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NBA WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: THUNDER v WARRIORS

May 22, 2016

Billy Donovan

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma: Game Three

Q. Coach, obviously, turnovers have been a problem the first two games. Did you learn anything in particular on the three days off that you hope will be able to limit some of those unforced or even forced turnovers?
BILLY DONOVAN: Yeah, we've tried to work on that really at different stages and times during the year. I thought in Game 1 in the second half we did a much, much better job. Certainly for us in the first quarters of both games it's been a problem and something we've got to do a better job with.

Q. Same starters tonight?
BILLY DONOVAN: We'll let you know in 20 minutes.

Q. Can we expect any major changes?
BILLY DONOVAN: I don't anticipate any major changes.

Q. Enes went without an offensive rebound last game, was there a reason for that? I think it's only the second time in the playoffs.
BILLY DONOVAN: Yeah, again, I think you have to give them a lot of credit. They did a great job on the offensive glass in particular. And I think it also went over to them defensive rebounding as well. And I think to your point, that's something that's been a real strong suit of Enes, and he's got to help us on the glass, especially on the offensive glass. I think he's capable of doing that.

I don't know if there's any particular reason. I thought they did a good job of being physical and blocking out, and really did a good job collectively as a group rebounding.

Q. Curry did almost all of his damage in Game 2 in two short stints. The rest of the game, in how many, like 30, 32 minutes. Did you actually do a pretty good job and do what you wanted to him and those two stretches got you?
BILLY DONOVAN: Yeah, I mean, I think that's what great players do. You can look at Russell in the third quarter of Game 1, he didn't have a particularly great shooting half in Game 1, and then comes out in the third quarter in a very quick period of time scored 19 points. Curry kind of hit us with the same thing in the third quarter. That's why I think with a guy like Curry, you've really got to -- when he's out there on the court, you've got to be mindful.

He's going to make tough shots, he's going to take tough shots. He's a great shot-maker. But you don't want to give him any easy ones. But certainly he put a flurry together there that helped them go on a huge run against us.

Q. When Kevin has a game where he has eight turnovers against the Warriors, the next day in practice and film session, what's his mentality? Is it studious? Is he willing to learn and accept some of the mistakes that he's made in games?
BILLY DONOVAN: Yeah, one thing I admire about Kevin is he's very, very eager to learn and grow and get better. We talked about those turnovers. I think the perception is that it's just like he's got four people around him and he has no one to throw the ball to, and that's not the case. I think it's a matter of him making really good, quick reads and decisions. Also, I think really being sharp and crisp with his passing.

He had an offensive foul that counts probably as a turnover for him, and there were some other plays. But, again, I think Kevin will get better from that. He knows he needs to get better from it. I trust him with the ball in his hands because he's got size. He's a really willing passer, and he's got good vision. So when you have someone like Kevin and he's having to play against different kind of coverages, you know, you're going to get caught like that sometimes. That's what happens, I think when you've got a player like Curry in the first game. He had some turnovers.

I think Kevin's turnovers come from a good place. He was trying to do the right thing, they've just got to be executed a little better.

Q. You were pretty close to Steph Curry when he took his tumble in the stands. What was going through your mind at the time? And do you think your fans would do a better job of catching Russell Westbrook if he went in the stands?
BILLY DONOVAN: I hope they would do a good job of catching him. When he went over it didn't look like he had gotten flipped. It looked like he was able to brace himself, and our bench kind of stood up, so I couldn't see beyond the fall, but it didn't appear like he's going to be injured, and I'm glad he wasn't.

Obviously it's tough anytime I think a player tries to make a play like that, and obviously is going into an area where there are chairs and people and things like that. A lot of times that can end up being an injury.

Q. Billy, you've said a couple times this postseason that you think Dion's shot selection has improved from where he was a couple years ago. How do you think he was able to make that change? Was there a moment where you saw it click and saw things starting to better for him?
BILLY DONOVAN: It took a lot of time to try to talk to Dion. I think in the beginning he had a little bit of a perception that maybe I, in particular, was trying to change his game, so to speak. It wasn't about changing his game as much as it was about him being efficient and understanding shot-clock situations, understanding what he's really good at.

I think from an efficiency standpoint, just the way everything has gone with analytics now, those pull-up jump shots early, mid-clock, you probably can get those at different points in time. I think for Dion, because of his ability to drive the ball and his ability to pass, him staying away from that I think actually opened up more things for him. I think once he started to see and understand how to do that -- again, Dion's a young player, and when you get to this level by doing something, you think you can kind of stay doing it. But I give Dion a lot of credit that he saw for him to take another jump as a player, here's something I've got to evolve and get better at.

He's a really, really bright guy, Dion. He's a smart player and he understands the game. I think when you talk to him about things and he can see those things, I think it really helps him.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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