Sixers vs. Nets Postgame Quotes: “I really had to focus on, if I got the space, to just raise it up and shoot it.”

Philadelphia 76ers

Brett Brown

On the success the team had pounding the paint…

I thought we had some success doing that, for sure. The efficiency, overall, that we played with in the last period, the last five minutes especially, was impressive. Just getting the ball where we sort of wanted and not turning the ball over. I thought that Al Horford did a great job in a key moment, getting the ball inside on a duck-in play that we ran, where Ben [Simmons] did a great job of delivering that ball.

On the difference for Tobias Harris in the second half…

I think it’s deeper than that [making threes]. There is a sincerity in him as a person and there is a genuine desire to win. You can’t dismiss that. There is a genuine desire to win and you can see it in his face and his action in the locker room. It matters and he cares a lot. I think that coming back to Philadelphia, where we dropped two on the road and still trying to find our feet. He was our bell-ringer tonight and I was proud of him. It’s deeper than him just making shots. It doesn’t surprise me that he came out the way that he did.

On what the team does to turn it on in the fourth quarter…

If you knew my personal routine when it comes to watching close games, you’d think that I’m definitely ill. It interests me more than anything and to be able to see yourself and not use examples from around the league, there’s nothing like that for people to learn. You learn best by viewing yourself, where you’ve done good things and bad things…I think that it’s way more of a positive than it is a negative…it accrues, it adds up and it helps us better understand how to close stuff out when it matters most, I hope.

On what he attributes the defense on Kyrie [Irving] and Spencer [Dinwiddie] to in the fourth…

Length, team, physicality. I love the physicality of the team in the second half. I loved the physicality of the team in the last period. Throughout, I thought that we did a pretty good job on Kyrie. When you can roll out the athletes and the length like we’re able to with that the group that we decided to start tonight, it’s pretty impressive what you can do defensively. It gets even more daunting when you bring back Joel Embiid. I liked the feel of that group and I liked the physicality, especially.

Ben Simmons

On the key to guarding the perimeter guys…

Being clear, communicating, sticking with it and holding each other accountable. I know it’s not easy to guard guys like that. Guys running around, off pick-and-rolls, knocking down the three. For us, we have to stay with it, stay connected and keep communicating on the floor. I think that’s the biggest thing.

On playing fast and slowing it down…

We’re that type of team who just wants to play together, play fast and play with movement and we just find things to make that happen. At times, we definitely need to slow it down, obviously, and run some sets.

On the comfortability he has knowing where his teammates will be...

It’s like every season I gotta get used to it again. It’s just chemistry. Guys knowing how I play, me knowing where guys want shots and knowing when guys are in rhythm.

Tobias Harris

On how the team played tonight…

I think all of us want to go out each and every night and we want to win every game we can. When we do fall short of wins, it’s disappointing for us. Just to get out there and get tonight’s win, to feel good, to play good as a team, just to feed off of one another, was big for us. We have to just keep that rolling and do more of the same that works for us. That was successful tonight. That’s what we have to use in our next couple of games.

On the mid-range shot…

Tonight, I really had to focus on, if I got the space, to just raise it up and shoot it. You make it, you make it. You miss it, hopefully you get the rebound and then we can go from there. Just determining the space that’s there and being aggressive.

On the shot he made as the shot clock was expiring…

I think the ball is always going in when I shoot it. When I saw it, I was hype and was like “Yeah!”

On close games…

I thought tonight we did a really good job at getting open looks and getting shots that we know we can make. We’ll continue to grow. Obviously, we don’t want that many close games, but it is good for experience.

Furkan Korkmaz

On playing with Ben Simmons…

Every time I play with Ben, I know he’s going to look for an assist. His ability to create with the ball, he creates a lot of space for you. When I get in the game, I know he’s going to look for me and I’m just going out there trying to score. He’s out there trying to create for us.

On finding his role on the team…

Finally, in my third year, I found my role on the team. I’m trying to help the team in different ways. Especially offensively and defensively. There are some ups and downs, of course, but I think this year I’m trying to play hard for the team, trying to help the team to get a W.

