LOS ANGELES CLIPPERS MEDIA CONFERENCE

May 22, 2021

Dorian Finney-Smith

Postgame Press Conference

Q. Dorian, nice game tonight. I just was wondering, Rick said, again, how much you had to improve on and change your shooting from when you came into this league to where you are now. How tough was that when you had to do that? Did you just kind of rework and basically build a new shot?

DORIAN FINNEY-SMITH: It was tough, man, especially when I didn't get that immediate result I wanted, like my first two years when I changed it. It's just been getting better since. That's always tough when you make a change. If you don't get the results, most guys tend to want to go back to the old shot. But I just stuck with it, and I make shots now.

Q. Can you compare the poise level of this team compared to last year, and what maybe you guys drew from last year that's helping you this year?

DORIAN FINNEY-SMITH: Just being in the situations over and over again. I think last year kind of helped us this year, even when the game gets down to the wire, you've got to get that one more stop or that one more rebound or got to give that extra effort, and I think we did a good job today.

Q. They had Zubac on you a lot, especially early in the game. What do you think of that matchup in terms of what you can do in it and what you guys can do putting him in pick-and-rolls? Do you anticipate seeing much more of that in the series?

DORIAN FINNEY-SMITH: Yeah, we figured they were going to put Zubac on me or Maxi, so we just wanted to make sure we could shoot whenever guys penetrate. Most tend to go to the rim and try to block shots when those guys penetrate. I was just going to be ready to shoot. I think either me or Maxi will be happy whoever we guard because we're going to get shots that day.

Q. Dorian, you were just talking about the retooling of your shot that you did. Obviously, it was unfortunate that that season you had that you were out injured for a large portion of it, was that a season that also, like the by-product of it, is that you really were able to work on that shot? Was that a moment that was helpful in the development of that?

DORIAN FINNEY-SMITH: That year, I had made that change, but I was just getting reps while I was hurt. I got to play like the last 15, but I didn't make shots like I wanted to. It just carried on to summer league, and I still didn't make shots like I wanted to. I just deal with it, and Coach was telling me I'm shooting the hell out of the ball in practice, so I just need to shoot the same way in the game.

Q. When Luka gets going like that, what kind of confidence does it give you as a team?

DORIAN FINNEY-SMITH: When Luka gets going, me personally, I just try to stay ready because I know they're about to start trapping him, and that's when you get to find people slinging the ball across court.

Q. You've made more clutch threes than any other player on this Mavericks team and had a chance to show it off tonight against the Clippers. What has made you so effective in these moments and with your confidence and poise in big game situations like this now?

DORIAN FINNEY-SMITH: I just know, again, they're going to send two guys at Luka, and we've just got to be ready to shoot. Most times in the game, people take the ball out of L.D.'s hands, and I just know us four have got to be ready to shoot.