Sixers vs. Jazz postgame quotes: “I think we should play every game at home.”

Brett Brown (PHI)

On deciding to go with Matisse Thybulle tonight in the rotation…

In general, I thought he played tamer and I thought that he took the shots that he should have shot… his shots. He made some defensive plays that were timely and it’s a real benefit to see how much ground he covers. He can get his fingernails on passes. It was one of those games for him.

I think that the shots that he’s taking are in his wheelhouse and he’s becoming a responsible defensive player. There is an interesting young athlete to be grown.

On the ball movement with Joel Embiid and Al Horford on the floor together…

There is a clear identity, as a team, that we are trying to grow. They are both different. There are periods of the game that they collide. That’s the area that we are trying to figure out and I think, to their credit, they communicate well and have mutual respect. From afar, watching these guys grow as teammates, I love it.

On Al’s comfort level…

He’s prideful, he cares and he’s just trying to fit in. He’s not a big scorer, he’s a teammate. Him trying to find his place where he can make a difference on this team comes with a level of care. He’s trying to navigate this whole new city and this whole new team with an element of class and care. We are all kinda learning how to use what we have.

On Tobias Harris’ play…

I felt like Tobias was able to generate his own looks. I thought he made some timely baskets in a funny part of the game where we needed some buckets to truly close it out.

On Ben Simmons’ evolution…

I think that he’s growing in ways that you all wouldn’t see. He’s growing in ways that is trending as a point guard.

On whether he saw Matisse getting as many minutes as he has in the season’s first quarter…

I did not and some of this is exacerbated a bit when you don’t have Josh Richardson. When Josh comes back, Thybulle is surely going to play. Without injuries, he’d still be knocking at the door, banging out steady minutes. Even on those terms, my evaluation of him is that he has surprised me. His shot has surprised me and him as a human being, he’s just elite. He’s a great person and a legitimate teammate. He’s a prideful learner.

Ben Simmons (PHI)

On Utah’s run in the second half…

Not really concerned, just knowing that makes us have to step up even more, instead of putting them away early. They just came off a back-to-back in Toronto, so obviously it was going to be easier on us with the minutes they played, but we just had to control and maintain, not lose focus of the game and play all four quarters.

On Al Horford’s performance in the first quarter…

Yeah, he was dominant down low. He was getting touches, offensive rebounds and really put a force into the game early, so he had a great game.

On playing defense with Matisse Thybulle and Josh Richardson…

Having these guys a part of this team, they’ve helped me grow defensively. Just watching Matisse, just the way he’s able to get his hands, and get deflections and things like that. Then with [Josh], it’s the energy he brings. These two guys that were brought on have been great.

Al Horford (PHI)

On his performance in the first quarter…

I started with some good rhythm. I just think the more games that I’m starting to play, the more I’m understanding where my shots are coming from and how I need to play. I was happy I was able to get it going there early.

On maintaining the lead through Utah’s runs…

I think it all starts with our defense and I think we were able to get stops and then get out and run. Ben was doing a good job of finding people out on the three-point line and that’s huge. Those momentum plays, when we’re able to get a stop, go down on the other end, hit a three. James Ennis hit one. You know, different guys stepped up at different times, and I feel like that’s how we were able to open the game up.

On running pick-and-roll and pick-and-pop plays…

I do believe, for me, some of the things I do well is off the pick-and-pop or pick-and-roll and Coach is making a conscious effort of implementing that in the offense. He’s putting me in positions to play in that and attack the defense that way, so I just need to find myself and the rest of the guys. We need to continue to get comfortable with one and other and understand what we’re trying to get out of those pick-and-roll situations. We’re reading and we’re doing a good job of that.

Tobias Harris (PHI)

On Utah’s fourth quarter run…

They were hanging around a little bit, but I wasn’t too concerned. I think once we were able to get down to it and get a stop, that was where we needed to be. Obviously, they got some good looks at the end, but one thing I think we can take from it, just halting that type of run they were going to get going a couple minutes earlier. Besides that, I thought throughout the whole course of the game, we did a really good job of defending them and playing how we wanted to play.

On the team maintaining the lead…

Honestly, it was our defense that was really the catalyst for that. It was our defense and getting out and getting stops. And offensively, in the first half we just—we were able to make a lot of good looks. I thought Matisse came out there and played with a lot of great energy, made some really good shots. So overall, I thought we had different guys come in a step up and make plays and it just was a good game for us.

On the home-court advantage and winning streak…

I mean I think we should play every game at home. But overall, we say every game before we go out there, “protect our house.” And for our team we’ve stated that we want to be a home-court team come playoffs, and that’s a big thing for us, so we’re striving for that. But our crowd, our energy, the atmosphere, it’s real. When you come out here and play against us, it’s a dogfight not only how we play, but also how interactive and excited our fans are. It’s a real atmosphere.

Quin Snyder (UTA)

On the first half…

To be down like we were early, particularly after last night’s game - a back-to-back, on the fourth game of a road trip - to see our team battle like that, I think says a lot about our team. Everybody in the locker room knows that we can play better, but the way you play better is by competing, keeping your spirit as a team and that’s what I saw reflected tonight.

On defending the 76ers…

Philadelphia was great early. They were making everything. We didn’t defend as well as we wanted to. Defense picked up throughout the game and there’s a lot of teams in that situation that wouldn’t respond the way this team did.

On Joe Ingles…

Even when you don’t get the result that you want, we want to use the games to get better. To see Joe play as aggressive as he did and throw himself into the game, he made a lot of plays that we know he’s capable of making. He got himself going in a way that he hasn’t been able to do recently, as far as playmaking, leading and shooting.

On improving…

We’ve gotta play better. There are things we can do better and we’ll keep doing what we can do, control the things we control, and we’re going to improve. I feel good about that prospect, given the fact that we saw how we responded this evening.

Rudy Gobert (UTA)

On the first half…

They outplayed us. I thought that we had a pretty good start early in the first quarter, but then they started to raise the intensity and it was pretty much like last night [against Toronto] for us. They ran on us. They all got going and they were relaxed with their communication and they used transition defense. All the guys got going and everybody was making shots. It was hard for us to come back from that.

On what the team needs to do to get better looks…

It was a long road trip, but we have to be sharper and tougher mentally. When teams start to get physical, we have to play through that. I think it’s great that we are going through this right now. We are a tough-minded team and we are an unselfish group of guys. Going through this, we can only get better.

On what he takes away from this road trip…

What I take away is that we need to play defense. We need to play defense in order to be good. We are a defensive-minded team and if we don’t take care of defense, then we are just going to trade buckets. We have to be a defensive-minded team and I think we were tonight, but not for the entire game. It has to be from start to finish. There needs to be more emphasis on defense.

Donovan Mitchell (UTA)

On the team’s play tonight and their recent road trip..

I think we saw a lot of things we did well. We competed and that’s something we didn’t do last night…it’s been a long road trip, you know, it’s been tough to get the shots we want and the looks we want. We’ll figure it out though, for sure.

On how the team could have gotten Rudy Gobert involved towards the end of the game...

I think Joe Ingles for sure helped. He just worked his butt off and that’s really where it is. I think part of it is just spreading the floor, the little things. Being able to slip off screens, so guys can start hitting shots, so they have to respect it and he’ll get the pass. We need to keep getting boards and we need to be able to do the little things that get him involved…he’s worked his butt off for sure.