Brooklyn Nets

Kenny Atkinson

On how his team played offensively down the stretch…

It’s kind of been an issue for us all year, not being able to score in the fourth quarter efficiently, so it kind of follows a trend. I thought we played pretty well for three quarters, we were in the game and struggled scoring at the end. I’ll have to go through it and look at the quality shots. I thought we had a ton of good looks. We were under 50-percent at the rim, so we were getting to the rim just not finishing. Obviously, the free throws. We got there, didn’t make them, didn’t make enough…so like every game, a lot of different things.

On how the defense looked…

I thought tonight, defensively, wasn’t a great performance. That’s two nights in-a-row where we really struggled to stop the other team. We can talk about the offense, but on the road, you’ve got to get stops and you’ve got to play well defensively. We didn’t.

On how Jarrett Allen played…

That’s the Jarrett Allen we need. That’s huge for us, I think that was a big reason we were in the game and able to compete with them. He kind of got back to his high energy Jarrett Allen, that stretch where he was playing great, protecting the rim and then rolling and finishing. That was a huge positive tonight.

Jarrett Allen

On what sparked him to play well tonight…

I was doing it for my teammates. I haven’t been playing well these past couple of games, so just going out there first with a defensive effort and it translated on the offensive end.

On DeAndre Jordan possibly being out…

One thing on that, I know DeAndre’s tough, so he’s going to try to get back as quickly as he can. But for me, we’ve had this trouble before where one of our bigs gets hurt and I’ve had to step up and take up the brunt of it, so I’m ready to do that again.

Caris LeVert

On the Sixers’ defensive execution…

I feel like they play really good defense. We missed some good looks as well, some costly turnovers. We gotta watch the film and try to get better from there.

On the team’s chemistry development…

Just playing more together, that’s how you develop chemistry. So I think we’re getting better every game and we’ll continue to grow.

On what caused the loss, not being able to make shots or not finding shots…

A little bit of both. Like I said, they played pretty good defense down the stretch and they had some long defenders, guys that were able to switch a lot of screens. We’ve got to watch the film, but we’ll get better.

Kyrie Irving

On the team’s offensive execution…

I definitely should have been more aggressive down the stretch, setting up my teammates, getting some plays that I know we can get to get some movement. They did a great job of loading up and making it difficult at the rim towards the end of the game. With offensive execution down the stretch, probably wouldn’t have been much of an emphasis on it if we kind of did the little things throughout the game by getting those defensive rebounds, limit our fouling. Both were in the bonus pretty early going into the fourth, down the stretch. When you have that on the road, it becomes difficult when they’re making shots, making tough shots. Ben had a great game tonight as well when he starts spreading out like that. How many assists did he have tonight? [11] Yeah, whenever he has 10 plus assists, it’s like a stat: they have a winning record. Whenever we’re not putting the ball pressure on him or making it difficult, he’s getting to the basket pretty easily. It’s going to make it hard down the stretch and I think they had a great rhythm throughout the game. Even though we had a lead here and there, a few bunnies missed at the rim. You know, we just need to take this lesson and keep moving.

On back-to-back games…

I was trying to pace myself as best as I could. In the first quarter, some of the shots I was making yesterday were a little short. Ins and outs were few, they were being very physical. Any team we play against, they’re going to game plan pretty tough to be physical with me and kind of corral me in the pick-and-roll. I feel like I could have attacked a little bit more, but I was just doing my best with the way my body felt. That monkey was definitely on my back tonight heading into the fourth quarter, but I’ll continue to get better from this.

On the team’s chemistry development…

I mean, we’ve only played a few minutes. We haven’t logged in enough minutes to kind of say that we need to still work out some kinks. I know I said it the other day, but we still have to get this adjustment period going. At the same time, we’ve got to log in those minutes. Right now, we have Joe at that three-spot, so you know we’re playing between LeVert, Dinwiddie or myself. I think that once we figure that out, we’ll be ok. We were pretty small tonight as well, with DeAndre going down, so I asked Wilson after the game if he ever played the five before and he said no. That attributes to just us figuring out our lineup and continue to give certain young guys the opportunities out there. You see Cabarrot out there, he’s going against Ben. We just gotta be smarter as defenders and offensively, just continue to give space and give each other outlets.