ON THE RECORD: What was said after Raptors stormed back to beat Wizards

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Here’s what was said following Monday’s surprising Raptors comeback win over the Washington Wizards:

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DARKO RAJAKOVIC ON ADJUSTING:

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“We fixed (the lack of paint protection at halftime). I talked to players and I told them: ‘I don’t expect you to go out there and win the game but I expect you to go out there and play with joy, play with fun and compete at a much higher level,’ Rajakovic said.

“Guys responded, they did really good job in the second half. We ended up winning the game tonight but to be honest with you, I prefer not to dig up a hole of 19 points at halftime and then have to work double hard in the second half.”

RAJAKOVIC ON CHARACTER OF THE TEAM:

“It says a lot about character but also like we cannot talk about character in the first half as well, right. It’s always fair to say but it’s not easy to come back from double digits at halftime and then find a way and energy to win the game. And we’ve just got to learn what it takes to get going from the jump ball from the start with the game.”

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RAJAKOVIC ON THE PLAY OF CHRIS BOUCHER:

“He was outstanding, … He was ready to go out there. It’s a long season like all the guys are gonna be in rotation, out of rotation, starting, not starting like they’ve gotta stay ready and that’s why tonight the chain (for player of the game) went to Chris Boucher.”

PASCAL SIAKAM ON BOUCHER:

“Chris was unbelievable man. Belt, chain, whatever you want to call it. The energy he brought to the game, blocking shots, finishing, transition, just playing solid basketball. Just his energy … It’s been really tough on Chris. There’s some games he’s playing, some games he doesn’t know if he’s going to play .. his growth and understanding that sometimes it’s going to be a little hard and him not putting his head down and like, getting away from the team. He’s been so professional, I love his attitude. The coaches see that and everyone sees it an it’s only going to pay off for him.”

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SIAKAM ON RALLYING HIS TEAMMATES:

“Just looking at everyone’s body language I just thought obviously you get down, you have the, you want to come back and it’s like every possession is so like, it feels like it weighs a lot. Like any mistake. And it’s like the crowd won’t help you either. It’s like, ‘ooooohhh. And everything feels like you are getting like stabbed every second, every time something happens.

“One thing I was trying to tell ev eryone is you can’t get everything back all at once. You have to take it one possession at a time. Sometimes we have little six point runs and they come back and make a couple of threes and it’s like oh. It feels like it kind of sucks the life out of you when you’re trying to come back and you’ve just got to be patient with it, continue to work the game. And I think when you have a good attitude the basketball gods will reward you. And we haven’t had that attitude every time we make mistakes. Instead of just getting on them about a mistake it’s just encouraging them. I think that’s what I’m trying to do just encourage everyone and playing with visible energy. ”

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SIAKAM ON HIS GAME-WINNER:

“I work on that shot every day. I’ll take that shot any day. It’s funny, one of the coaches, Drew, was telling me when we were working out before the game that he would live with that shot any day [as a defender] and I told him ‘that’s a bad way to live.’ That shot is always there for me, I work on is everyday, and obviously, luckily, it went in, but to me I’m not doing something that’s out of what I do. I’ll take that shot 100 times out of 100.”

BOUCHER ON WHERE THE TEAM IS AFTER 10 GAMES:

“We’re still learning. Everybody’s learning from every part of the game. We have the coaches, the players. I think collectively we’re doing a good job of working hard and we’re trying to help each other out. Games like this you see the work we have to do but the potential too.”

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