LOS ANGELES CLIPPERS MEDIA CONFERENCE

June 14, 2021

Kawhi Leonard

Postgame Press Conference

Los Angeles Clippers 118, Utah Jazz 104.

Q. Wanted to ask about the status of the knee. You sat out the final 5:25 of that game. How is your knee doing?

KAWHI LEONARD: I'm good.

Q. When you say good --

KAWHI LEONARD: Yeah, next question.

Q. It seemed like you guys really prioritized attacking mismatches, especially Game 3 and game 4. What did you see from Games 1 and 2 film that applaud you had to exploit that?

KAWHI LEONARD: We been doing that the whole series. You probably get to see it works now because guys are making shots. But we've been pretty much been doing it the whole series.

Q. I liken you guys to counter-punchers, in round one you took a couple shots from the Mavericks, this series you take a couple shots but tonight jumped all over these guys. How do you bottle this up and carry the same mindset into Utah for Game 5?

KAWHI LEONARD: It's a competition. You know, somebody got to win the game and we got to go out with a mindset trying to win. You know, these guys are out there, play hard, play smart and shoot the ball with confidence and see what the results are at the end of the game.

Q. I know you're not on social media and you don't get into that kind of stuff, but do you have any sense of reaction of the dunks in the game or the blocks on Bogdanovic in the second half? Do you have any sense of the reaction an social media or around the league?

KAWHI LEONARD: I mean, I don't get to see the reaction of what's on the web or social media. Zu showed me a clip of MB talking and know, that's the only thing I got from it. But during the game, I know it's a big play, but got to have that next-play mentality because right after that, I think Joe Ingles came down and hit a three pretty wide open in that corner. We've still got room for improvement.

Q. What would you say you've found in the last two games that you have not done enough in Utah that you are taking back to Utah this time?

KAWHI LEONARD: You know, I think we kind of made shots here. You know, Game 3 and 4, just got some games under our belt pretty much. You know, coming out of the Dallas series, it's a different team, different vibe, better team and yeah, we just got to see what we've been doing these last couple games and just keep moving forward. We've got to watch and talk to the guys and see what we need to do.

Q. Ty has been talking about starting these games better and in the first quarter only 13 points allowed and they didn't hit the first three until the last minute. What do you think is the key to that first quarter and how do you take that on the road with you?

KAWHI LEONARD: Just knowing what we need to do. Being locked into the game plan. You know, I think they move the ball. They had some open looks. They missed some shots. Guys are just playing hard in the first quarter.

Q. By the same token, Ty said yesterday that all championship teams he knows are excellent coming out of halftime into third quarters, making adjustments and executing them. The third quarter is still something that trips you guys up. Where do you feel like you have to go to fix that?

KAWHI LEONARD: Just come out with a better mindset than other team pretty much. I think we had a decent third quarter last game. Just having a better mindset. That's it. That's all we can do is come out with better energy and focus than the other team.

Q. Earlier on you guys faced a lot of criticism falling behind 2-0 to the Mavs and 2-0 to the Jazz in this round. What turned it up for you guys? Also this would be your first trip to the Western Conference Finals in franchise history. And what would it mean to you and to the organization to advance?

KAWHI LEONARD: I don't care about the Western Conference Finals. We're trying to win the Championship. Obviously that's the next step but I'm not even looking at that. So I don't even know if we can take criticism. I don't know what's going on in the outside world.