Pelicans Coach Monty Williams
On the game:
"Offensively we have so many guys struggling to hit shots and that kind of stuff happens. We made some costly mistakes down the stretch. We got a one point lead and we let them get an offensive rebound and score a layup. They come back down and hit a three-point play because we had miscommunication on a switch. We just had timely mistakes that hurt us. The guys just battled all night long to get back in the game. When we finally got over that hill, those two mistakes down the stretch kind of put us in a hole and we did not have time to get back out."
On mistakes during the game:
"You look at some of the guys who are put in those positions. They are not used to being in those positions. Austin [Rivers] can score the ball but he has had a tough time scoring it lately. The thing that bothers me is that we lost because we hurt ourselves with those costly mistakes down the stretch. We had miscommunication on a switch and Paul hits a three. And we are down by four with no time to go. Those are the ones that kind of sit with you."
On team morale:
"They are frustrated. They lost a tough game. Anyone would be frustrated. That is part of the NBA and we are not the only team going through that."
On three-game losing streak:
“You can't do anything about that. The three games are over with. It happens during an NBA season. The biggest thing is that you have to keep your spirit high and understand that you can get out of it by playing hard and sticking together and that is what we do.”
On ball movement:
"A lot of it is just setting up and running your sets hard. They may have been a little tired after a back-to-back. But, I did not see wear and tear on defense. We missed a lot of shots tonight. We were shooting 37 percent so we missed a lot as well."
Pelicans forward Anthony Davis
On being frustrated:
“Most definitely, we gave away a couple games that we could have won. We just have to find a way to get up out of it. We are playing our hearts out. We just have to find a way to figure out when we have the lead, we have to have solid possessions.”
On putting their finger on why the offensive has not been coming together lately:
“I don’t even know. Some guys are just not making shots. It happens. We cannot let that dictate our defense because we did a great job defensively tonight but then again the offense was not there. We just have to get back in the lab.”
On the last play of the game:
“The plan was for Ryan Anderson to come off and hit a three but they defended it well. It is tough. We just tried to get a shot off, and they made sure they pressed up on everybody, and when we got the shot, it was a tough one but we live the way we battled tonight, especially coming off a back to back. Hats off to the Washington Wizards. They made some great plays at the end of the game, and we just have to get ready for Tuesday.”
On making sure this loss does not turn into something big:
“Just come out and play. We can’t worry about this game or the game yesterday. We have to come out and play and do what we do, defend and get some easy buckets.”
Pelicans guard Jrue Holiday
On the poor performance of their last two games:
"I can't really tell you. As a basketball player, you know that sometimes your shot is just not going to fall. Sometimes it carries throughout the whole team. You just have to find a way to fight through it, it’s the NBA. It's happening to us right now, it's going to happen to another team down the road. We're just going to stay together, play defense the same way we have been playing. I mean we gave ourselves a chance to win tonight."
On their recent play:
"We've been playing good defense, we just have to knock shots down, transition and make some good moves. If they fall then, great."