 months ago, Jacques Vaughn met the media and our Megan Triplett teed up the first query. Jacques, you mentioned during pregame that this team was going to play aggressive and hit first with their guys. When you look at this one, what were some of the details that led to the Pistons being so successful? Yeah, it was no secret how they play. They drive the basketball. They try to get into your paint and they try to get to your rim, try to create turnovers so they can get out in transition and get easy buckets and the offensive rebound in peace. So games like this, you have to have just a competitive edge about yourself in order to take on multiple guys crashing at the glass, being secure with the basketball so we don't turn the basketball over, a list of things. And so when those things don't happen, you give up 130 points. Do you look at this one as some of the results being because of the second night of a back to back and some guys potentially being kind of tired? You know I'm not going to allow that to happen, Megan. There's no excuses. You know, we all play the same amount of games throughout the course of the year and the schedule dictates its own self for each team. We gave effort in Philadelphia yesterday and the expectations, what we always talk about was to win this basketball game. So the people who suited up, the people who played, the people who stepped on the floor had an opportunity to impact the basketball game for their teammates and that's the objective every single time we step on the floor. We were expected to win tonight. That was, that's the goal. And whether it's a back to back, I remember four and five nights, three and four, four and six, doesn't matter. You do what's necessary, whether that's taking care of your body, the mental part of it, the work that goes on between days off, between games, game day to get yourself in a position to win. That's why we do this thing. And do you, we saw Ben Simmons who came out of the game. Do you have an update on Ben and also TJ Warren? Yeah, he ended up, Ben and Nick, sorry, Ben and TJ ended up having some knee soreness. So both of them. Coach, I think this is the second time for Ben on the second. TJ, sorry, sorry, knee contusion for TJ. So he got hit, that's contusion. I mean, clarify my diagnosis for you, Megan. And Ben was knee soreness. Ben, this is the second time for him in the second game of back to back where he's had a left knee or a left calf or something like that. Is that a concern where the second game of back to back for him, he might not be able to maybe play in those? Well, I think Christian, the goal is, in my eyes, I'll say this, is for everyone to play every game and to do what's necessary to be prepared to play every game. There's a certain amount of minutes that each individual played in Philly. Some played equally tonight. So the preparation that it takes going into that, you just have to give credit to the guys who were prepared to play, ready to play, did what was necessary to get their bodies ready to play. And secondly, I mean, I think we spoke a little bit pre game about the Pistons and their physicality, but one thing that stands out about them is their size, right? You've got a bunch of guys who are six, five, or tall or a bunch of guys who are stocky strong. What can you guys do to maybe combat teams that are composed like that, that have that type of player or those players who are physical and strong with that size? Yeah, that's a great way to look at it. That's a challenge for us. And we talked about playing different lineups out there. Sometimes those lineups give us the opportunity to put 122 on the board. And now we got to worry about the other end. And so a lot of that Christian, I think boils down to the early work of you reacting to those guys. And so whether that is, you have to anticipate a shot going up and then you hit first and then maybe the referee sees him push, you know, you get pushed instead of you pushing. So overall that early work of, you know, being prepared to have combat on place, it's nothing wrong with that word and nothing wrong with bringing that to the table every night. Jack, do you know how Ben got hurt? I do not. I just got a performance update that he had some soreness and that was it for me, Nick. Do we know yet for either Ben or TJ about an MRI tomorrow? I was not told anything about an MRI. That's not to say that it won't be done, but they didn't tell me anything before I came out here. Jack, surely before the game, obviously Kevin and Kai named to the All-Star game again, just your thoughts on those guys getting that honor again. Yeah, we chose to address the team about the expectations of winning after the basketball game, but we also chose to show gratitude and show a little bit of joy of, you know, saying those guys deserve to be All-Stars, 13 time, eight time, pretty impressive. So we celebrated that after the game as well. And then Nick, I know you spoke quite about him before the game, but he keeps kind of elevating his game during this run. It feels like he does a little bit, something different every night. What do you see? Do you see new things from him as much? You know, a prime example, Tom, is, you know, I'm leaving Philly the other night and I go to the restroom and we have some cold tubs that are in the bathroom. There's two cold tubs that are in there. And the two guys that are in there is Royce O'Neill and Nick Claxton. And I'm leaving, washing my hands, wiping my hands, and they're talking about being prepared to play tomorrow. That professionalism, that maturity will go a long ways for Nick Claxton. It's paying off for him. The preparation, the dedication to your craft to show up and be prepared to play every single night. There's something to it. And he's getting rewarded for it. Kind of forgot my question. Oh, Christian, my bad, man. You see, I'll be wanting to win, Christian. Huh? Now you see why I walk home. God get decompressed as I'm going home but it's cold today too. Yeah. So you're very inspiring today. We're motivating. Question about the defense. I know you've mentioned and talked about it after these last couple of games about defending without fouling. Is there some