On the main reason the team came up short against Oklahoma City:

"Number two, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. We talked about it before the game, what he's capable of doing. His cousin hit us last night and he got himself going tonight. We fouled him early, found a rhythm and then you couldn't really touch him after that. He got himself going getting downhill, tried to get out of his hands a ton of times and he just finds a way. He's slippery getting to the rim. Then when his shots falling and the three ball, he's a hard guard."

On the message to the group after the loss and focusing on the next game:

"Here's the thing—we talk about one game at a time. Last night we didn't get what we wanted as the result, tonight you didn't get the result you wanted. But are we playing the right type of basketball? I think we did some good things tonight but I think there's a lot we can grow from and learn from and we're going to have to do that going to Charlotte. That's the next game, that's what we've got to focus on and how do we get that one done."

On whether SGA getting to the line so often disrupted the defensive rhythm or forced a game plan change:

"You try not to, but again, he had three shooting fouls or two shooting fouls in the first half and that's tough because you want to guard him a certain way. You're physical with him. But anytime you get near him, they're looking to blow that whistle. He's a hard person to referee and I respect them for being able to figure that out. But he does an unbelievable job of manipulating that. So there's times that you got to get out of his hands, but he finds a way to get it back. It finds him at the end of clock. There's a couple little missed possessions that we could have come up with when we did make them miss, but as well as trying to continue to turn them over."

On Paolo Banchero leading the comeback in the second quarter after going down double digits:

"Yeah, it's big. His ability to get downhill in that quarter, stepped up, made some big shots, made the right plays, was attacking the basket, trying to get himself to the free throw line, which is amazing to me that as many downhill attacks that he has, he only had six free throws. But again, he's a guy that's going to continue to attack and that's what we need him to do to create problems at the rim to be able to find our shooters."

On the tight game in the final minutes where OKC made the key plays, and the value of this experience for playoff preparation against elite defenses:

"Coming down the stretch, our ability to continue to attack the basket, find the right play. We had some great looks down the stretch. They didn't go in and OKC capitalized on those, getting out in transition and Shay made some big plays down the stretch. That's why he's in the MVP race, leading. You have to kind of remind yourself or remind the team that the margins can be that small. You make a shot at a key moment, it flips momentum the other way."

On the importance of big stops and shots in close games, and the similarity to other recent matchups:

"That's the game. A big stop, a big shot down the stretch, that's what happens. You look back at the Cleveland game and that's what it tended to be—one shot made, one shot missed. They hit some big shots, we hit some big shots and tonight that was very similar. But again, our ability to get stops down the stretch and make sure we take care of the basketball at all times in order to get those possessions."

On playing Goga Bitadze in the second half for rim protection:

"No, I thought Goga stays ready. I think that's always the big piece for him—no matter when he plays, when he's called on, he's always going to stay ready."

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