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NBA WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: WARRIORS VS SPURS

May 20, 2017

Kevin Durant

Oakland, California - Postgame

Warriors - 120, Spurs - 108

Q. Did you know you had it going at some point in the third, or was there a moment where it was like, okay, this is kind of the time to take this over?
KEVIN DURANT: Yeah, I mean, I feel I can make every shot I shoot because I shoot good ones and I try to get to my spot. So when they called my number, I just tried to go out there and be aggressive.

Q. Do you feel like you're back in the form that you had during the regular season before you got hurt?
KEVIN DURANT: Yeah.

Q. Completely?
KEVIN DURANT: Yeah.

Q. Pop announced this morning that Kawhi wasn't going to play tonight. Did you believe him, or how serious were you taking that?
KEVIN DURANT: Oh, in those situations I feel like you can never believe what Pop says. He always has -- it feels like he's always a step ahead of everybody mentally. I didn't believe it until the ball tipped it up, I guess. Or 90 minutes is when you're supposed to put whoever the inactive list or whatever that is. But, yeah, I thought he was going to come out and play.

But, you know, they had who they had on the floor. They play extremely hard no matter what. They run their sets. They keep it going no matter what. Obviously they need him to score and defend and do all the things that he does.

Q. On the pick-and-roll you got some back door lay-ups. What was that chemistry like and that stretch like? You had 17 points in a row or something crazy like that?
KEVIN DURANT: Yeah, I did.

Q. I think it was 17 if I caught it right.
KEVIN DURANT: Yeah, I mean, D. West is a great passer, especially when you've got (indiscernible). So it felt good to see the ball go through the rim, and felt good to handle it a little bit more. You've got to give the Spurs credit. They played us tough. Defensively they switched a lot. They were physical, they were aggressive, and they came out tonight with an edge. I think they did a good job of just taking a punch and keep playing and keep going throughout the whole game. Guys stepped up for us.

Q. I was going to ask that question. It seemed like they were really up early on, and you guys kind of endured their little run. In the third quarter they got it to four, and you all just put it away. Did you see any tiredness in them or anything?
KEVIN DURANT: Yeah, they don't have their best scorer, so, you know, they rely on him. They run everything through him throughout the whole season. So take him away, you know, it's kind of hard to find your identity after that. But you've got LaMarcus who still can go out there and score whenever he wants in the post, and Pau, and then Manu's playing like he's 20 years old. And they've got one of the best coaches ever that coached any sport, so it feels like they can always stay in the game and always put up a fight and win. You've seen that in the last series as well with this group. So we knew especially at home, Game 3, a lot of energy in the building. They were going to come out and hit us in the mouth, and I think we did a good job of taking that punch and just keep playing.

Q. Outside of Game 1, the games in this series haven't been all that close. In the other series, it's 2-0, but that was the most lopsided victory in playoff history. What do you make of these Playoffs and sort of the Conference Finals that haven't been that competitive? Obviously, there are injuries affecting these things. What do you as competitors make of that getting to this stage?
KEVIN DURANT: So you're saying it's not been fun watching as a fan?

Q. I don't know, did you watch the game last night? I mean, I'm sure it's fun to play?
KEVIN DURANT: Yeah, if I was on a team that's up 40 points, you've got to give them credit for being up 40 points. They went out there and dominated. So that's what you want to do every time you step on the court. So there are years you have great playoff series, four, five Game 7s, then you have years where you see these Playoffs. As players, you want to go out there and win as much as possible and play as great as you can. Whatever happens with the score happens. So, we leave that to the fans who feel upset. If you don't like it, don't watch it.

Q. Talk about the impact you got from JaVale in the first quarter? The energy he came out with early in the game?
KEVIN DURANT: He played great for us. You know, finishing a lot. They're not coming off the three-point line as far as helping off of Klay, myself, Steph. So Draymond does a great job of finding them in the paint and finishing at the top of the rim. He runs extremely hard from end-to-end, from defensive transition, from defense to offense. He did a great job, I think, on LaMarcus and guarding him and making him shoot tough shots. He's a great player, but he made him shoot over his length.

He came out and played great, man. He wants it, he works extremely hard. You know, he came up with 13 minutes, 16 points. We'll take that from him any night.

Q. When you're playing, you're also reading the game and the rhythm of the game. It looks like watching over the course of this season, when the offense clogs up, it gets slowed down. Like your mentality changes a little bit. Am I on to something there? Do you change a little bit when you see the offense in that struggle spot like that?
KEVIN DURANT: I just play, man. I just play. If I see a lane open, sometimes I think too much. Sometimes I look to pass when I should look to score. Sometimes I look to score when I should pass. But I figured out if I just don't think at all, that's when I'm best. So I don't really know, you know. Different game. Some games are different, some situations are different. I may need to score 17 in a row. I may need to be a screener or a decoy, you know.

So I try not to think out there. The times when I do think, early in the game I was battling on the defensive end because he was thinking too much. The third quarter I just went out there and played and not worried about anything. Just played every possession and tried to play as hard as I can. I was able to score, because it started with my defense first. So that's what I think about offense. Whatever happens, whatever Coach calls, I just try to go out there and run it as hard as I can.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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