On tonight’s loss against Utah and how hard it is to overcome turning the ball over 21 times:
“It is (hard to overcome). We did that against a team that’s 30th in the league in forcing turnovers. We shot our own self in the foot for the most part, because they’re not a team that forces turnovers. They’re a good solid defensive team. They pack their defense in (the paint). Obviously, they have a rim protector in Rudy (Gobert), but you can’t turn the ball over 21 times against them. I thought we played, really, a good first half with the ball movement, and we still managed our turnovers pretty good, but that third quarter we let it get away from us. I think we had eight [turnovers] in the third quarter, and against that team, there’s no way you can do that.”
On the final shot taken by Brandon Ingram at the end of regulation:
“He’s made a ton of big shots for us this year. The bottom line is that I don’t think it should have come down to that, and we let a golden opportunity slip away. As I said to the guys, it’s something that we have to put behind us because in a few days we’re going to play another team, a very good team, in the Clippers. We got to put that one behind us and then move on.”
On Zion Williamson’s minute restrictions and if he wishes he could have played him late in the game:
“Of course, we wish we could have played him down the stretch, but you use the minutes that [were] given to us. That’s just the way it is. I mean, we weren’t going to stick him back out there. Our medical people said that we played him in the minutes that [were] allowed (for) us to play him. We’ll just move on. I thought he looked good. I thought he had some good moments, and obviously, we’re a much better and a much different basketball team when he’s out on the floor.”
GUARD JRUE HOLIDAY
On the takeaways from tonight’s game:
“This is the first game and you kind of get it out of the way, but, just down the stretch. I think the middle of the third, into the fourth, we lost our pace a little bit. If we [could have continued to play at our pace] I think it would have been a different turnout.”
On the team’s turnovers:
“I think it’s a little bit of fatigue. I think when we came out we kind of had that adrenaline rush, and when we went into halftime, Utah just stayed consistent. For us, our turnovers were just inflicted on ourselves. Again, if we can keep that pace up, not get tired toward the end of the game, I really feel like our turnovers would go down.”
On tonight’s demonstration during the national anthem:
“It felt like we were able to bring people together. Two teams, who were about to go out there to battle, we can also come together to fight for something, and I feel like that was huge. That’s one of the reasons why I feel like [the players] came back and the league wanted us to come back, is because
FROWARD BRANDON INGRAM
On his game-winning shot attempt at the end of regulation:
“It looked like a good shot, a shot that I’ve been working on, but like I said, the offense is not what I’m worried about. The last three plays on the defensive end with a foul on me, me digging in on the help side was [my mistake], and being the low man on the defensive side was [my mistake], so [those are] things I can fix, and the outcome of that game would have been a little bit different, it wouldn’t have come down to that three.”
FROWARD ZION WILLIAMSON
On how he felt playing in his first game since March and if his limited minutes were precautionary:
“They weren’t holding me back. Yeah, I did want to be out there, but we’re just working my way back into my flow. That’s all it is.”
On the disappointment of tonight’s loss:
“It sucks. Every competitor wants to win every game. But it’s just a learning curve, and we’re going to get past it.”
On the Pelicans and Jazz deciding together to kneel during tonight’s national anthem and when that decision was made:
“I can’t really tell you when exactly, but it was something we just agreed on as a team. Yeah, it was emotional because all of us (were) there together as one, doing something we believe in.”
