Sixers vs. Lakers Postgame Quotes: “He’s growing every day and it’s a pretty cool thing to see. “

Philadelphia 76ers

Brett Brown

On whether he saw a different type of energy from Ben Simmons tonight…

Clearly. He was so, so good, and good at multiple positions. Again, you saw what we did with him playing at the five…Defensively, you look at the disturbance that Matisse Thybulle and Ben caused with nine cumulative forced turnovers. He was really special tonight on a very talented court.

On whether Ben and Matisse feed more off the crowd than most players…

I don’t know that, but I do know that when they collectively put their minds to it, they are as disruptive as anybody in the NBA with their athleticism and their length. I suppose if you can wind them up, to your point, on the road or at home, it adds another layer to what their physical gifts are. I thought that defensively we were pretty good. If you look at the box score and you tell me that we had 23 turnovers and beat the Los Angeles Lakers by 17 points, you’d wonder “What happened in that game?” Our defense was pretty good. When you get into half-court defense and they have three points in the last four minutes of the game, those two fueled that type of energy.

On the confidence of the guys when they get wins on the big stage…

I think so. It has to. Sometimes as the coach, it’s a little disturbing when you lay an egg on the road when you wished you didn’t. If you’re trying to find the silver lining, we were pretty good against the Celtics, Milwaukee and the Lakers. I thought that even the other night in Toronto, there were some positive things that came out of it. I love the spirit of the group and we look down and we have a starter in the NBA All-Star Game that’s on our bench and not playing. Joel has been fantastic in just being with his team. I like the spirit and [it] sure feels a lot better when you can beat the Lakers. Some of those marquee games, to your point, do give you another layer of confidence.

On Shake Milton’s level of play tonight…

There is a sense of poise and inner peace. He plays at a non-rattled level. He really doesn’t, to me, get rattled. He doesn’t get shaken up. He got nine rebounds and he’s a two-guard. Both Furkan [Korkmaz] and Shake, for different reasons that you won’t see on the stat sheet, they are two of the pick-and-roll guys that I pair Ben with…nine rebounds is very impressive.

Shake Milton

On how it felt to be in the rotation…

It felt good. It sucks to have injuries. We wish you can turn injuries off, but we always preach “next man up.” I just tried to step up and do my part.

On playing with Ben Simmons…

He’s an easy guy to play with. Very unselfish, gets to the rim with ease and he’s always looking to pass. Anytime you’re able to play with somebody like that, it makes your job a lot easier.

On the confidence he had on the court…

Growing up and playing through AAU and all my basketball experience, I’ve always kind of kept it cool. When you’re around guys like Ben, Tobias and Al, it gives you a lot of confidence to go out there and do what you have to do, so it doesn’t make it that hard.

Al Horford

On Shake Milton…

He’s very poised and he works really hard. He’s one of those guys that you see all the time working on different parts of his game, his conditioning and just staying ready. So I’m just happy to see him come out and have a good outing tonight.

On Ben Simmons’ aggression on the court…

I don’t know what led to that, but he’s been more consistent, more confident, and more aggressive and that’s great for our group. When he’s playing at that level, it fuels the rest of us and tonight, he did it again on a huge stage. It was pretty clear.

On the spirit of the team…

Guys weren’t making excuses. We just came out and said, “Hey, we’re going to take on the challenge, we’re going to go with it” and it speaks a lot about this group. The guys, they’re hungry, ready to play, and a lot of the guys who come off the bench, whatever you throw at them, they’re going to do it [play] and they’re going to do it at their best.

Tobias Harris

On the key to going up against bigger guys…

Just defend and keep them off the glass. Kind of single them out a little bit and make them try to do some things that they don’t usually do in their system.

On a matchup with Anthony Davis…

A guy like AD, you know he’s got so much length, that there’s times when I’m ready to pull up…You have to beat them on the move and on the pass.

On Shake Milton…

I thought he did great. Shake came in, he had great energy for us. We went to the glass together, he had nine boards, made big shots and just played in his game. He didn’t try to do anything too out of the ordinary. It was a good compliment to the guys we had on the floor and for him too. He’s a kid who comes in and works every single day and now he’s getting presented with an opportunity and he did a great job with that. There’s a lot more he can do, too, that he’ll continue to build his confidence and go forward with that.

