LOS ANGELES CLIPPERS MEDIA CONFERENCE

May 22, 2021

Tim Hardaway

Postgame Press Conference

Q. 21 points tonight. How important was it to keep the momentum and the home court advantage in this series, given how tough this Clippers team is, by what you guys did tonight?

TIM HARDAWAY JR.: Just battling with the guys, making sure -- we knew they were going to make their run at some point in the game after a couple of stretches. Just had to make sure we weathered the storm, and made sure, once we got stops, capitalize, and we did there in the fourth.

They were starting to double Luka, so we just tried to do a great job with the other guys that were on the floor to be aggressive when that happens and try to find the open man.

Q. I was actually going to ask you about what goes through your mind when you see they're starting to send two at Luka?

TIM HARDAWAY JR.: It feels good because you've got an opportunity to get an open shot if the ball is moving the correct way, or once you get the ball out of the trap, you are that man that makes the plays and you're a playmaker at that point.

You should just, when that happens, be aggressive, make the easy play, hit singles in that aspect of the game, and just try to do the best you can to not turn the ball over.

Q. Do you think this is a game you guys would have won last year with Luka scoring one point in the fourth quarter?

TIM HARDAWAY JR.: Right. What also helps is having a big fella out there and not getting thrown out of the game the first game of the playoffs. So I think that helps out a lot.

Q. I know you guys, after a win like this, you're always looking forwards. What are some things you think you can get even better at in this series?

TIM HARDAWAY JR.: Just limiting my turnovers. Also, their guys did a great job of knocking down open threes, so just got to do a better job of closing out, being better in that aspect of the game, and just trying to do the best we can to look at the positives and carry that over. We know they're a great team. They do a great job defending the ball and defending actions, and we already know next game is going to be a dogfight. We've just got to be ready to come out prepared.

Q. Can you specify anything that felt differently in this playoff game tonight than last year Game 1 against the Clippers about the atmosphere and just your team in general?

TIM HARDAWAY JR.: I think it was definitely the atmosphere, seeing fans in there felt really, really good. Actually seeing people felt good, felt in the norm as well. Yeah, I think that's just a big take-away for the difference between last year and this year, the atmosphere and that presence of fans being in the arena and watching and making sure that the opposing team isn't making free throws or doing anything to distract you.

I think it just levels up your awareness and levels up your concentration even more when you're on the road.