Opening Statement:
“I don’t know why we have the tendency to all of a sudden start playing isolation basketball the last three minutes. We got back into the game simply because we were moving the basketball and moving ourselves. The last three minutes, we stood around and ran isolation plays, and we didn’t get it in the basket. But we’ve done such a good job of moving, cutting and moving the basketball and playing with good pace. We’ve just got to get to a point where we’re doing it for 48 minutes; not 45 and not 47. We’ve got to do that all the way until the end of the game.”
On the strong bench play:
“I thought the bench did a good job for us all together. We just have to expend so much energy, and this is what I said to the guys, we have to expend so much energy to get the game back even again that it’s hard for us to have enough energy to finish the game.”
On finishing the game better:
“We have to be in a position like we were in the Lakers game where we were right there, and we had an opportunity to win it at the end. But we have to do a better job all together. Defensively, we had a few missed assignments at the end that cost us big. Then at the timeout we talked about a couple of things and we’ve just got to be able to execute things at the end of the game defensively and offensively.”
NEW ORLEANS PELICANS FORWARD BRANDON INGRAM
On the last two or three minutes of the game:
“Personally, I think I played about 43 minutes locked in with a sense of urgency. I think I missed a stunt for JJ [Redick] where number 11 [Abdel] Nader knocked down a three. I was lackadaisical getting around the screen for [Dennis] Schröder on a pullup. And that last play that I had possession of, I think I was just anticipating fouling on the three-point line. And I could do a better job of scoring the basketball and getting to the line at that time and point in the game.”
On if it was a point of emphasis to get in the paint or if it was just how the game went:
“Kind of just how the game went. Just try to take whatever the defense gives me, having the sense of urgency on offense to know who’s guarding me and where I can pick my spots and get my teammates involved and also attack the rim and be aggressive.”
NEW ORLEANS PELICANS CENTER JAXSON HAYES
On staying out of foul trouble against Steven Adams and if that is a maturation process:
“Yeah, I feel like I definitely should’ve done a lot better in that matchup today. He got a bunch of early buckets on me, but that just comes with getting older and getting bigger. That’s one strong dude.”
On what it was like playing against Steven Adams:
“It was a struggle. It was definitely a struggle. I mean, I was shoving him as hard as I can, and he’s not even moving. So it’s definitely a struggle, but it will all come in time.”
