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NBA FINALS: CAVALIERS vs WARRIORS

June 1, 2018

George Hill

Oakland, California: Practice Day

Q. We didn't get a chance to talk to you after the game. Just how did you feel when it was over? You guys kind of had a chance to win there in regulation. You hit the first free throw, you missed the second one. How tough of a night was it for the team and maybe for you individually how it ended?
GEORGE HILL: It was very tough. We felt like we played a good game, complete game. Didn't make some plays down the stretch. Missed the free throw at the end of the game to kind of put it away. Who knows what would have happened. They had four seconds to still make a play.

But I felt like we put ourselves in a situation to win, and it just didn't turn out well.

Q. At the end of games like that, if there had been a timeout, I'm sure assistant coaches and coaches would have been saying: Time and score, time and score, check the clock, whatever. I'm curious, in a situation like that, are guys talking on the court: Hey, we're tied or we're down a point here, we have 4 seconds left? Or at this level, do guys just assume that everyone knows how much time is left?
GEORGE HILL: I'm not sure. There was so much stuff going on in the game, with plays getting reversed and things like that, that I probably was discombobulated a little bit. But we take it on our chin. We made a couple mistakes down the stretch. Just those mistakes didn't cost us the game. It was a team effort. We win together, we lose together.

Q. I almost hate to ask this, but on the list of tough losses you've had in your career, where does this one rank?
GEORGE HILL: I mean, this one's probably number one. This one hurt. This one hurt bad with a lot of things that went on. The charge getting reversed, the strip on KD (Kevin Durant), up two, me missing the free throw down the stretch.

So this one had to hurt. I felt like the team did a great job. Put ourselves in a (position) to win the game. Me not hitting the free throw, I feel like cost our team the win. And I dealt with that last night.

We're moving on as a team. We blew our chance, blew our opportunity. But we've got to focus on Game 2 now. It being one of the worst losses, got to kind of put it behind you now.

Q. You guys played, obviously, like you belong in this series and you're not afraid of the Warriors. But to have a game like that where you really could have won, should have won, does that change the mindset or add to it like as far as how you view this series and how it might go?
GEORGE HILL: I mean, definitely not. I think our team is the only one who thinks we can win. I'm sure a lot of you guys already counted us out. A lot of the media counted us out. A lot of the teams counted us out. So we're not playing for you guys. We're playing for the city of Cleveland. We're playing for each other. We're going to continue to stay together, rally behind it and do the best we can to try to get Game 2.

Q. You said that you dealt with the missed free throw last night. How did you process that? What was it like leaving the arena having it on your mind? Did you watch replays on television, or what got you through the night?
GEORGE HILL: I don't think anything got me through the night. I stayed up most of the night rewatching the free throw, rewatching the play. Just going over it in my head what I think went wrong.

As a player, competitive guy, put in a situation to help my team win a game, and I didn't come through. So for me, it sucked. It was one of the worst feelings ever. But I have great teammates who have been in my ear, even last night and this morning, telling me to forget about it, continue to just focus on the next game and don't let it linger.

So it is what it is. I blew that opportunity, but the good thing is it's a seven-game series and we have another game on Sunday.

Q. Obviously it's a make-or-miss league, and can you get any confidence for the fact that in that situation LeBron had the trust to pass it to you, and you did make the game-tying free throw before the miss?
GEORGE HILL: Definitely so. I already have confidence in LeBron. I think he has confidence in all of us to make the right play. He's been doing it night in, night out. If it's his shot or if it's someone else making the play, he's been great at doing that.

I know that he's going to make the right play regardless of the situation. If it's an opportunity for him to take the shot, he will. If it's an opportunity for him to make a pass to get a better shot, he'll do the same thing.

Great game. Great for our team. But, like I said, we still have a seven-game series to try to win.

Q. You referenced the reversed call a couple times. I'm curious what your view was of that call and what do you think of the refs having the ability to overturn a judgment call once they look at the review for other reasons, basically, for the restricted area question?
GEORGE HILL: It doesn't matter now. There's nothing we can do about it. They make the call. They do what they have to do. We have to honor that. I'm sure everyone has seen the film. I'm sure everyone has seen the play. I'm probably sure that that's the first time that's happened that you overturn a charge call like that. But it happened. We have to deal with it and move on forward. I really don't want to talk about that.

Q. Any reaction to Kevin Love, there was talk that he might be suspended, and he's not going to be apparently, for coming off the bench. Apparently it hasn't been decided yet for Tristan Thompson. What are your thoughts on that?
GEORGE HILL: If we're going to be that petty to do that, then so be it. But don't think it was a big deal. We'll let the NBA figure that part out.

Q. Coach Lue just said you guys aren't broken, that your confidence is still there. Have you gotten a sense of that just from the guys you've talked to in the last few hours?
GEORGE HILL: Definitely so. If you look at Game 1, we can win this series playing the right way. I'm sure everyone in this locker room felt we gave one away and we missed the opportunity. But like I said, we still have a game on Sunday to make up for it and do the best we can to get back on the right track.

Q. When you look at the end of that game last night in overtime, obviously emotion was spilling over at the end and the incident between Tristan and Draymond Green and so on. Can you just describe whether or not you guys can channel that emotion into Game 2, or do you have to put that behind you? Are you worried about that demoralizing you because of the way you lost?
GEORGE HILL: I mean, demoralizing as far as what? I think all the guys in the locker room want to win and think that we can win. I don't think any of us are demoralized. I think maybe you guys have us more demoralized than we have ourselves.

We're focused on ourselves. We're going to bottle up all that frustration from Game 1 and carry it on to Game 2.

Q. Even though a lot of you guys on the Cavs are new to this rivalry, can you just describe the intensity on the court between these two teams that has developed over the past four years?
GEORGE HILL: It's basketball. Everyone is fighting to win. We're the last two teams playing and we're going to fight it out. It shouldn't be a prom dance. It's going to be a fight.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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