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NBA WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: WARRIORS vs ROCKETS

May 21, 2018

Mike D'Antoni

Oakland, California: Practice Day

MIKE D'ANTONI: I know we got clobbered and give them credit for whatever. But couple things: The lose of the first quarter, they outscored us. We had 22, got stuck on 22 for a long time. They got a nine-point lead the last three minutes in the first quarter. The last couple minutes of the second quarter, they get like an 8-2 run or 6-2 run. Then they start off the third quarter with a 9-0 run.

Then we kind of let go of the rope. I think guys were -- OK, didn't get this one, we'll get the next one. The positive things: I think, again, we know what we have to do. We didn't have an exorbitant number of minutes on guys, so they should be ready to roll. This is a big Game 4, and nothing's lost until we play that game. This is the most important game. So we've got to come after it.

Q. Beyond all the X's, and O's and technical talk, how much is it just making and missing?
MIKE D'ANTONI: You've got to make some adjustments. You've got to do certain things that we can do better. But we can't miss 23 shots in the paint. You can't turn the ball over 20 times. Just those two stats alone -- last night, we'd have gotten beat probably on the road in any city in the NBA. So you can't do that, not against these guys. They're not going to let you.

I just thought the first half, certain things we did pretty well. Down 13, we should have been even or up. We kind of gave it away a little bit. Didn't give it away; they took it and we gave it away.

Like I said, there are things we can correct. We'll get our mind set, and hopefully we'll have a lot better performance tomorrow.

Q. You guys haven't seemed to play well in the playoffs when you've had the extra days.
MIKE D'ANTONI: We haven't played well.

Q. Just in the playoffs. The regular season is different. Obviously, the competition is different. Is there a correlation to it?
MIKE D'ANTONI: I don't know if we lose our rhythm a little bit or reverted back to Game 1 a little bit. I don't know. That's hard to assess. We'll look at it as the season's over. But now we don't have to worry about it because we're playing every other day. I hope we have to worry about that the next series.

Q. But you look out at your players in the first quarter, early second quarter, you could see they were a step slow?
MIKE D'ANTONI: It's funny, I thought we started really well. Then for whatever reason some of the things that we were doing, we didn't do. Then they started playing better. Then we just turned it over carelessly a couple times and we got into too much -- I hate to say iso, because everybody iso's when you switch, but it's too much. It went too deep in the clock again. So those are things we'll have to correct.

Q. Chris [Paul] didn't get going until the third quarter. He had a 41-point game and has been great in the playoffs. But do you need more from him and other guys as well?
MIKE D'ANTONI: I was going to say, Oh, yeah, and keep on going [throughout the roster]. To beat these guys -- and they're good -- we have to have our A-game. We had our C-game, and you're not going to do it, especially on their court. Again, I try to look on the bright side. The bright side is we can play much better, and we have to. So let's do it.

Q. Do you have to show them the tape of some of the effort stuff or is it past that at this point?
MIKE D'ANTONI: I have to for my sanity, not for theirs. They know. But I'll go in and I'll talk and I'll feel better afterward (laughing). I don't know if they will or not. They get it. They know. We were talking about it last night. They're disappointed. They didn't come out with their A-game for whatever reason. We'll show a few things that we need to correct that are very correctable.

But these are professionals. They've been in every situation. They've been down, up, kicked around, been on top. They know. They're ready to go, and we'll see if we can get it done.

Q. You talked all year about how you trust this group and self-policing and all that stuff. Did that take a dent last night or do you fully trust this group?
MIKE D'ANTONI: No, no. I fully trust they're in the fight of their lives. But, again, we've been through a lot of this this year and they've been great. The world will go on. Right now, to me, Golden State has all the pressure. They've got to win tomorrow night. We should come in with a little bit of a swagger and giddy-up in our game and see if we can get it.

Q. You mentioned too late in the clock, maybe too much iso. Where's the line between this is what you do and this is too much?
MIKE D'ANTONI: It's just tough. Again, I can sit here with the benefit of tape and second -- little bit like you guys (laughing). But they're in the moment. They've got to figure it out. We kind of try to tell them you've got to speed it up, we've got to go, we've got to go. But they still have to read the situation. You have to make good decisions and last night we didn't make a bunch of them.

Q. Did you guys go maybe too far trying to hunt Steph?
MIKE D'ANTONI: Could be, sometimes. When it wasn't work, yeah. We'll talk about that. But mostly it's just you've got to create the situation in the flow, and then take advantage of it if there is a situation to take advantage of. I like what you said -- not hunt it out as much as it should be in the flow.

Q. You guys did a pretty good job on Curry in the first half and he was Curry in the third. What was he able to do?
MIKE D'ANTONI: He made shots he always has and eventually he will. He's a great player and it's all good, but when you're up 19 it's a little bit easier than when you're down, stuff like that. But, again, they're going to make shots. Our defense wasn't great. It wasn't bad for a lot of the game, but if you give them 20 turnovers and you miss shots at the rim, that's just too many good opportunities for them.

Q. Clint Capela said as the game progressed you stopped playing disciplined basketball. Is that what you saw?
MIKE D'ANTONI: Yeah, it takes, at this level, special people that can home in mentally for 48 minutes and stick with everything we do and talk and recognize the situations. It's a lot of physical energy and a lot of mental energy, and we've got to get that.

Q. There hasn't been a game for three where both teams have been their best. Do you feel like you've seen their best? Can that be sort of a knock-them-down-type matchup, both teams at their best, if they're going to play that way?
MIKE D'ANTONI: I kind of expected that yesterday, that it would be that type of game. We didn't bring our best game. But I'm hoping for the best. I hope we play great and them bad (laughing). Never know.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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