LOS ANGELES CLIPPERS MEDIA CONFERENCE

September 13, 2020

Kawhi Leonard

Postgame Press Conference

Nuggets 111, LA Clippers 98

Q. It seems like a couple games now you've said that it's on you guys to continue pushing the pace and not take your foot off the pedal. Heading into a Game 7, do-or-die, what do you attribute these losses to? Is it really just taking foot off the pedal? What's going on with you guys?

KAWHI LEONARD: Same thing last two games. Kind of just gave up the lead again. They came down, either scored or got fouled in third quarter and we couldn't buy a basket. That's how they came back tonight.

Q. This will be Denver's fourth great Game 7. You won one last year at the buzzer. What will be your message of the team of what they are about to experience going through a Game 7?

KAWHI LEONARD: Just got to leave it all out on the floor and make sure we are paying attention to detail and executing and communicating on the defensive end and that's all we can do, go out there and play hard and just make sure we know the game plan.

Q. What's the mindset heading in --

KAWHI LEONARD: I think it's both, just seeing how we got there and how we let it go. You know what I mean, got one game. Just got to leave it all out there. That's all we could do.

Q. Just for the lack of a better term, did you guys just choke today?

KAWHI LEONARD: Just went cold. We went cold in that third quarter. That's it. We kept getting to the paint, passing the ball, got a little stagnant and just couldn't make shots.

Q. (Talk about the pressure.)

KAWHI LEONARD: It's pressure every game. Obviously nobody wants to go home but just got to go out there, play your game and just live with the results, as long as you're playing hard and attention to detail and just make sure you have fun and relax. That's all we could do.

Q. What concerns you most about giving up these big leads in consecutive games?

KAWHI LEONARD: I mean, both that third quarter, I think they outscored us 16-34. So we got to try to play defense without fouling. You know, limit them, their open looks from the three, and you know, just try to get some offense going. You know, that's what happened in that third quarter. We pretty much gave up the lead.

Q. When lost leads have been something that's followed this team all year, I guess what can you guys do in the next two days to not let something like this happen again.

KAWHI LEONARD: Like I just said, just make sure when we're up, we need to keep our focus. Still run our plays, execute, and don't be lazy on defense. Still have attention to detail and keep playing hard.

Q. You mentioned that it's important to go out and have fun. Obviously Denver has been saying that the last few days, that they are just having a lot of fun with this. Does that make a difference, and do you feel that out there, sort of their joy is helping them?

KAWHI LEONARD: I mean, yeah. I mean, pretty sure they love playing basketball. We do, too, as a team. This is why we play the game. We love it and we're all competitors. You need to be out there having fun and competing and trying to win a basketball game.