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NBA PLAYOFFS ROUND ONE: SPURS v CLIPPERSApril 28, 2015Doc RiversLOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Game Five Spurs – 111 Q. Doc, down the stretch you guys had some opportunities. Blake had the shot that Timmy blocked. What stood out to you in that final minute? COACH DOC RIVERS: I don't know, a lot of things stood out the whole game. I thought our guys played hard tonight, didn't make some shots. You know, I thought there were stretches we could have moved the ball better. But when you look at the score, when you go 1 for 14 from the three and still score 107 points, that means you did a lot of good things, too. I don't complain much. I thought we got some really tough calls tonight, some brutal calls. The travel on Blake, the goal tend on Matt, which wasn't a goal tend, you think about the Playoffs and they're single‑possession games. Those possessions, those were crucial. J.J.'s foul that got him out, J.J. didn't touch anyone. It's not why we lost, but those were big plays for us. Q. You just touched on it, but during the course of the game, how much did that take you out of the game? COACH DOC RIVERS: I don't know, it's just‑‑ listen, the refs are trying hard, too. But God darn, even C.P.'s attack, I still don't have the explanation for that, and I want to find that out because when they make a shot, you have to throw it to the ref to get the ball back, and he got a tech for it. I'm just not sure of some things. I've got a team in there that played their heart out, and they're frustrated a little bit. They're frustrated at themselves because at the end of the day it's always our fault. But they're frustrated at other stuff, too, and in a game like that with that magnitude, there should be no frustration that way at all. Q. What was your perspective specifically on the offensive interference call? COACH DOC RIVERS: I thought it was the right call. I couldn't tell, you know, and I didn't see it. I couldn't see the video, so I don't know, but I thought it was the right call. I hope to God it was the right call. You have people in Newark looking at it, so you're hoping that somebody saw it. You've got to put your trust in them. What did you guys think? I thought it was the right call. I don't know. Q. Not only a physically exhausting game but a mentally exhausting game. You said your team is emotional, you said they're frustrated. What do you tell them after a game like this? COACH DOC RIVERS: Get the loose balls, make more plays, and put it on us. Listen, I'm sure there were calls both ways at the end of the day. You know, so you just have to make more plays in a game like this. One thing I will say, I thought the Spurs did all night, every time there was a loose ball they got it, and in a game like this, we have to get that. I think going into this series, we're the team with the speed. A loose ball is a fumble, and the team with the speed should get it, and I thought they got all of them. I thought every loose ball, every big play, they made. Other than that, it was an evenly‑played game. It really was. Q. Talk more about the bench. You used three guys off the bench, they used six, and you get outscored 48‑17. Looking ahead, how do you deal with that kind of a thing? COACH DOC RIVERS: You use three guys again. It got us to 2‑2. It got us to a final play today. We scored 107 points, so what do you want me to do? You know what I mean? It was the game‑‑ the game on the floor, it was a one‑point game at the end of the game. That's what you want, you know. They used their bench, but at the end of the day, when you look at it, tonight one guy played 25 minutes for them. Everybody else was at 10 and 11 minutes. Just because they were in the game‑‑ it's like the other night, bell Nelly played one minute and I read how they played their bench. Give me a break. Our bench didn't shoot the ball well tonight, I'll say that. But I thought overall they played pretty hard. But it's the easy thing is the bench. Q. Fourth quarter I think Blake made one of nine shots and missed a couple of free throws. How much of that do you think was fatigue and just wearing down? COACH DOC RIVERS: I don't know. Hell if I know, you know? I'll go ask the doctor and try to find out. But I'm sure fatigue was a factor in this game both ways. Duncan played 38 minutes. Blake played 41 minutes. So I'm sure fatigue had a factor for both teams. That could have been a factor. I don't know. But I'll find out. Q. Talk about the way Duncan played on both ends. COACH DOC RIVERS: Yeah, he was good. He was good. I thought not only just offensively, I thought he was really good defensively. I thought he made a lot of big plays, the dunk, the