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NBA WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: THUNDER v WARRIORSMay 30, 2016Kevin DurantRussell WestbrookOakland, California: Game Seven Golden State 96, Oklahoma City 88 Q. Guys, when you look back on the series and things that frustrated you, is there a certain sequence or a time in any of these games, or do you think it will be the loss in Game 6 there where you had a chance to close them out at home that will hurt the most? KEVIN DURANT: You know, it hurts losing. It hurts losing, especially being up 3 games to 1. But Games 3 and 4, they missed the shots that they hit Games 6 and 7, and that was our plan. They beat us in the three-point line the last two games. We beat them everywhere else, they beat us from the three-point line, and that was the series. We fought. Everybody fought hard every single minute they were on the court. It sucks to lose. It sucks, but it was tough. It was a tough series. Q. I saw a minute or so after the game I saw you went and got Dion [Waiters] and sort of grabbed him and talked to him for a little bit. Can you share the general message of what you were telling Dion? KEVIN DURANT: I was just proud of him. Proud of all the guys, win or lose, proud of everybody for the effort they put in. The things you guys don't see every day, which is coming in, the hard work they put in, the sacrifice they make for everybody in the organization. Just proud. Just proud, man. It's a journey, man. A lot of people just see the basketball games, but they don't see everything else behind the scenes, and that's what I'm proud of the guys for. Staying together and continuing to get better day by day throughout the whole season. So that was kind of the gist of it. Q. Kevin, the loss is still fresh, but you have kind of an unknown future over the next month. How do you expect that to play out and when you'll start thinking about it? KEVIN DURANT: I mean, we just lost like 30 minutes ago, so I haven't even thought about it. I'm just embracing my teammates and just reflecting on the season. I'll think about that stuff, I don't know when. But we just lost an hour ago, 30 minutes ago, so I don't know. Q. Coach [Billy] Donovan talked about the improvement made by some of your role players, [Steven] Adams, [Andre] Roberson. Are you guys encouraged moving forward with how they've come along in assisting you guys in getting to the next level? RUSSELL WESTBROOK: Very proud. Like Kevin said, those guys, man, they put in work every single day. Coming in early, staying here late, watching film, improving their games throughout the season, and you can't do nothing but be proud of those guys. Look forward to them coming back next year and being better. Q. You talked a little bit about Dion, he and Enes [Kanter] two of your most experienced playoff guys really took the loss hard. How much do you think this will help them going forward? RUSSELL WESTBROOK: I mean, I think it's a learning process. Just like myself and Kevin back in 2012, we lost in The Finals. We know what that feeling felt like. And I think for those guys, first experience especially in a hostile building on the road, I had an opportunity to kind of get to this point. They had an opportunity to know what that feels like and that should do nothing but make those guys better. Q. Kevin, think back to February, all the stuff you were going through with Monty [Williams] and Aubrey [McClendon] and losing eight out of 12. To get to this point now, is it too fresh to look back on it and feel like you've accomplished something pretty special? KEVIN DURANT: There are no moral victories in our locker room after the game. We're all upset. We wanted to get a chance to play for a championship in The Finals, so that hurts. But when you sit down and look back at what happened throughout the season, you can be proud of not just the players, but everybody in the organization from the top to the bottom. People that you guys don't know or ever see contribute to what we bring out on the court. That's just pride, effort, passion, love for the game. Pure love for the game every single night, and that comes from just walking into our practice facility every single day and feeling those vibes and feeling that energy from everyone. I'm just proud of what all we've been through this season. We stuck together and we sacrificed for each other. That's just what makes this game so special. Q. You had scored seven straight to cut it to four, and you guys had strung some stops in a row. Do you feel like that one loose ball if you had gotten that one, you could have turned the tide in this? KEVIN DURANT: Yeah, I thought when we fouled on the three-point shot, I think that was a dagger for us. That kind of hurt us. We had some momentum going down. I thought we had five seconds on the shot clock. I thought we had got the stop and the rebound, and I was feeling good. Coach was coming back to me. Russell was coming back to me, I felt good. But, hey, it is a lot of what-ifs. We could have said a lot of what-ifs throughout the whole playoffs. You've got to give credit to them. They came out and played well the last three games of the series and won three in a row. So you've got to give them credit. Q. Kevin, Nick mentioned that 7-0 run. Was that just you kind of emptying the clip late and taking a lot of shots? KEVIN DURANT: Yeah, yeah, I saw openings. They do a good job of loading up and making me see bodies. So I was seeing just a crack and a crease, and I was trying to be aggressive. Like you said, I can't leave anything in the clip, you know? This is the last game, I had to let it all fly. I like the way we came out. We played tough and hard all night. Q. You guys played really offense for three quarters, but the third quarter you didn't get much. What happened in that third quarter where the offense stagnated? RUSSELL WESTBROOK: I don't think it was stagnant. I just think we missed open shots. We got the same shots in the first half. Moved the basketball, got in the paint, kicked out. Some open threes that we missed, but I thought we did a good job of taking care of the basketball. I thought it was fine. Q. Steve Kerr said he thought you guys really improved drastically in the postseason of the playoffs. Do you think you took significant steps forward here over the last month and a half? KEVIN DURANT: Oh, yeah, no doubt, no doubt. We weren't supposed to be in this position. We faced two great teams. I think in the San Antonio series we really showed who we are, and in this series. We showed we could play different ways. We went big against San Antonio, and we did a great job of going small in this series. So that shows that we're a versatile team, and we got better. When we were losing eight out of 12, we were getting criticized for not being where other teams were. But I thought we peaked at the right time and get better at the right time. But unfortunately we didn't come out on top. And that's something that all the guys are upset about. But we laid it all out there. Everybody left their soul out on the court. We have no regrets. Q. Russ at one point in the third quarter, you and Steph [Curry] had a pretty animated conversation with the ref getting in between. What was that about? RUSSELL WESTBROOK: I didn't have any conversation with him. I was talking to the ref. Q. What did [Steph Curry] show you in that second half that you hadn't fully seen the rest of the series? RUSSELL WESTBROOK: He scored a lot on our bigs. He did a good job of making some tough shots over our bigs. Our bigs on the switches came out and he made some tough shots over the top of them. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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