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NBA WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: THUNDER v WARRIORSMay 22, 2016Kevin DurantRussell WestbrookOklahoma City, Oklahoma: Game Three Game 3 Oklahoma City 133 - Golden State 105 Q. Kevin, you guys went small a lot more tonight and it was very effective. Seemed like you got Andre [Roberson] involved a lot in the offense, got spacing. What happened that that small lineup worked so well? KEVIN DURANT: I just think we were able to just catch the ball, drive, get into the paint, kick out. You know, we were just letting the ball move and our bodies move and that helped us out. Q. Have you guys seen the replay of Draymond's kick to Steven's groin, and do you think it was intentional? RUSSELL WESTBROOK: I haven't seen it, but honestly, I think it's intentional. That's two times in the last two games. I don't think you can keep kicking somebody in their private areas. But he probably said he didn't do it on purpose, but I think the way I look at it, it looks intentional to me. Q. Kevin, you had three blocks tonight. It seemed you guys protected the rim. Got out in transition. One of them you ended up with the transition three. Are those the type of momentum plays that change these games? KEVIN DURANT: Yeah, yeah, we try to cover for each other and just make plays at the rim. I was able to make one. When we get out in transition, we're pretty good. So just try to get stops and go as quick as we can. This team is good. They just set up and they can kind of dictate where they want you to go on the defensive end. So if we come at it a little quicker and get them off balance a little bit, that's to our advantage. Q. Was playing smaller with Ibaka at center, and trying to push the pace an emphasis during these three days off? RUSSELL WESTBROOK: It was good for us. Like Kevin said, we got some opportunities to get stops and get out in transition. We had an opportunity to show our athleticism and get easy baskets. So it all starts with our defense. It's not much offense. When we get stops, it's tougher to stop us in transition. Q. You guys outscored the Warriors 62-44 in the paint, outrebounded them 52-38. Did it feel like your dominance in the paint was opening up a lot of those jump shots that you had? Because it looked like you guys had some really good looks off the inside game there? KEVIN DURANT: Yeah, when we get to the paint, I think you've got to guard the paint. You can't go for lay-ups if teams don't want to give lay-ups. So when we went into the paint, guys were kicking out for open shots and we made multiple drives. When you make multiple drives, that just shifts the defense a little bit, and that was to our advantage. Q. Can you just talk about the confidence that Andre's been playing with as of late? He's been definitely helping on both ends of the floor. RUSSELL WESTBROOK: Yeah, I think Andre's been great since the playoffs started. All year long he's been constantly knocking down open shots, playing great on both sides of the floor. Myself and Kevin and the guys that handle the ball trust in him to make shots and tonight was one of those nights where he made open shots, rebounded the basketball, and played well on both ends. Q. Kevin, when you see something like that kick go down, how difficult is it for the team to just stay emotionally intact and not retaliate or do something stupid after something like that? KEVIN DURANT: When you get to this point of the season, you've got to be a smart team. We can't let anything distract us. That's always been like the mantra. Just got to not worry, not try to let anything distract us. I think everybody just stayed together and we just kept playing. That's one thing we always said. Keep playing, no matter what. And tonight we kept our foot on the gas and kept cruising and were able to get stops and get easy baskets in transition, get 50-50 basketballs. So I think it's just to keep playing, through it all, questionable calls, stoppages in the game, whatever, missed shots, turnovers, just keep playing, and tonight we did that. Q. I have a question for Kevin and Russell. Kevin, what happened on that play where you were backtracking in the third quarter and it looked like Harrison kind of caught you on the back of your leg? And Russell, the way you and Dion started the game really distributing the ball well, do you feel like that's infectious and it spreads throughout the team when you guys start the game and passing the ball the way you did? KEVIN DURANT: Well, my foot just got caught and, yeah, that's it. RUSSELL WESTBROOK: I think it's great. Just trying to attack and get in the paint, doing the same thing I've been doing all season, finding open guys and getting shots. That's about it. Q. Just want to know what you've seen different out of Andre Roberson in the playoffs, because he really seems to have elevated his level of play? KEVIN DURANT: Oh, he's just playing within himself. He's playing his role. We trust him. Like Russell said, we trust him, and he's just confident. He's confident when he's shooting the basketball. Confident in playing and making plays, and defensively he's always been that type of player. So we're going to need him to continue to play that way. His whole thing is just wanting to do whatever he can for the team, and I think that's rubbing off on everybody. Q. Kevin, people look at the 10 out of 15 shooting, 33 points, 12 rebounds, but the one turnover was the big change from the last game. KEVIN DURANT: It was. It was. Q. What did you focus on just to keep that from being a problem? KEVIN DURANT: Well, just my teammates did a great job of, like I said, driving the basketball and taking the pressure off of me. Not letting me handle the ball as much and just taking the pressure off of me, and I was trying to make the correct passes and the simple passes. I was just trying to take care of the ball as well when I was dribbling because that's when I got a lot of my turnovers with guys stripping the ball and me playing in crowds. So I just tried to be conscious of it all and I was able to only have one of them. I shouldn't have had that one, but I'll take just one as opposed to eight. So, yeah. Q. Can you talk about playing in front of the crowd and the intensity that they had and feeding off the energy to come out and perform like that? RUSSELL WESTBROOK: I mean, it's great. Like I said before, I think we have the best fans in all of sports because they're so committed. Regardless of what's going on throughout the game, they always tend to be very, very loud, especially this time of the year. Tonight was one of those nights where they were loud and excited to see us play. It was great to be back in front of our home fans. Q. You had the offensive rebound where you went up over three guys, grabbed it with one hand. I know athletically you probably can't explain that. But in the context of that 32-7 run, how important are those types of plays to sustain that burst? RUSSELL WESTBROOK: It's very important. Coach talked about 50-50 balls earlier in the game, before the game, actually. That's one thing we slipped up on in Game 2, and I think tonight we did a good job of getting loose balls and finding ways to get 50-50 basketballs and give ourselves extra possessions. Q. After Game 2, a lot of talk about, what do you do with them not guarding Roberson? What adjustments did you make that made them pay for not guarding Andre tonight? KEVIN DURANT: He just got more opportunities to make plays. He was catching the ball in the paint, dribbling out, finding guys on the back side, shooting the ball, trying to get to the rim. He just played his game. We just told him to go out there and be aggressive and be a threat out there. Tonight he just tried to go out there and help us out on the offensive end in setting screens and doing all the little things for us, so it was huge. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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