Sixers vs. Pelicans Postgame Quotes: “He’s been so steady and just responsible and reliable.”

Sixers

Brett Brown

On whether a win is a win in his playbook…

No. In the job that I have, I definitely don’t [think so]. To think that last night equals tonight, that doesn’t weigh up. There were some good things that happened in this game and there were some poor things that happened in this game. My mind is completely on, “What are we going to do to not be in that situation?” To end the second period, we were sloppy. The good news is, we remain undefeated [at home] and we are the only team in the East to remain undefeated. We moved up to second in the East, so we had a great, almost complete weekend. We won two games back-to-back and we are 9-1 in back-to-back games.

On the decision to go with Norvel Pelle as the backup tonight instead of Kyle O’Quinn…

I just wanted to see what we have in him. We had a little taste in New York, and I wanted to see more. I thought he was really good. He is a Nerlens Noel-type player to me. He’s a rim protector, a shot-blocker and he’s quick off the floor.

On Tobias Harris making his case to be an All-Star, scoring 20-plus points in seven of his last eight games…

All you can do is repeat and write what you just said [20-plus point games of late]. You don’t need much more ammunition. He’s been so steady and just responsible and reliable. He’s our go-to guy and I put him in a bunch of different spots. He’s having a hell of a year. You go right to his offense, but I think he’s having a hell of a year defensively.

Joel Embiid

On being able to get the wins in back-to-back games…

It was good. Obviously, it wasn’t even close to what it was last night, and it starts with me. I missed a couple of easy ones, so it could have been a different game. Defensively, we fouled them too much, their shooters too much, so we will learn from it and get better.

We should bring the same intensity every game. We didn’t do that tonight. Last night, you could tell that we were more focused than we were tonight. It happens and it’s a part of back-to-back games. Guys are tired, but we still have to take care of business and we got that win tonight.

On playing against JJ Redick…

It was good. I miss him. We kept him in check, kind of, so that was good too. It was good to see him.

On the excitement that Norvel brings…

It is great. I told him that if he got the minutes that he would lead the league the blocks. He has the chance to be a fan favorite, so he should just keep doing whatever he’s doing.

On how great Tobias has been lately…

He’s been great. He’s been scoring the ball efficiently. Defensively is where I’ve seen a lot of improvement, so he’s been great for us and I hope he keeps it going.

Ben Simmons

On Tobias Harris…

He’s playing tremendously, defensively and offensively, both sides of the floor. So he’s doing a great job.

On finishing the game…

We just stayed locked in. Obviously, it wasn’t our best performance in terms of holding down the stretch. But you learn from it, especially with a team like New Orleans. You know they fight the whole game and props to them for doing that. We just have to take care of the game now.

On Norvel Pelle…

Every game he’s going to bring you energy. He loves blocking shots. Risking his body for those blocks and protecting the rim. I love having him a part of this team.

Tobias Harris

On being a potential All-Star…

Every night is an opportunity for me to go out there and do the best that I can to help our team win. I’d love to be an All Star. It’s a goal of mine as a player.

I know when I’m aggressive and getting things into flow, I’m a very hard player to guard. With that being said, I look to keep it up. I’m on this team to score the basketball and play at that level every single night and that’s what I hold myself to also.

On helping the team…

I know when I’m on the floor, I never want to come off the floor. All of the coaches know that too. When they sub me sometimes, I say, “Come on just keep me out there,” but I look at the box score at the end of the game and I have 39 minutes or something like that. For me, I want to do whatever I can to help us win. The sky is the limit for our team and the potential, and we want to continue to progress.

On Pelicans intentionally fouling Ben...

Going forward, if teams decide to do that, he’ll be confident enough to be able to knock those shots down and we’ll need that especially if we’re talking long term and down the line.

Pelicans

Alvin Gentry

On the nine missed free throws…

We don’t have any kind of margin for error that we can say at one stage we missed nine free throws. We can’t miss nine free throws. We’ve got to go to the line and hit those, and there were just a couple of plays here and there and our margin for error is not good enough that we can let those plays go by. I appreciate and liked the way we competed. I liked the way we played, but we had an opportunity to win a game, and at this stage there are no moral victories. We have to have something tangible we can lay our hats on. We had a game that was winnable for us and we didn’t quite get it done.

On his players battling on the road the whole game…

I thought we did a good job, they’re just such a real solid team. Tobias, I thought, did a great job. Every time they needed a basket, he went and got one for them. Embiid is Embiid, that’s just a load in there, but I thought we did a really good job on him, not letting him exploit that position and leave our guy on an island…We just missed some opportunities where we could have really put pressure on him, we just couldn’t quite get there. I love the fact that we competed at a real high level. I thought we played smart basketball, but free throws and open shots, we have to make.

Lonzo Ball

On how Brandon Ingram’s developed his game and if he’s surprised by his play…

I mean, he’s just always in the gym, honestly. I know he’s focusing a lot on being efficient, but if you look at his numbers, he’s been getting better every year…I mean I’m not really impressed, to be honest. I’ve been with him the last three years, so I knew the type of talent he was and I see the work he puts in each day. Like I said, I’ve been with him, and I knew it was his time. His time has come.

Derrick Favors

On his return and having to play against Embiid…

He’s a really good player, but I wasn’t really thinking about that. You know, with me it was more mental after what happened, having my mom pass. I was just like, “I need to get back, I need to get back to my routine.” I just wanted to come back and get back to my regular life and just move on.

On if it felt good to be back playing basketball after his mother’s death…

It was. You know, a couple of weeks ago basketball was probably the last thing on my mind. Obviously, going through that, I was like “I don’t know what to do right now.” Just being able to be around my family and friends and that support system, they just kept encouraging me and gave me strength and I was able to get my mind right, get focused, and get ready to play.