Los Angeles Lakers

Frank Vogel

On the 76ers’ energy level effecting the win…

They punched us in the first quarter. We knew they were going to come out strong. They’re a great home team. A Saturday night game, we knew it was going to be an electric crowd, and it was. I thought we withstood the first punch, continued to fight throughout the game. I thought we didn’t play well, but I thought we played hard as hell. And we had a number of guys diving on the floor for loose balls, really competing, but it just wasn’t enough.

On Alex Caruso’s and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope’s energy in the second half as the team’s motivation…

Those two guys in particular played with great defensive energy, deflecting the ball, like I said, diving on the floor, just being active. And it really energized the group.

On Philly’s final push to win the game…

We just had a hand full of possessions that were empty possessions for us that they capitalized on. They came down and made a couple of shots. We missed a couple of decent looks and they were able to break the game back open.

On LeBron James passing Kobe Bryant for third place on the all-time scoring list…

It’s just a great historic moment, for our franchise, for LeBron himself. It’s very special to be a part of it.

Dwight Howard

On what caused the loss tonight…

I thought they came out with more effort and energy than we did, and that’s what got them the game.

On whether or not the team’s travel schedule caused their loss…

No excuses. They were the better team tonight. They executed their game plan pretty good tonight, and they got a good home win. They played really tough at home. They were well-coached tonight.

On LeBron James passing Kobe Bryant for third place on the all-time scoring list…

I just think it’s amazing. I just said it in the back and just thought about how amazing it is to be third all-time in the NBA in scoring. That’s a big accomplishment, and I think that’s something that should be appreciated. I think we don’t appreciate each other as much as we should as humanity, and I think something like that should be appreciated. We should appreciate people while they’re alive and accomplishments like that is something we don’t, at least, typically see. So, man, I think—I’m happy for LeBron and all his accomplishments, but I think this one right here is up there. I think this is one of his best accomplishments, being number three all-time, passing Wilt, passing Kobe, I think it’s amazing. And I’m truly happy for him.

Anthony Davis

On how he felt with LeBron passing Kobe on the all-time scoring list…

Amazing. A guy who’s a willing passer, who wants to pass and is still able to score the basketball and move up to third in an L.A. uniform, passing Kobe…I’m happy I got the assist for him and I’m just happy to be a part of the team. He’s doing great things. He’s broken so many records this season and I’m happy for him. He deserves everything he’s getting.

On if the record and waiting for LeBron to break it slowed the team…

No, they’re a good team. They’re now 21-2 at home and we missed a lot of shots early in the third. They pushed the ball, and you’ve got a guy who’s a 6’ 10” guy, pushing the ball in front of guys, and we had some bad rotations on him. Regarding their shooters, they were able to knock down some threes. So, it was on us on the defensive end, but we kept fighting and were able to battle back. I think we cut it to five, but then we went cold again…we fought, but we have to find ways to close games. When you’re down that much, everything has to go perfect for you, and we cut it to five, but ran out of ammo at the end.

LeBron James

On passing Kobe on the all-time scoring list…

It’s just too much…it doesn’t make sense, and just to make a long story short, now I’m here in a Lakers uniform, in Philadelphia, where he’s from, where one of the first times I ever met him in this city during All-Star week…it’s surreal. It doesn’t make any sense, but the universe just puts things in your life…I’m happy just to be in any conversation with Kobe Bean Bryant, one of the all-time greatest basketball players to ever play, one of the all-time greatest Lakers. The man has two jerseys hanging up in Staples Center, it’s just crazy.

On what it’s like having Kobe as a spectator and time passing…

It’s pretty cool, it’s pretty amazing. That’s pretty much how I’m going to be when I’m done playing, being able to come back and watch this beautiful game and hopefully there’s somebody still playing the game at a high level. Like the guy across the hallway, Ben Simmons, I can sit and watch him and see how much he continues to grow and watch him do what he does…he’s growing every day and it’s a pretty cool thing to see him.

On the Lakers franchise…

It’s a brotherhood, being a part of the Lakers franchise. We all root for one another, no matter past present or future and that’s what it’s all about.

On his favorite moment with Kobe…

There’s too many. It could be the last game we played against each other at Staples, it could be his last All-Star Game…us winning the gold medal together…so many different things we did together…like I said, when I was a 15-year-old kid and was able to meet him, I was in awe and he gave me a pair of his shoes…it’s impossible to single out one of them. It’s cool to know that you have the support of one of the all-time greats that ever played this game and someone you admired to be like on the floor…you don’t have that much time to play this game and if you’re able to be remembered for the great things that you did and the positive things that you did, making people feel great about what you did, it’s a pretty cool thing…I appreciate it.