	products recent interviews FastScripts archive about ASAP Sports

Our Clients:

Browse by Sport

Find us on

Subscribe to RSS

Click to go to
Asaptext.com

View our
e-Brochure

NBA WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: WARRIORS vs ROCKETS

May 24, 2018

Mike D'Antoni

Houston, Texas: Game Five

Rockets - 98, Warriors - 94

Q. Mike, the other night you talked about just the grit of your team. Did that show up again tonight, and is that what it's going to take to get another win in the series?
MIKE D'ANTONI: Yeah, for sure. I mean, again, 94 points for a team like that. The guys are trying to find a way, and they did. I thought it was a great game both ways. Every time we tried to get out there, we couldn't knock down the threes that would put it up a little bit, but they wouldn't let us just get out there and win.

You know, great hard-fought game. I thought both teams, this is what the playoffs is about. It's a good win, obviously.

Q. You talked about it being a great game on both sides. Was it great defense on both sides? Both teams struggled shooting. Could you tell us anything about Chris [Paul]?
MIKE D'ANTONI: You know what it is? And, again, I think I said it the other day, if you watch championship games or series and stuff, other than the blowouts because you get a team off, they were heavyweight fighters punching it out, and they're not going to let you win on points. You've got to knock them out. I thought our guys just hung in there, hung in there. They found a way.

It won't go down as a classic, oh, look at all this greatness, but it should go down as a hard-fought win, and that's kind of where we are and where we'll be.

Q. What were your feelings when you were thinking Chris Paul was hurt on that play?
MIKE D'ANTONI: Was he hurt? I didn't see that.

Q. Well, my follow-up is also what are the chances he misses the next game because of injury?
MIKE D'ANTONI: Oh, you know, we'll see. He'll be evaluated tomorrow. But obviously you saw him limp off, and he's a tough guy. So they'll do whatever they can do. If he's there, great, good for him. If he isn't, we have enough guys and it's time for somebody else to step up. We've got plenty of guys over there that will have some fresh legs, that's for sure. So we'll be all right.

We've just got to continue what we're doing, and we'll find our way.

Q. Can you talk about Chris Paul's impact on the game tonight? And, also, did you get to talk to him in the locker room after the game? How are his spirits? How is he holding up? Is he in any pain?
MIKE D'ANTONI: Well, his spirits aren't great. He wanted to be out there, and for sure he's worried and all that. That's normal. Like I said, we'll see tomorrow how it goes.

But what he did was remarkable. When we were kind of teetering, he made two or three threes. That's just his heart. They weren't great shots. They were nothing. He made something out of nothing. His heart, his will to win, I don't know how many times everybody's got to see it in the league. He's one of the best players that have played the game. Just his will alone and what it means to basketball, I don't know. If you can't root for him, I think you've got some problems.

Q. The late threes by Chris, how many of those did you look at and say, what are we doing? Just the way he was forcing the mismatch against, first, Jordan Bell, and then David West, his old teammate. I mean, his basketball IQ?
MIKE D'ANTONI: It's off the charts. You know what, it's funny. It's always been that way. Then things don't work out, and he didn't get to the Western Conference Finals for a thousand other reasons other than his heart and brains and how hard he plays. It had nothing to do with not getting to the Conference Finals and his talent.

So good for him. But he just won us another game by gutting it out and doing what he does. You know, I know he did a lot, but Eric Gordon down the stretch was huge. He came up, I think, with a steal. He came up with some shots, some foul shots. He was huge the last two games. He's hit big shots that put us over the hump. So it's just a lot of guys.

Trevor's defense on Durant, just harassing him, and I could keep going. PJ, Clint. So just got a lot of guys contributing. Like I said, it wasn't pretty-pretty, it wasn't the greatest basketball in the world, but if you're a fan and you like people working hard, you know, you can't work much harder than what they're doing.

Q. James has missed his last 20 threes?
MIKE D'ANTONI: Boy, he's due, right? Next game he might make 10 straight, right? The thermostat will go off.

Q. Are you seeing anything there? Is there ever a point where you're not a guy that says turn down threes, but is there ever a point?
MIKE D'ANTONI: I told Gerald [Green] when he gets a hundred, and he hasn't made it, we might talk about it. He's got a ways to go. No, no, there's no point, not at all. James, what he can do and the pressure he puts on the defense, getting to the foul line, he manufactured points in different ways.

Again, it's just the shots not falling, and a lot of it has to do with how hard everybody is playing. Probably his legs aren't the freshest things in the world. But he's invaluable to the defense and offense.

I look at it, and I told the guys before the game, I go, look, we need to get up 40 to 45 threes, somehow. We got up 43, and we outscored them 13-10 from threes. To me, that's the whole game. That's that extra point. That's three extra points and we win by four. But that's three extra points.

I want them to go in, and I thought we had great looks for them to go in. But if they don't, we're playing them the right way, and we're getting enough of them up, and if we make enough and our defense holding up, that's going to be the difference. Look for us next game, hopefully we get up 50 threes and hopefully we make a little bit more.

Q. Coach, the past two games Eric Gordon has hit some huge big-time threes late in the fourth quarter. How important is it to the team, and what are you telling him?
MIKE D'ANTONI: Well, you know, he was Sixth Man of the Year last year only because he doesn't start. He would be a great starter if we wanted that. But he's been huge. His defense is always good. One time I think David West tried to back him down. That didn't work. You're not backing him down. He is strong, he guards. I mean, just so many different ways he helps. He's another guy that can drive the basket, finish, hit threes, he'll be playing. If CP's out, he'll be our playmaker, and he can do that and do it well.

So I can't understate how important he is to us and what we do.

Q. In light of what happened in Santa Fe, what are your thoughts on [Tilman] Fertitta's gesture and what happened? Is that in the back of your head, not just win for Houston, but win for Santa Fe?
MIKE D'ANTONI: Well, it's definitely in my heart. First of all, the families that are suffering, I can't even imagine what they're going through. It's not anything that we should ever forget. And what Mr. Fertitta did was a great gesture, but we all should be tired of gestures and moments of silence. So let's get some action and try to change and do a better job for the kids.

I mean, we are the best nation in the world. We can't solve this problem or make it better? Come on. So anyway, kudos to the Rockets, but heart goes out to the families and the people of the school.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297