we obviously shot a really good percentage tonight.
Q. I know before the game when I asked you kind of what the message is to Juju, it was very simple, just go out and hoop. Your thoughts on what he was able to do? I know obviously fouling out, but what did you see from him in the minutes he was able to give you?
BRIAN KEEFE: I thought he was really steady, had a really good presence out there, gave us some physicality, kind of knew what we were doing defensively, learning our offense, but I thought he was able to execute what we were trying to do.
I was really pleased with him on short notice being able to fill in for tonight. I thought he did a good job.
Q. One thing you've been pretty consistent on is the unwavering support in Bilal's shot. Tonight a career high five threes from him. What did you see that he just looked like he had a good rhythm and flow from the start of the game that allowed him to have that scoring output?
BRIAN KEEFE: He's been doing this a little bit lately, but I've seen the amount of work that he's putting in. So I always trust him when he's open. I always tell him to shoot it, let it fly, because he's probably putting up more shots in our gym than anybody. Puts a massive amount of time in, and I have great faith in him. That work is starting to pay off.
Q. Coach, staying on Bilal's shot, is it just a matter of getting reps up, or has he changed anything with his jumper recently, anything like that?
BRIAN KEEFE: I'm not going to get into specifics of that stuff, but he's diligent about his craft. He's working on specific things. It's really intentional. You've got to put the time in, and he's doing all that.
Q. What was the explanation you received on Trae Young's ejection?
BRIAN KEEFE: Not quite sure, to be honest. I think he was just sticking up for his teammates, which I thought was great. Obviously the refs missed a call, which our guy got knocked down, and I loved how our teammates stuck to him. Whatever happened in that moment, I was actually proud of him because he stuck up for his teammates, and I really care about that type of stuff.
Q. For him to be as involved with the game mentally on a night where he's not even dressed to play, how important is that for the other guys to see one of the former All-Stars sticking up for them?
BRIAN KEEFE: It's terrific for sure. It's nothing that he's not been doing the whole time since he's been here. He's talking to everybody in every time-out. He sees so much. He has so much stuff to share. He's completely engaged in the whole game. So I'm not surprised that he stood up for his teammates. That's the type of guy he is, and we're lucky to have him.
Q. Any update with Kyshawn? I know he left the game a little banged up.
BRIAN KEEFE: I don't have any updates yet.
Q. Bilal was pretty active; how do you envision his game exploding with Trae Young as the passer?
BRIAN KEEFE: Yeah, we're all excited for that. I think he'll be able to find cuts and different things. But Bilal has been playing really well here lately. I think he's just getting his rhythm. Obviously he had some in and out here a little bit at the beginning of the season. Like I said, it's a lot of the work he's doing behind the scenes, and I'm really happy for him.
Q. Will Riley, he's good as that second creator. How have you balanced having him on the ball primarily to start possessions and also having him alongside other guys who do their own thing?
BRIAN KEEFE: Yeah, if we get him a little experience bringing the ball up and initiating, I think he can do some of that stuff. We want to put him in those type of situations to learn and grow against some really good defensive teams here lately, and I thought he's handled it really well, but he also can play that secondary role, too. He can do both.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports