LOS ANGELES CLIPPERS MEDIA CONFERENCE

September 3, 2020

Doc Rivers

Postgame Press Conference

Clippers 120, Nuggets 91

Q. Wanted to ask you about the pick-and-roll defense tonight against Jokic and Murray. You guys held them to a combined 27 points, and just the job you guys did against them.

DOC RIVERS: Yeah, I thought we cluttered it up a little bit. First quarter defense was not good but from that point on I thought we really locked in. You know, got into the ball, blew up a couple of their handoffs, but they are so difficult honestly. We'll take the effort tonight for sure.

Q. This has been your first postseason with Kawhi. Today he joined Michael Jordan as since the merger, the only guys to score 29 points in their first seven games of postseason.

DOC RIVERS: Just efficient. You know, he puts the work in. There's very few guys that will outwork him. So he puts it in, so when the game starts, he can withdraw. So he does put a lot of work in but he's very efficient. I've been very impressed with how he can get it through your offense. He's been great for us.

Q. Pat Beverley played 25 minutes. What is it about his aura?

DOC RIVERS: He gives us energy. We're not a particularly loud team on the floor defensively. Pat is, in a lot of ways, with that starting layup, he's a defensive captain with his voice. He calls out coverages. He holds everybody responsible. And to have that voice to start games, is just invaluable.

Then what it does, it just leaks over to the rest of the team. So when you see him playing like that, and talking like that on defense, it helps the entire team.

Q. People, when they talk about Pat, almost exclusively talk about his defense but he shoots 38 to 40 percent from three every year. Stepped into two right away for you guys tonight. Were those tone-setting shots a little bit?

DOC RIVERS: Those were great. Very much so. Because he had not played. But I think people forget about his offense. He's a terrific, especially corner shooter, and he knows that and he gets to those spots. So, you know, good for him.

Q. Speaking of Marcus, what are your thoughts on his performance tonight?

DOC RIVERS: He was terrific. And that will get lost in his offense, but man, I tell you defensively in his passing and spacing and being in the right place, he was a pros pro tonight. Just very efficient. He plays such an intelligent basketball game. It was great to see.

Q. After you wrapped up the first round, you felt like collectively the intensity was slow to wake up in the first round. Is that something you revisited in the last two or three days about getting off to a faster start?

DOC RIVERS: Just getting off to a playoff start. Like you're in the playoffs, and you know, I didn't think we joined it until like Game 4, but now we're here, and we're playing well. We're playing hard. That's what I saw tonight. You know, we're going to make mistakes, but when you play hard, you can cover up for them, and I thought we did that tonight.

Q. Wondering what did you think of Montrezl's stretch in the second half and is this a matchup tailor-made for him to get going?

DOC RIVERS: I don't know if any matchup is tailor-made for anyone. But listen, Trezl was gone for 30 days, so he's still just starting to round in and you can finally see it coming. To get him in now, the playoffs, will be huge for us moving forward.

Q. You mentioned about playing hard. What helped spark the defense?

DOC RIVERS: You know, I think it's just a different intensity to the playoffs. You can play the same team; they are overly prepared for you, so the little things stand out. One mistake will cost you a basket. One mistake will cost you a turnover. You run it right, you'll get a basket or a shot. If you don't execute, it's going to hurt you, and part of that is intensity and focus, and you have to have that on every single play. I don't think we understood that early on. I think we do now.