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NBA WESTERN CONFERENCE SEMIFINALS: JAZZ vs WARRIORS

May 4, 2017

Mike Brown

Oakland, California: Game Two

Jazz - 104, Warriors - 115

Q. Steve had made the point after the first game of the Playoffs that every now and then it's good to kind of get a little bit of a shove from the opponent, to not just win handily all the time. Did you get that feeling tonight that for the first time in a while you guys had to play deep into the fourth quarter and maybe that's a good thing?
MIKE BROWN: Yeah, no, it's a good thing. Anytime we have to figure things out as the course of the game goes on, especially late, we like that challenge. But in the same breath, too, there are a lot of good teaching points we can make throughout the course of the game where we feel like we can be better as a unit.

Q. I might argue an opposite point, it was a closer game but you're winning pretty easily. What are your thoughts on keeping the team motivated and focused having not been tested yet in the Playoffs?
MIKE BROWN: I'm going to switch seats with you next game. Then you let me know that you thought that was easy (laughing).

You know, it wasn't easy. We felt it. We know we can play better. We broke down in a lot of areas where we should have been better. But in the same breath, too, yes, we did some nice things. We had 33 assists. We held them to five offensive rebounds. And then at the end of the day, we got the W.

But some of our guys hit big shots to keep stretching the lead once they pulled within a few points. So I give our guys credit. They hung in there. They found a way to win. Anytime Utah went on a little run, they figured out how to stretch it just enough again to sustain it for a while until Utah went on another run.

But that was a tough game for us. What it shows us is that, you know, Utah has some confidence and they're going to be even more confident playing at home in front of their crowd.

Q. They closed the gap there early in the third quarter, and you went quickly to Iguodala in the small lineup. Was that part of a scenario you planned out, or was that just a reaction to what was going on? Obviously you went on a run there after they did that.
MIKE BROWN: We've done that before in the past. When we feel like we need to play faster and kind of scramble defensively. And I thought that Zaza played fine. It wasn't him. Our pace overall as a unit was not good, whether they scored, or they missed shots or we got turnovers, we weren't getting out and running and putting pressure on them.

What AndrÃ© does very well, especially if he gets the outlet or gets the rebound, he's pushing that thing every time. Then a couple times you could see when he got in the game, he showed the length, he filled the wing. Whether he got a bucket or not, he created opportunities for others down the floor.

You saw what Utah was doing. Every time we got out on the break, they were fouling us and to stop our breaks. So I threw him out there to try to push the pace, but also knowing that they were going to continue to foul us and hopefully that would put us in the bonus a little sooner than later.

Q. How scary was the Draymond knee thing that happened late in the game? Is there any update? Is there concern at all moving forward?
MIKE BROWN: Yeah, any time any of our guys go down it's a concern. A guy like Draymond does so much for us on both ends of the floor, and he very seldom goes down. So when he did, you think that initially it's got to be serious. But I went over and asked him if he was all right, and right away he said yes. I don't know if he saw me, but I went over and huddled with my coaches pretty quickly after that because I knew he was all right.

Q. Draymond, his early shooting, getting that established from three-point range, how much did that open things up and keep them honest defensively with how you guys were shooting?
MIKE BROWN: He was big. Draymond's at the top of the floor quite a bit. Obviously their game plan is to have whoever's guarding Draymond sit in the lane. So he's getting wide-open threes and, knock on wood, hopefully he'll keep shooting the ball the way he's been shooting it throughout the Playoffs and make them pay.

But he had great looks. They were not just looks when he came up and shot it without a pass, but the ball moved a little bit and found him at the top of the floor. He stepped in and shot it with confidence. So it was good for us.

Q. Back to the 33 assists that you had mentioned. Four of your starters, Durant, Green, Thompson and Curry, Iguodala coming off the bench, they total for 30 of those assists. Passing the ball around is one thing, but these guys are looking to hit those guys with the basket. Could you talk a little bit about that?
MIKE BROWN: Our guys have been unselfish at least the entire time that I've been here. I know watching them from afar, they always seem like an unselfish group. A lot of times I feel like they'd rather make the pass than make the shot at the end of the day for most of our guys.

When you have guys that are as talented as these guys are in terms of being able to pass, dribble and shoot, but all three-dimensional players makes the game easy for each of us. We preach to our guys offensively, keep the game simple, keep the game simple, especially offensively. We got a little cute there at the end of the game with 17 turnovers so that hurt us.

But it's part of it, to a certain degree, when you're moving in as much as we are. So applaud our guys for 33 assists.

Q. In the regular season you guys had a tendency to sometimes ease up a little bit when you got a big early lead and that kind of happened tonight. How do you rectify that going forward? What is the key to changing that?
MIKE BROWN: You just keep coaching them. Our guys are very smart. They know how the flow of the game went. I think to a man they know that we can play better. There is no secret formula to it. We've just got to keep preaching to our guys, keep it simple, and they have to keep understanding no matter what the score is, that's how we have to play the game. If we do, with the shooting and scoring ability that we have, we can always stretch the lead.

Q. How do you describe Draymond's big impact since the Playoffs started?
MIKE BROWN: Like I said a few minutes ago, he's been shooting the ball very well. Most teams so far, once we got the ball moving a little bit, Draymond turns away, and then he Pops back to the top of the floor. Most times whoever is guarding him is all the way down the floor. So when that ball finds him after the third, fourth pass up at the top of the key, he's wide open and he's been knocking that shot down.

So if he's open, he's got to continue to shoot it. He's rebounded like the dickens. He's come up with some huge rebounds for us to start our break. Then defensively he's been a monster. He's all over the place. He's helping at the rim. He's getting back out, contesting shots, he's switching on the smaller players. He's been a force for us defensively throughout the Playoffs. So I'm impressed and pleased with the way he's playing.

Q. Durant looked like he was passing it well on the free throw attempts, how big are those things for him?
MIKE BROWN: The free throw attempts are huge. We obviously have a great jump shooting team, and we don't necessarily go into the post a lot for physical work, so K.D.'s a guy that can shoot threes or shoot a pull-up from time to time. But thing we like about him is when he does attack, he's capable of finishing, a lot of times not only the basket, but with an and one.

We've told him, Steve's told him from day one, K.D., you have to help us increase our free throw attempts because we know he can get fouls going to the rim. He did a heck of a job of that tonight with the 15 free throw attempts.

Q. Follow up about K.D. He's one of those guys you talked about when things got close he made the playoff. I'm thinking of 7:58, he got a rebound, went coast to coast and dunked. Next time down, Iguodala feeds him and he comes down the lane with that big dunk, is that something you think he just does on his own? Do you encourage him to do that? Is it a full sign that he's just completely back? You don't have to limit him on everything? Or did you have any doubts about that?
MIKE BROWN: No doubts about K.D. We don't have to limit him minute-wise at any time. He's back all the way. Yes, there are things that he can do out on the floor that can take some of the pressure off of Klay and Steph, especially down the stretch in tight ballgames. He's capable of doing everything that you just said. Not only that, we can post him if we want to. We did after Steph and K.D. played pick-and-roll there was a smaller guy on K.D. late in the game. They had to go double team. AndrÃ© being AndrÃ© made the right cut, and K.D. sees over the top of the double team. Next thing you know, we get a dunk, and that's all predicated because K.D.'s 6'11", 7', and he's in a nice attack area, but he can see over most double teams.

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