LA CLIPPERS MEDIA CONFERENCE

April 12, 2023

Norman Powell

Press Conference

Q. How was practice yesterday?

NORMAN POWELL: Practice was good. Overview of team concepts, how we want to play, film, get in there and get to work to get it. We've got some time, so we just want to get right, get your mind locked in early on how we want to play, and our mindset.

Q. When you look at the Suns, they don't get to the line as much, but they foul a lot, so (indiscernible) look at how your game is and how you fit into this series and can take advantage of that?

NORMAN POWELL: It feels like a lot of analytics. I don't know if they're legally, but they're one of the tops in the league in committing fouls, shooting fouls. I know with the Playoffs, it was just fun to balance -- I'm not going in there just thinking I'm just going to pick up a foul. I'm going to watch how the game is being called, how the game is being played, and just play my game naturally. If I see a chance to get a foul opportunity, we're in the bonus, I'm going to do my job and pick those fouls up.

But my mindset is to go in there and be effective and attack it and not really try to leave it up to the refs. When I see how they're playing, getting to the paint. In the playoff there's always more physicality, so just getting my mind right on that and just not searching for the fouls, but if there is contact, taking it.

Q. You've had to prepare for a tough series before when Kevin got hurt in the 2019 Finals. I'm sure you still have to go and figure out, this is what we need to do. Even though it's early in the week, how has that preparation been now compared to then?

NORMAN POWELL: I think it's the same. I think it's the same mindset and kind of the same information being spilled over to us in how we play. He's a dynamic scorer on all three levels. He's seven foot tall, can shoot over anybody he wants to. But it's just the physicality. That's the mindset that we have going in, setting the tone, being the more physical team, not making it easy. That's what we've got to do. We've got to crowd him. We've got to be physical and bump him, try to make it as uncomfortable as possible for him.

So yeah, just being physical. I feel like the more physical team is going to win on the defensive end, being able to get stops. That's our mentality

Q. You said the other day Playoff Kawhi looks different. What will Playoff Kawhi look like?

NORMAN POWELL: I guess y'all got to wait and see. I feel like y'all seen a glimpse of how Kawhi is in the postseason, but just his overall mentality, his approach, just being locked in start to finish, the aggressiveness, the calmness, just the pace before the game. I feel like he has all of that clicking in the Playoffs. I'm excited to see it again up close and in person.