block at the end, and then the strip, as well. I thought that was a lot of contact personally, if we're going to not call that and then call the phantom call down on the other end, I just think. But the first block was clean, I thought Duncan was terrific. He's Tim Duncan. Q. What about his defense on Blake? COACH DOC RIVERS: He was good. I thought one of the moves Pop made, in the 4th quarter he put Duncan on Blake, really I would say middle third, right before we took him out, and Duncan did the job. He took him out. Give him credit. Q. You talked about your team being frustrated but you also sound a bit frustrated. Do you have to gather yourself and collect yourself since you're a leader to get these guys back? COACH DOC RIVERS: We'll be okay. Q. But you, as well. COACH DOC RIVERS: I'll be frustrated all night, thank you. But if you want to take me to dinner and make me feel better, I'm good with that. There's nothing wrong with frustration. I have no problem with guys being frustrated. You have 48 hours or whatever to get over it, and we will. Q. Are there things you can draw‑‑ you guys had a really frustrating Game 5 last year, as well, and had to go play an elimination game. Are there things you can draw from that as a group and going to play this group now in San Antonio? COACH DOC RIVERS: Well, I don't know the answer. I'm assuming yes. We've been in this situation before. It's reversed now, we're going on the road, which makes it a lot harder, but I don't know the answer. But I'm assuming every experience you go through has to make you better, stronger, more mentally tough. So I'm hoping. Q. Do you remember any of the specific emotional challenges that the team faced last year coming into‑‑ COACH DOC RIVERS: Yeah, that was a little different. That was a tough one last year. I mean, this was tough, too. But last year was more self‑inflicted. Tonight you played‑‑ again, I'm going to keep saying it, there is no momentum in this series. The two teams have been‑‑ shoot, they've been evenly matched and it keeps coming down to‑‑ that was the first one‑‑ the second game down to the buzzer and they've won two close ones in our building. That would be the most frustrating thing for me, but we'll figure that out, too. Q. I know it's a long game, so I don't want to make too big of a deal out of the first quarter, but you guys are at 27‑13, you guys look great, then all of a sudden they go on a 15‑0 run. What do you take from that? COACH DOC RIVERS: There's runs in games. When we were up 14 I was hoping we would stay up that much. It's the NBA. I don't put a lot of stock into that. I did think our zone hurt us for a stretch, though. I will say that. Q. Five games in, each team has won on each other's floor. Do you reach a point in a series where there aren't a whole lot of changes to be made? COACH DOC RIVERS: Yeah, I think we've been at that point for a while. I really do. When you look at it, you know, like watching the game, you look at us, we're 1 for 14 from the three‑point line, yet I don't know if they changed their defense much. We did have some really good looks that didn't go in, but once they started not going in, it seemed to snowball for us. If you want to look at the difference in the game, bench‑‑ it's the three‑point line tonight. It's been the three‑point line in this series when you really want to get down do it. Obviously we need to make some, and we've got to do a better job of getting guys open. Q. Matt Barnes has kind of struggled in the series offensively. Is that somewhat concerning to you? And, if so, what do you tell him to get him back in rhythm? COACH DOC RIVERS: Just keep playing. There's nothing I can tell you. He's guarding a really tough guy in Kawhi, and it takes a lot out of you. Sometimes that happens. We stay with him. He's been with us all year. Q. Can you talk about the balancing act dealing with D.J., pulling him in, taking him out and so forth? COACH DOC RIVERS: It wasn't that bad tonight. You know, honestly the times they did it, we were about to sub one of the bigs anyway, so it wasn't that hard to sub him out at that time. Down the stretch they didn't do it, so it's‑‑ listen, we knew all year that this was going to be a factor, so we just deal with it on a game to game basis. You can make the case that in Game 4, it changed the game in our favor. It's going to happen Friday, I guarantee you, and I'm going to have to make a decision again. It's just part of the rules, and I don't think there's anything wrong with the rules. I think they'll change them, but right now they're part of the rules, and you have to live with them. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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