On Jrue Holiday defending Damian Lillard:
“I thought he did about as good a job as you can do, in any situation on Dame. Our bigs were sensational also. We just tried to always have somebody there when he was about to turn the corner and I thought our bigs did a great job of not letting him spread us – although he did it a few times. But in general, to play him like that and be able to hold him to 20 points – and that’s how great he’s been playing to say hold him to 20 points. I thought it was – once again, we just did a really good job of playing good team defense, but our offense really was clicking. We moved the basketball, we found open guys, we did a really good job of screening, we passed up good shots to get great shots and I think that was the difference.”
On the Pelicans’ third-quarter performance:
“I thought we were really good – we were very aggressive defensively, number one, and we were also running off misses and not makes. I think any time we’re doing that, we can create mismatches and we can create space and they were kind of cross-matched a little bit so when we did rebound the ball, we were able to get it out and get into space. We had JJ (Redick) make a few shots. Jrue (Holiday) – a couple of drives here and there. Zion (Williamson) – so I just thought it was a total team effort. I thought Josh Hart really did a good job in the third quarter of just giving us that energy. He blew up a couple of DHOs (dribble hand-offs), you know just the physicality of it. I just thought he did a really good job also.”
On what he saw in Zion Williamson’s first 30 point game, only nine games into his career:
“Just being Zion, really. I’m not – we see it all the time. We see it every day and I just think he’s not even scratched the surface yet, I don’t think.”
“I just think – number one: the second jump is ridiculous. He’s down and back up before most other people and I think he’s figured out a way to get himself involved offensively. He’s cutting more. His post ups, he’s facing up more. I think he realizes that he’s going to get fouled a lot. He’s really spent a lot of time working on his free throws and I think you can see that he’s made a huge improvement with that. Michael Ruffin has done a really good job with him with the understanding that if you’re going to get fouled, you’re going to have to make your foul shots and I think he’s done a good job in that.”
On the first 30-point game of his career:
“I think it was just finding my spots and my teammates just finding me. You know, whenever I get open they’d see me. Even when I wouldn’t be open, they’d still try to give me the ball so I think it was a big part of them, just helping me get the ball.”
On how he expected to perform this early in his career:
“I expected to make an impact, but I don’t expect to do nothing like this. I just kind of looked to come in, just try and fit in and not mess up, but my teammates and coaches are always pushing me like ‘No, be outside the box.'”
On if he feels the energy picking up from the fans as the team continues to win:
“Yeah, I think so. Definitely. When we go on runs, they are always behind us. A lot of times, there’s one or two Zion [Williamson] dunks in those runs so you definitely hear them at that point, but it was good. When you have something like that, a crowd behind us…it’s kind of like a 6th man. Hopefully it can be like that for the rest of the year. We have a tough next two months, but hopefully they can be there for the rest of the home games.”
On what he saw from Zion Williamson in his first 30-point game in his career:
“I’m kind of disappointed. That’s his first one so far, he should have had a couple. I was more impressed about his free-throws – it was like 11-for-14 or something like that. But he is a walking 24 and eight guy. He’s the kind of guy that you think he’s doing well, and then when you look up he’s 39 and four. That’s just the kind of player he is. The confidence he keeps having and gaining everyday…he’s only played like 10 games, so it’s kind of scary to see how good he is this early. Hopefully he can continue to keep getting better day by day.”
GUARD JRUE HOLIDAY
On if it feels like the Pelicans have a chance to get to the Playoffs:
“The energy is there. It’s been up there, but it’s definitely grown. I think people are getting excited about Zion [Williamson] coming back, and the chemistry that we have, and the way we are playing so it’s been fun to play at home.”
On what he thought about Zion Williamson scoring 30 points tonight:
“[That was] expected. Honestly, I don’t see anybody that can guard him.”