type of message that you're giving your players or what have you seen of the challenges that they have been having when it comes to that? Yes, the interest of balance, especially with our team because we're a team where we don't produce a lot of turnovers, all right? And so sometimes you get into a position where you can gamble and get a turnover. Prime example was End of the Shot Clock, Edmund Sumner's on the right side of the floor, Guy drives to the hole and Ed reaches in and almost gets to steal, but it's a foul, all right? So now we're in a position of do you try to go for the steal or not do you just position yourself? I think we got to get and lean more towards being conservative and just being vertical at the rim and not reaching as much and not worrying about turning someone over because the fouls are hurting us. It hurt us in the second half of Philly. It hurt us again tonight. And so it's the fouls where, you know, it's five minutes to go in the first quarter Philly the other night and we foul and they get two free throws because of the bonus. And so the timing of the fouls also are getting to us as well. So I think overall it's playing hard but playing smart at the same time. Okay, it's back to me now. Came back to you? Yeah, so I think we're past the point of maybe comparing last year's team to this year's team when Kevin is out. But at the same time, two and six now with him out, how do you keep the spirits high even though the losses are piling right now? It was the credit for the Miami win. Two and one, two and one fourth. I mean, he played, he was in that game. You don't get, all right, all right. But how do you keep the spirit of the group high even though the losses are piling? I think it boils down to a few things. This group has to be competitive and we're going to count on them to be competitive every single night. My message will not change. I will not budge an inch on giving them an excuse. So I think that's where the consistency is gonna come into play. And then there's a few things you gotta do to work. And then the proof of the evidence is we have the ability to be in games and to win games. When we all show up, when we all play and we dedicate ourselves to getting stops on one end of the floor and sharing the basketball on the other end. The recipe isn't very complicated. And we're gonna try not to complicate it, keep it real simple. Be honest with this group. First words out of my mouth was, we were expected to win this game. And so when we lace them up two days from now, we'll be expected to win that game. All right guys. All right Frank, I think it was very telling when a reporter asked about Nick Claxton and we all see the growth and the maturity on the floor. But we heard from Jacques Vaughn there. He peeled the curtain back a little bit and he told us a little bit about the maturity off the floor as well. Getting himself ready to play the next day. There's a lot of coaches that use the expression, the magic is in the work. And Nick Claxton, we're watching the players warm up maybe an hour before the game. Where is he standing at the free throw line? And he's shooting free throws because he knows that's a weakness in his game. Look at him when he gets around the basket with the ball. Look how confident he is with that left handed jump hook. Even now with his right hand, he's putting the work in. You're wondering if other players are doing that. Other players that need to get better. And let's look at a guy who's been an all star in this league, Ben Simmons, is he putting in the work to get better. You know, it's three years ago today that Kobe Bryant, his daughter, six other family and friends and the helicopter pilot died in that awful crash. You know, with a big theme among NBA players when that happened was a lot of players talked about the Mamba mentality. Everyone said that I'm gonna live by that. Well, it's not just about saying it. It's about going out and doing it. It's about putting in the work. Kobe Bryant didn't become the best player he was. He just doesn't wake up every morning and say, I'm Kobe Bryant. I'm good. He put the work in. Kevin Durant puts in as much work as any player. Remember talking to Jeff Van Gundy? He was the assistant coach in the US national team for the Olympics that were in Tokyo. He was blown away. Now there's a guy that's coached great players, including Hall of Famers like Patrick Ewing, Tracey McGrady, Yao Ming, been around Larry Johnson in New York, been around great players that work hard. He was blown away by the amount of work that Kevin Durant puts in. Kevin Durant, if he stopped playing today, is going to the Hall of Fame. He's going to go down as one of the greatest players ever. But that's not what motivates Kevin Durant. He wants, he loves to play. He loves to compete. And I think there's a lot of guys and, you know, let's hope that Ben Simmons can kind of recapture that and become that player again, putting in the work. Because it's happening for Nick Claxton, not by accident. He's putting in the work. That's why he's getting better. And I also love Joc Bon, whose old school came from the San Antonio Spurs. Greg Popovich, he played for Jerry Sloan in Utah. This whole idea and the media and the fans get caught up in it. Playing it back to back is not the hardest thing to do, guys. Was it hard for Kyrie Irving and Nick Claxton tonight? Did you see the numbers they put up last night? Did you see the numbers they put up tonight? This idea that gets so mere, oh, I can't believe how is he supposed to play. Last night after the game, a big part of the discussion was the minutes that Ben Simmons played and why was he in there in the last nine minutes? Well, guess what? He got to be in there the whole first half tonight. So you got to do something like this. The back to back thing, you can tell Joc Bon is getting ticked off. It's absolutely absurd. The teams don't play back to back that much anymore. Philadelphia to Brooklyn is a short trip. I get it, it's somewhat taxing on the body. But I didn't think Kyrie Irving had a problem with it. Nick Claxton didn't seem to have a problem. They were pretty productive tonight. They were, and you brought up, Kevin,