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NBA FINALS: CAVALIERS vs WARRIORSJune 2, 2018Kevon LooneyOakland, California: Practice Day Q. Do you feel that Game 1 was going to turn out that way? Do you like the competitive rivalry that has been building throughout The Finals, or after playing four consecutive, does it make it boring? KEVON LOONEY: Yeah, we thought we would win, so we got the win, so we thought that's how the game would go. I mean, we played this team for the fourth time in a row in The Finals. They're a championship team, we're a championship team, and we both have experience, so it's going to get a little chippy out there. That's what we expect. They play physical, and we tried to match their physicality, so we expect little squirms to happen. It's just basketball. It's part of the game and it makes the game fun. So looking forward to it. This game is probably going to be more physical and a lot more exciting. Q. After such a battle in Game 1, talk a little bit about how important it is to start the series in The Finals at home. KEVON LOONEY: It's very important to have home-court advantage, it's something we played for all year. We came up a little short in the Western Conference so it was different not having home-court advantage versus Houston. But having it back to start the series at Oracle, it's a big bonus. We start the series off right having home court. It gives you a great feeling. Your role players always play better. The crowd's always into it, and it's just a better feeling. Q. In the regular season you were coming off the bench, now here we are in The Finals, starting lineup in Game 1. What is your mentality going into it? Is it the same as the regular season, or do you ratchet yourself up to get ready for The Finals? KEVON LOONEY: You definitely ratchet yourself up for The Finals. All year Steve (Kerr) always talks about pacing ourselves for the playoffs. Having different injuries and staying healthy was the main focus. So now that we're here, it's something we've been waiting for. There's only a couple weeks left in the season, so the intensity picks up. We know what's at stake, so just totally different from the regular season. You've got to come to play. There's only two teams standing, everybody's watching, everybody's under scrutiny so you've got to stay focused and bring it hard every game. Q. When you guys -- in overtime against LeBron James, they isolated with him a lot. You guys really collapsed inside the paint. What are the keys when the defense collectively is helping and collapsing inside the paint like that? KEVON LOONEY: LeBron's such a great passer, you've got to be ready to rotate. He can make any pass on the floor, so if we collapse with help, our defense has to be in sync. We have to trust each other and that we're going to make the right rotations, make the right reads and contest. They have some great shooters out there, so we just have to be ready to set. That's really the key, is our defense communicating and being in sync. Because LeBron's a great passer and shooter, so everybody has to be in sync. Q. The communication aspect, does that come and go during games, or do you just have to mentally stay engaged in order to communicate? KEVON LOONEY: You definitely have to mentally stay engaged. For our team sometimes it comes and goes. I feel like in the first half we didn't communicate as well and I think in the third or fourth quarter started communicating, started doing a better job. I think as a defense, when we communicate, everybody feels more confident in what they're doing. I think it makes it tougher for the offense to work. We've got guys talking, barking, hearing us calling out the plays and that we're really focused. It's something that Draymond was talking to us about and Andre was talking to us about being the young kids out there, just communicating, telling K.D. where screens are at, telling Steph where screens are at. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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