Cavaliers head coach J.B. Bickerstaff believes second-half defense led to win vs. Grizzlies

Cavaliers head coach J.B. Bickerstaff believes second-half defense led to win vs. Grizzlies

Nothing really felt easy with with with this one right but how did you I guess overcome kind of the scrappiness that Memphis was playing with uh I mean we talked about a pregame you know what I mean like give them a ton of credit that’s who they are no matter who’s on

The floor for them um you know they play with that competitive spirit and they keep fighting keep coming um but again I thought our guys did a great job of just showing resolve um and you know obviously we were much better in the second half um you know our defense is

What makes us and we held them to 22 points and 21 points um and that’s what obviously gave us you know the advantage and the ability to go uh get the win but again we we’ve got the ability um you know so even when things aren’t as pretty as we would like

Uh we know we can go there and then we got guys that can create uh and come up with buckets when we need them it felt like you guys were kind of searching for a spark too in that second half how did Caris help provide that I mean that’s

That’s what he does you know I mean he’s a he’s a guy who can just get it going uh and can contribute on both ends you know he gets steals pushes it in transition offensively he pushes he attacks he makes plays happen uh and it seemed like he just continues to make

Timely shots um you know when we need him most he’s there in the moment and makes the big ones Donovan officially selected as an All-Star Reserve tonight before the game can you just take a moment to reflect on how all the work that a guy like that puts in can

Culminate to you know this moment of fifth consecutive Allstar I mean he he’s a superstar and I don’t think there’s any question uh about that um you know if in my opinion if it wasn’t you know if it wasn’t a popularity contest he should be a starter um you know that’s

Not a knock on the other guys that are because obviously they’re Elite and there’s only five of those spots but uh you know you’re hardpressed to find a guy um positionally who plays the game better than Donovan does um and how important he is to us all over the floor

You know it’s not just the ability to create and carry a game but you know like we’ve talked about his ability to make his teammates better have empathy for his teammates understanding when they need the ball how to create for them uh and to lead them so um you know

He’s a superstar um and he continues to prove it every night uh coach any updat on Jarett and how do you think uh your other guys did especially G Jones filling in without him and Evan tonight I thought he did a really good job I mean I think he was

Great defensively you know had some really big blocks for us uh took a challenge you know and Garden jiren Jackson uh which isn’t easy um but I thought he did a really good job filling in in those minutes and I don’t have an update on uh jar yet for you and then uh

You mentioned earlier but how what happened in that third quarter where you really turned up the defense I mean that was it it was a decision that was made um you know again you play last night you travel you know you’re trying to kind of figure out you know uh your wits

A little bit um and just try to find the rhythm of the game and you know what we did was found the rhythm of the game for us on the defensive into the floor and allow that to spark our offense create easy opportunities for us but uh you

Know this game is going to be a grind out when you play the Grizzlies you know what I mean like they slow the game down they’re big they’re physical uh they’re active um so they’re going to make it a you know a grimy game and you just got

To figure out you know your how and tonight our defense was our how and then uh DG second night of back toback how do you think he looked I thought he was good again um you know it’s it’s tough those limited minutes for a guy who’s

Used to play playing uh in bulk trying to figure out and pick your spots but I thought he was a big part of our pushing at um you know fourth quarter to get us kind of uh settled you know you hate you have to kind of take him out of that

Moment but um you know I thought he did a great job kind of finding his footing and helping us push the lead like

Cleveland head coach J.B. Bickerstaff addresses the media following the team’s 108-101 win in Memphis.