NBA IN-SEASON TOURNAMENT

December 7, 2023

Willie Green

New Orleans Pelicans

Semifinal Postgame

Lakers 133, Pelicans 89

Q. What was the message to the team after a tough loss that really got away from you guys like that?

WILLIE GREEN: Our messages was simple, it took a lot to get to this point. We gave them a ton of credit and let them know that that does not go unnoticed, the games that we had to win, the tough game in Sacramento. But tonight was a total let down. We were all disappointed in our competitive spirit against the Lakers. You got to give them credit, they came out and they dominated.

Q. With your starters, why do you feel like there wasn't that cohesion out there tonight with that group?

WILLIE GREEN: Like I said, just a lack of competitive spirit from our group. That's not indicative of who we've been and who we are, but tonight we took a step in the wrong direction. I'm not going to take anything away from the Lakers, they came out and they dominated wire to wire. I thought the first quarter was solid, and then after that they took it up another level and we didn't match that at all.

Q. What did you see in the third quarter specifically?

WILLIE GREEN: We got to continue to trust pretty much. When the game gets hard, when teams pick up their physicality, you have to execute at an even higher level. We started to go away from that on both ends of the floor, and that becomes deflating when we try to do it by ourselves.

Q. I think most of the top decision makers with this team understand that to really get to the level that the Lakers are at right now you're going to have to follow Zion's lead. What kind of extra levers can you pull here to put him in better positions to be that true No. 1 kind of like life blood of a winning postseason team here?

WILLIE GREEN: Yeah, experience is key for us right now. We haven't had the experiences that the Lakers have. They know what it takes to win games like that. They know what it takes to be on the big stage and have big moments. For some of our guys this is their first time since college being in elimination games.

So, we'll take the experience, we'll watch film on it, we'll learn, we'll grow. For Z in particular, it's a moment that we can learn from. The level went up tonight and we didn't match their intensity.

Q. You mentioned just from Z and BI, we talked about those two as a duo so much this season, what did you think about just their, I guess, inability to kind of understand the moment, kind of match the Lakers energy tonight, just the way LeBron really took over in that second and third quarter?

WILLIE GREEN: Yeah, tonight wasn't our night, obviously, offensively, defensively. I've said it before, the Lakers, they have that experience. You saw LeBron on full display. He understands these moments. We got a young team that will eventually get there, but tonight was not our night, we're all disappointed in it, and we'll go home, we'll regroup and continue to improve from here.

Q. The way LeBron was guarding Zion, just giving him that much space, what do you want to see Zion do to react when a team is defending him that way?

WILLIE GREEN: Well, he has to get the ball in different ways, number one, transition. So, rebound the ball, you can push before their defense is set, that's a way that we can attack. Sometimes in pick-and-rolls, being able to set the screen, dive, now you catch it on the move, now it kind of frees him up to be able to score a little bit more in our half court.