11/13 Arbella Quote Worthy: Wizards vs. Celtics

RE: Struggling to defend without Daniel Theis:

“Yeah, I mean, we are missing three very good defenders but we have a team full of guys that are very capable defensively; we just weren’t good defensively at all. They did a good job of exposing some things that they could expose, certainly. (Bradley) Beal was great, Isaiah (Thomas) put a lot of pressure on us, Rui Hachimura was great but I didn’t think we were as tied together on the end of the floor as we normally are so that will be a big emphasis as we head into Friday night and start this road trip. And obviously if you give up 133 and you’re on the road you’re probably not going to win any of them. So, that’s something we have to improve from. We have been a good defensive team all year and I would think that this would be more of an anomaly than not, but we’ll find out.”

RE: The team offensively tonight:

“Well I thought we were aggressive trying to get to the paint and I thought that started in the first quarter. We got settled down against both of their defenses; they were mixing back and forth between man and zone. Just kind of started to attack and try our best to get that ball into the paint and find the right matchup and go from there. I think that ultimately that led to some kick-out opportunities and led to some baskets at the rim, some rebound opportunities. And it wasn’t perfect; we turned it over more than normal but that often happens when you’re not quite at the same level you need to be defensively that is a good indicator you’re not quite at your best level. But again ,they had a lot to do with that. They played well and we’ve got to play a lot better.”

RE: Players off the bench:

“Yeah what did Carsen (Edwards) end up with? It sure seemed like a lot. I mean Brad (Wanamaker) has been great for every time we have put him in all year. He’s had a real steady hand, and it has been great to see Carsen go off there. I thought everybody else had some moments for sure, but ultimately those two guys were excellent tonight off the bench.”

RE: Seven players in double figures:

“Well, we are trying to move it and you know we have moments and we haven’t been as good at that, but tonight getting 32 assists is a good thing. But also, we are balancing that with being appropriately aggressive we have a lot of guys we can go to on a given possession which is a real luxury. You know, Jaylen (Brown) is a guy that you can go to against matchups and different pick-and-pop, pick-and-roll opportunities. Jayson (Tatum) you can do that with, obviously Smart has done some of that for us, Kemba (Walker) is ridiculous at that stuff so and we obviously got Gordon (Hayward) sitting out so we’ve got a lot of guys that you can go to in those moments to create plays for themselves and others. We’ve got to keep sharing it the right way and playing the right way and hopefully we can build off and make shots like we have been recently.”

RE: Defensively what was not working?

“We just didn’t play with the effort and energy that we needed to, to start the game. But we picked it up in the second half and got the win.”

RE: 140 points is the most a Celtics team has scored since 1992; what led to that?

“Just the style of the game. The way they play. We let them kind of come in and dictate how the game was going to go. We kind of got into trading baskets instead of getting stops. We pulled out the win, it was ugly, but we got it done. But we’ve got to play Celtic basketball.”

RE: Putting up big numbers two games in a row:

“We obviously want to run, push the ball, continue to score the ball, but we have to hold ourselves accountable on the defensive end. Starting with me. I didn’t have my best defensive game but pick it up next game and continue to try to get wins.”

RE: How important is it for that second unit to really contribute, particularly with this road trip coming up?

“They were great. Carsen had a really big game for us. He is going to be big for us this year. Javonte (Green), Brad (Wanamaker) – those guys come off and give us great energy. Vincent (Poirier) came out and played really well for us. We’ve got to have everybody, it’s going to be team wins, and we need everybody. For everybody to stay ready will be great for us.”

RE: Importance of having a game like this:

“Honestly, man, I just try to stay ready and just whenever your name is called just try and stay ready and make the best decisions on the floor. So, I mean, not even just catch fire like you’re saying and score a whole bunch of points at once; I’m just trying to make the right plays. They don’t even have to be scoring but just making the right plays defensively, offensively just try and help my team out, that is my main focus.”

RE: How important is it for you as a group to make an impact on games going forward?

“I don’t know, it’s important for just nights like this. I mean I’m not even speaking on myself. I am speaking about the guys out watching and seeing their impact on the floor every time they come in. Brad (Wanamker) plays well and just to follow how he makes an impact and is always ready. But, a lot of guys come off, Grant (Williams) comes off the bench and plays well as well. Javonte (Green), things like that so it is big for games like this when we get minutes and to just make the best of them to help the team.”

RE: Relationship developing between him and Brad Wanamaker.

“I mean my relationship with him is important to me because he does care. At the same time, just knowing that me (as a) rookie going through ups and downs he checks on me, and just to follow after him like he made second year in the league but he has just been around playing basketball for a while, so I like to listen to him. He tries to help me. I can tell that he cares when I do, so I continue to watch things he does at times and try to make plays.”