LOS ANGELES CLIPPERS MEDIA CONFERENCE

June 18, 2021

Quin Snyder

Jazz Postgame Press Conference

Clippers - 131, Jazz - 119

Q. The Clippers 81 points after halftime on 71 percent shooting. Can you start off by telling us what kind of changed in the second half defensively?

COACH SNYDER: I think the beginning of the third quarter we started off turning the ball over. And that initially got them going. The 71 percent shooting was also 74 percent from 3.

We were trying to guard the ball and struggled to stay in front. And when Rudy would come over to protect the rim, initially we were getting back to Mann. And he started making shots. And we played zone. Got in full rotations against them with them making shots. Everybody made shots. They're 74 percent from 3, which is, you know, an unusual number.

That said, obviously there's things that we didn't execute on, beginning with being able to defend the ball up front when guys were getting into the paint. They were also -- when Rudy was reluctant to come over or when we were late in our rotations and they took advantage of it with ball movement. And they had five guys out there that were making 3s and they were all making them.

So, like I said, I think our inefficiency early on in the third quarter turning the ball over, I don't know how many turnovers we had in the second half. They led to a lot of baskets. And obviously in the half court they spaced us and moved it and had us on our heels.

Q. Can you tell me what it's like watching Donovan through this series, and he had a couple more times in this game where Beverley fell on his ankle and that last play with a minute left where he turned the ankle again, just giving it everything he's got despite being so banged up?

COACH SNYDER: Well, he's a warrior. And it's a unique player that has the competitiveness and the desire to play through that type of pain. And obviously you saw when he started the game, I think as the game progresses, it just becomes harder and harder on him because of his ankle, particularly when they're scoring the way they did at an unbelievable level, that also can be deflating to your entire group.

Q. You called several timeouts to try to stop the tide. And at what point does it come down to trying to get some defensive stops and a few defensive rebounds on the few shots that they did get?

COACH SNYDER: Yeah, I mean we -- when we called timeouts to try to make adjustments to how we were defending the five out, whether it was getting back to man, stunting at him and he's making -- and we went zone. Then we got into full rotations.

But they were consistently in the paint where we're putting ourselves in help situations that are -- that you're capable of trying to rotate better. But you're going to give up a look and you're trying to protect the rim.

So those were a lot of things we were talking about in timeouts. And again I think on the offensive end, your defense affects your offense when you're taking the ball out of the net, particularly for us when we were getting out and getting stops, we were able to push the ball and run and get some easier looks.

But now you're playing against a set defense. And they have excellent perimeter defenders and put a lot of pressure on the ball. It was a tough night for us all the way around.

I'm incredibly proud of this team. When we finish on a game like this, it's hard to reflect what I think was some high level performances in the playoffs, what Donovan was able to do, a lot of the individual things that our guys did. Just, again, like I said, proud of this group. Appreciate the opportunity to coach them, and obviously we would have hoped for a different result tonight.

And it's hard particularly when we have the kind of lead we did going into the second half to see the game finish that way and the season finish that way.

Q. When they can put Rudy in that awkward spot where they know they're going to be their defender off the dribble and they're going to pull him over kick to the corner for 3s, is there any other adjustment you can make other than you just have to stay in front of your guy better, or is it a Rudy problem?

COACH SNYDER: No, I mean, schematically, when Mann was in the strong corner early, Rudy shifted in. He's protecting the rim and we're trying to fall off to get to shooters. They put Mann on the other side of the floor, which in theory allows us to help more coming from the baseline.

The hard thing about the penetration is when they're getting middle, it pulls you in and the rotations are much, much shorter -- or longer, I should say, more difficult is the best way to talk about it.

So they were moving their spacing around. But the consistent thing is we're trying to protect the rim and you're hoping that some of those 3s that you get contested, and there were late contests on a lot of them and they were making them. Obviously if you're shooting 74 percent from 3 there's always -- we'll watch the film and we'll kick ourselves that there's things that we wanted to do more or better. But hats off to them for the kind of night they had driving the ball and kicking it and shooting it.

Q. Given the success they had with the small ball throughout this series, obviously they had 27 shots at the rim, 22 corner 3s, that's not the style of defense you guys usually play. What is it that you guys can do against small ball in the future, or does this like roster need to change in some way in order for you to defend against them?

COACH SNYDER: I think that's a statement that when you have a game like this it's easy to react to it on that kind of level. But we have the defensive player of the year in Rudy. We've been able to defend in those situations this year doing very similar things.

Tonight we gave up the rim early as well. And when we did come over and protect the rim, the ball got kicked out. So clearly it was a tough night in many respects on the defensive end.

But I certainly wouldn't jump to any type of conclusion regarding that. And there's certain matchups obviously that are harder than others. But tonight was a unique night as far as what they did. There's a lot of things that we did that were very similar to what we had done during the series and had success early on.