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NBA WESTERN CONFERENCE SEMIFINALS: PELICANS vs WARRIORSApril 28, 2018Anthony DavisRajon RondoOakland, California: Game One GAME 1 Warriors 123, Pelicans 101 Q. Coach commented that the week off resulted in you guys losing a little bit of rhythm and offense much how much do you think that factored into the performance tonight? RAJON RONDO: I agree with Coach, but for the most part, I think we hang our hats on defense and what happened in the second quarter is inexcusable. I can't blame it on a week off of rest. It's a lack of communication and not being disciplined. If we can clean that up, I think we'll be fine. Q. Were you thrown off that they picked up the pace after coming out of a slow pace with the Spurs? RAJON RONDO: No, we weren't surprised. They are the champs and they always play that way for the most part. They can slow it down or they cans peed it up. They have the talent and they have the guys and they are well-coached. Q. AD, what changed in that second quarter? Did they change the way they defended you guys or was it just mistakes how do you diagnose that? ANTHONY DAVIS: Like Rondo said defensively they had a lot of dunks, easy dunks, nobody, you know, five, six feet. We missed a lot of shots. But like Do said, we hang our hats defensively and we were getting back cuts, they was cutting us on the split action and we can't allow ourselves to give them easy plays like that because that's how they get going. Turning the ball over on offense, not getting the shots, combine that with bad defensive possessions; that's not us. Q. Against Portland, you were able to do so many things defensively and be able to trap guys. This is such a different defensive challenge. What is the biggest key to turning that around and not allowing some of those breakdowns to occur? ANTHONY DAVIS: Being locked in. It's a mental game. They never stop moving, so you've got to make two, three, four efforts. Especially with guys like Klay and Kevin. You've got to make sure you stay attached and know the coverage. Once Klay comes off one screen, he's probably going to come off another one and another one until he gets the ball. This is a mental toughness game, and we've just got to be locked in like we were the first quarter. Had a couple but we were communicating, playing for each other. Then the second quarter et let them do basically whatever they wanted. Q. You came in, such a confident group. How easy do you think it will be to shake off what happened tonight and move forward into Game 2? ANTHONY DAVIS: We're very confident. It's one game. They win by 40, you win by one, 90, it's one game. It's still best-out-of-seven. Our job is to learn from what we messed up tonight and get prepared for Game 2. We know we're a much better team than what we showed tonight defensively. We showed that last time we played here, so we just got to come out with a different mindset to have pride in our defense and try to get out and run. Q. How much of the problem do you think in that second quarter was just a result of mental mistakes and what do you do to fix that going into Game 2? RAJON RONDO: Without looking at film just off the top of my head, I think us not making shots took over our defensive end, our defensive urgency. I think obviously if we make shots, I think we are a better defensive team but we can't allow our offense to dictate our defense. It has to be vice versa. Given that, stay mentally tough, clean up the boards a little bit in that second quarter and the first half, and I think the game will take care of itself. Q. For either one of you guys, the game is about adjustments and Steph is pending to come back Tuesday. How do you approach situations like that? ANTHONY DAVIS: Go out there and play. Of course he adds a different dynamic to their team but you know, we're going to do the same thing that we've been doing without the breakdowns. These are the same thing that Klay and KD do, throwing to the post, they come off screens. He can dribble down or just pull up. We're going to be more locked in defensively, especially with him, probably coming back. But for us, it's about pride. What they did in the second quarter was an embarrassment to us. We're not that type of team. But come out, like Do said, we came out and missed shots and we let that dictate our defense. So of course we've got to put the ball in the basket but at the same time we've got to play a little better on defense. Q. Do you feel like you played at the pace that you guys wanted to play and just things just fell apart in other ways or did they take you out of your game at all in that way, as well? RAJON RONDO: I don't think they took us out of our game. I think we were able to play with the pace, especially the first quarter. Like I said, in the second quarter, we had a couple breaks, fast breaks that we missed wide-open throw that is led to them capitalizing on those breaks as well. A couple turnovers, took a couple hero shots and that was the 24-2 run. Q. Because you guys like to play at that fast tempo; there a way to guard against playing into their hands because what they want you to do is speed up and miss shots and then they can run? RAJON RONDO: I mean, that's what we do all year. That's what we take pride in. We set the pace. We play with a certain pace throughout each game, and that's never dictated how we play defensively. I thought tonight, because we missed shots that we normally make; and like I said, given a week off, regardless of the outcome, we got some good looks. We didn't make them, but our defense was completely broken down over and over again. We can't allow four or five possessions in a row where they get three dunks and three wide open threes. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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