Pelicans Head Coach Willie Green
On the key takeaways from tonight’s game:
“We took care of the basketball and made quick decisions. I thought Brandon (Ingram) was great. Anytime he had scoring opportunities, he took advantage of them with pace and force. Once again, quick decisions from him were really good for us.”
On the faster pace of play being a point of emphasis going forward: “We have to get stops, and I thought tonight that was the biggest key for us. Our defense triggered the offense. Anytime we can get stops, force those guys to take tough shots and we rebound the ball, we are at our best. We did that tonight with 10 turnovers. It allows the offense to breath and allows us to get quality shots.”
Pelicans Guard Devonte’ Graham
On his confidence in tonight’s starting lineup:
“I feel good. I think we’ve all started before. Herb (Jones) has started, and Josh (Hart). Just trying to find a good group, have some scoring coming off the bench with Nickeil (Alexander-Walker), and keep him aggressive. Like I said, everyone played and did their part tonight. It was aggressive, and we kept our energy the whole game and tried not to be a first half team, like how we lose those leads.”
Pelicans Guard Josh Hart
On Brandon Ingram emerging from a recent offensive slump:
“It’s great, and the thing with him is, he has learned and is continuing to learn how to get to his spots in time, especially with (Zion Williamson) being out, teams are going to load up against him or trap his ball screens and those kinds of things. So one, we’ve got to help him, in terms of going out there and making shots, being aggressive and keeping the defense honest. Two, just playing fast, and I think we saw that today. Not as much isolation, not as much catching and holding, just quick plays, whether it’s the quick drive, quick shot, whatever it was. To have him score a very efficient 26 was definitely good for us, and when he’s doing that, we’re at our best.”