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NBA WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: WARRIORS vs ROCKETS

May 24, 2018

Kevin Durant

Houston, Texas: Game Five

Rockets - 98, Warriors - 94

Q. Steve Kerr just came in and told us that despite being down 3-2 for the first time since you've been on this team that he's supremely confident that he's seen enough on the court to know that you guys will be okay. Do you think that's a shared opinion within the team? Do you guys see and feel that stuff? Where are you guys at kind of in this situation?
KEVIN DURANT: Yeah, we've got another game at home, Game 6. Still confident. We had some opportunities to win this game, last two games, and we didn't close it out. But we can learn from it, and we've got another opportunity at home on Saturday. We'll be ready to play.

Q. More on the same topic. I don't think this team has been on the brink of elimination since The Finals in 2016, before you joined the team. What is the strategy going into Saturday, and how do you think you can turn things around?
KEVIN DURANT: Well, our defense was really good. We turned the ball over a lot. We fouled late in the game. I think that's the difference. They made foul shots at the end of the game. But our defense has been pretty good the last two games.

But we've got to turn it into a W. We're facing elimination at home, so looking forward to playing.

Q. You've made one field goal over the last two fourth quarters, it seemed like they were going to you in the post a lot. Do you feel like you need to mix it up a little bit?
KEVIN DURANT: Yeah, they're switching a lot when I get in the post now. I can feel them bringing a guy over, so I just got to make the right play.

But, yeah, probably mix it up a bit and see where I can get different catches and touches because they're kind of figuring stuff out for us. So just got to be excited for the next game and go out there and play as hard as we can.

Q. Can you talk a little more about the defense, just on both teams? It looked like -- I mean, you guys obviously had not a great shooting night. Is that because of the defense, and have you guys faced this in-your-face defense this season?
KEVIN DURANT: Yeah, we've been playing against a lot of switching defenses this year. They've got taller and bigger defenders and like to play physical in the paint. But I think we have the same type of team.

Like I said, I think our defensive effort was great tonight. They made 29 field goals and held them to 37 percent, you know, 12 assists. So they made some plays down the stretch.

Q. What did you think of a few of the offensive possessions late in the game? I know the Draymond fumble turnover, [Quinn] Cook had a wide open three, missed, just some of those plays?
KEVIN DURANT: I think some of it obviously didn't go our way. We had a last play. We didn't advance the ball after we got the rebound, so we had to raise up. We didn't have any more timeouts left to call another one. So we had to race up, and we were just rushing a bit. We rushed a bit all night. Quinn had a good look at the three-point line and it didn't go down, obviously, but we generated good shots.

Q. Do you feel like you all wasted a great opportunity when James Harden -- or defending him well when his shot wasn't falling tonight?
KEVIN DURANT: Yeah, I thought we had an opportunity to win the game. We know James is one of their premier players, especially on the offensive side of the ball. So I thought we'd been playing hard against them all series. But guys like Eric Gordon came in and gave them a big lift.

Q. Talking about the defense and how much you guys are battling, but between the win you had in Game 3 and the last two games, what has changed basically?
KEVIN DURANT: On defense?

Q. Both ends of the floor.
KEVIN DURANT: Oh, yeah, just two physical games playing late into the shot clock, late into the game. We missed some shots and they get into the rim and making some tough ones and getting to the free-throw line. So it's a matter of who is going to keep playing hard on defense, and who is going to come down and knock down shots late in the game.

So they made free throws. They made some -- four or five minutes left in the game, they made some tough shots. But for the most part I think our defense has been good. The offense definitely can be better, obviously.

Q. You faced some of the greatest players in the sport for over a decade in games like this. How do you measure Chris Paul's competitive fire in a situation like this, where his running mate misses all 11 of his [three-point] shots, and Chris is fighting the shot clock and trying to get his team back in it?
KEVIN DURANT: He made some tough ones tonight. He made a couple deep threes, overhands that were tough. He was struggling early on, but he got the three ball going a bit. But he's been around for so long, so you kind of know that he's going to keep playing.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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