Pelicans 138, Wizards 118
Q. How did New Orleans pull away there in the third quarter?
BRIAN KEEFE: Turnovers in the third overall. Obviously the free throw discrepancy was the big thing, but we had some turnovers there to start the third, got them some easy baskets, tons of points in the paint for them, and we can't get it done when you have too many of those.
Q. You mentioned the free throw discrepancy, but with just four shy of the league team high all season points, what did you see there?
BRIAN KEEFE: Yeah, I thought there were some fouls there for sure, and we can be better in that. I'm never going to blame anybody else. But the discrepancy, the inconsistency was not right, and that's obvious. We'll do a better job teaching. Our guys were getting to the rim also and we weren't getting the same calls.
Q. How did Alex and Trae look?
BRIAN KEEFE: I thought that group looked good. I thought they had some good moments, good chemistry. First game for some of those guys together. I thought they had good balance. I liked our passing. I thought we passed the ball pretty well in that first half.
It's just day one, so we'll look at the film, stuff we can learn and talk through some things, but I was really happy for the first time some of those guys playing together.
Q. With the three-point shooting, you had shot really well in that first half. Was that predicated on the way you were moving the ball, and is that kind of why it slowed down a bit in the second half?
BRIAN KEEFE: Yeah, I think we were trying to make the right play in the third, and some of that was a little bit of turnovers and stuff. But our ball movement was really good. That allowed us to score, and that was playing against a set defense because of the fouls.
Q. How much are you seeing Trae create open shots for teammates already?
BRIAN KEEFE: You're seeing it right away. His ability to find the open man, he kicks it ahead, guys want to run when you play with a guy like that. He kicks the ball out to shooters. You can see what Tre Johnson has done the last couple days with him on the court. This is why he's here. He's going to help elevate our team, and that's only two games in. Really pleased with what he's been doing so far.
Q. What did you like about the minutes you got from Will and AG tonight?
BRIAN KEEFE: Yeah, Will keeps producing. He's been one of the -- we talked about it a couple days ago, like the fourth leading scorer since the trade deadline in February. He's growing day by day. We're putting him in situations to handle the ball more, too, and I think he's doing a good job with that. AG gives us what he always gives us; comes ready to play, physical, always happy with his effort.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports