Ahead of Thursday's NBA trade deadline and a matchup with the Boston Celtics, Washington Wizards shooting guard Bradley Beal discussed how both Eastern Conference contenders have improved since their Christmas Day matchup.
(Photo: Nicolaus Czarnecki via Boston Herald)
On the Celtics:
“We still have that salty feeling about losing to them in the playoffs last year. We are going to come out with an edge about ourselves. We know, this is the team to beat in the East, a team we could potentially face down the line in the playoffs. We got to make it a statement game so to speak and come out ready to go.”
On facing the Celtics and how both teams have changed:
“I think both teams have gotten better since the last time we played them. Kyrie is just getting back from his [quad] injury so we are not sure how many minutes he will play, but he’s still a huge part of their team’s success. He’s always going to have an impact on the game one way or the other. I think everybody else has been doing a great job of stepping up. Rozier has been playing unbelievable the last week and a half or so. We got to be ready to go. These guys are a great defensive team. Coach Stevens, he’s a great coach, great basketball mind so he’s definitely going to have these guys looking ready to go. They just lost to Toronto so they are coming in with an edge to themselves. We got to make sure that we are ready, but we’ve gotten better as well on both ends of the floor. So, we just got to keep playing the way we have been playing the last five, six games.”
On where the Wizards have improved:
“In every aspect of the game. On defense, I think our commitment and our focus and our knowing personal and pretty much everything and tells on the defensive end, we’ve gotten better at. Our focus, knowing the game plan, knowing our schemes and being unselfish defensively. The same on offense, we’re doing a good job of moving the ball, sharing it and moving, cutting, running our plays with some intensity, with some force. We are a lot more physical than we were in the beginning of the year. On top of that, we’re making shots. Everybody is confident, everybody is knocking them down. I think in every aspect we’ve been better. But, we still have a long way to go.”
On the mood on trade deadline day:
“Everybody’s safe or not? Everybody’s safe. It doesn’t matter, it’s a business at the end of the day. Once three o’clock hits, all the worries are done. Who’s ever is in the locker room is in the locker room and it’s what we rocking with the rest of the year. We come into with a mindset that everyone is playing, we still have all our guys here. We just go from there. We let Ernie [Grunfeld], Ted [Leonsis], and all those guys handle that upstairs.”
On the trust within the team to pass the ball:
“I have to trust my teammates. The biggest thing for me is I get double teamed a lot with John out. So, it just makes it tough on me to just go out and jack up shots and I am never the type of player that just jacks up shots anyways even when John’s here. I don’t change my game with him being out. We have other guys that can play the point. We have other guys who can step up and contribute as well so I don’t put all that pressure on myself. I have faith and trust in my teammates, my bigs, my wings to make plays just as well as I.”