LOS ANGELES CLIPPERS MEDIA CONFERENCE

June 16, 2021

Quin Snyder

Postgame Press Conference

Los Angeles Clippers - 119, Utah Jazz - 111

Q. It seemed like the defense was having issues throughout the game just in terms of making rotations, stopping three-point shooters. What did you think about how the defense performed throughout the game?

QUIN SNYDER: Well, we had trouble in transition defense in the first half, I thought. Not that our half court was great, but I thought we made shots in the first half, and I didn't think we took advantage of that fact because we gave up some easy baskets.

And then, obviously, in the second half there was different things on too many possessions where we tried to execute something, we didn't do it on the level that we need to. I think those breakdowns ultimately -- even if you're in rotations, which we're going to be at certain points, particularly if we're trying to give help on PG when he's going. But those things, we just got to be better in those areas, and it's kind of, it goes up the chain of a possession where they begin to get an advantage and then we're behind.

Q. As hot as you guys were from the perimeter in the first half, I think you missed 16 straight threes bridging the first and second half. What can you do to generate offense when the 3-pointers aren't falling?

QUIN SNYDER: That's kind of a, the question kind of about our team. I thought in the third quarter we didn't get as good a looks. I thought some of those shots were just harder shots, lower percentage shots. But we're not a team -- that's who we have been the whole season, and we have to get good ones, and a lot of times you can get those in transition or we can get that when we get in the paint and are able to make plays for each other. There's some of them for us that you want to get to the rim, oftentimes that early three is the best shot for us and it has been during the course of the season.

So we have had plenty of games where we keep shooting and we start making late, and we had some really good looks late, I thought, as well and if we turn those down and their defense gets set and they're switching pick-and-roll and they're able to stay in front, we usually get up against the shot clock.

So in spite of the fact that those shots aren't going in, I think they're still good shots for our group and as far as what the strengths and weaknesses of our team are offensively. So you don't want to stop shooting, but you also want to do things that can get you better looks, and I thought particularly in the third -- I thought we began to get some better looks as it went on, but the biggest issue is we weren't getting stops and that's a big thing for us because those stops usually generate the kind of threes that we saw in the first half.

Q. How big of a concern is Donovan's ankle at this point? And what do you think of the way he's playing despite some obvious limitations?

QUIN SNYDER: Kind of the segue on the last question. We're asking Donovan, again, that's one of the reasons for us to get out in transition because it takes some of the load off him. When we get into the half court, he is carrying a huge load, not just trying to create offense for himself, but for the group.

So they will continue to evaluate him and see where he is after tonight and continue to monitor that and make decisions going forward that obviously have Donovan's best interests at, first and foremost in mind.

Q. What does your team lose offensively when he's not able to explode to the rim, Donovan that is, outside just his own isolation scoring?

QUIN SNYDER: Well, he's the guy in our group that is really, oftentimes has the responsibility, and it can be a heavy one of generating whether, like I said, generating shots for himself or going by and creating and getting other people looks. So that's a lot, and he's shown his capability of making those plays throughout the year and obviously in the playoffs as well, the level that he's played at. But if they're double-teaming him, blitzing him in pick-and-roll, coming to hit off the nearest man, he's got to get off the ball, and that's what he does because it's hard to play one against two. So as the ball moves out, that's where we got some good looks in the second half. But as I said, we have had some other guys that stepped up, I thought Bojan obviously had a big night for us, JC in the first half really got it going and I thought gave us a lot of momentum there when I felt like maybe we could have been ahead more than we were if it weren't for some, from some mistakes defensively and as I said transition defense.