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NBA WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: WARRIORS VS SPURS

May 20, 2017

Manu Ginobili

Oakland, California - Postgame

Warriors - 120, Spurs - 108

Q. Manu, was that the kind of competitive game that you can live with, win or lose?
MANU GINOBILI: Yeah, the least we could do. We are in a situation which we needed to win. So I was pretty sure that the competitive edge was going to be there. As I said yesterday, Game 2 was a tough one for multiple reasons. We all know why. We knew we were going to be able to bounce back at least emotionally today and play a better game. The fact is that it's just too tough. We are missing Kawhi's offense and defense in this series, and of course, Tony's. They are a good team, even with them. We are struggling to score today. We did okay defensively, but they were just too much for us today offensively. K.D. got hot in the moment when we had a chance. They got a lead, and they just played their rhythm and they were better than us.

Q. Manu, without Kawhi, Tony and David [Lee], can you sort of make a decision tonight to try to take over the game and be aggressive on the offensive end?
MANU GINOBILI: I swear I try every game. Sometimes it happens, sometimes it doesn't. I try the same way against Memphis, of course we scored zero games in a row. Today just happened to make a couple -- today I just happened to make a couple. Without Kawhi and without Tony, there are more possessions for everybody else. So I had more opportunities. But I always try. It's just sometimes it doesn't happen.

Q. Considering what you said about you guys are competitive. They are who they are. They're too tough. Are there anymore levers or strings you can pull?
MANU GINOBILI: We've got to try to do the same thing. Hope to be more attentive to details, less mistakes, less turnovers and hopefully more inspired offensively also. They're going to score. They are good. But if we get him a little tougher job to make shots, we control K.D. and, well, today was K.D., the previous two were more Steph, you know, sometimes we are going to control those two and Klay's going to show up or whoever. So they've got those resources. We have to play better, cut down the turnovers from 14 to 5, if we can. Take better shots, and don't let them run. So it's going to be really tough, really difficult. But the only thing we can do now is go and fight. Try to play our best game. If it goes great, we'll go to San Francisco and fight again. If not, we just shake their hands, look at them in their eyes and just say congratulations. That's it.

Q. In your years in the NBA, have you faced a team with more offensive weapons than Golden State has?
MANU GINOBILI: Not that I can remember, especially the type of talent they have. You know, so many good shooters, and they pass the ball so well. Offensively they're one of the best teams I've seen. The thing that makes the difference in the last few years is they became a very good, solid, defensive team too, with their length, athleticism, hustle. They became good defensively too. I remember four years ago that was a weakness. They could shoot, they could run and all that, but you knew that offensively you were going to score. Now it's getting tougher, and we don't have our go-to guy, the one that creates the most for us. So that's what is making it really tough.

Q. After a game like this when you've had a couple of chances to kind of sway things, what is your message being down 3-0 to kind of the younger guys, to keep them engaged for the next game? To keep effort at maximum for the next game?
MANU GINOBILI: I don't doubt that the effort is going to be there. We have no tomorrow from the next game. The next game is the last one. So we've got to give everything we have. You don't need to rest. You don't need to take care of your body or save, you give everything you have for the next one. So they know that. Even though they are, a few of the guys are new in the NBA, they've been around and they understand what the situation is.

For us to win, we have to play at a 10 level and they have to play at a 7. And we have to try to make them play at a 7 and play our best game. We know it's going to be very tough. We don't know what's going to happen with Kawhi. So we have to be out there, compete, feel good about yourself, give everything you have, and if it's enough, great. If it's not, great too. Again, you shake their hands and wish them good luck, and you go home, hug your kids again, wake up the following day and life goes on.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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