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NBA FINALS: CAVALIERS vs WARRIORS

June 5, 2018

Kevin Durant

Cleveland, Ohio: Practice Day

Q. Steve Kerr and Steph and LeBron have all addressed the situation with the Eagles in the White House. I was wondering what you thought about that. Also, they had said that no matter who wins this series, they probably don't want an invite anyway. So I was wondering if you agree with that.
KEVIN DURANT: Yeah, I agree with that. That's about true. What else do you expect Trump to do? When somebody says they don't want to come to the White House, he disinvites them so the photo op don't look bad. We get it at this point.

It's good that guys are sticking to what they believe in and what they want to do. Like guys said before me, I'm sure whoever wins this series won't be going.

Q. In Game 2, by the end of the first quarter, you had as many assist opportunities and you took advantage of them than you did in the whole almost Game 1. What was different from what Cleveland was doing, what your teammates were doing, what you were doing?
KEVIN DURANT: Just being patient. Just taking what the defense gives you. Just slowing down a bit. I think defensively we focused in a little more, which always allows our offense to have a little bit more freedom, when you're getting stops.

Just try to be patient as much as we could. Find things that were there. But also play with some pace as well. If they make a shot or if we get a rebound, just try to play with some pace too. We know it's going to be different coming into this building tomorrow. So we've just got to be even more on point.

Q. This season how have you seen everything with you and Steph kind of play out in terms of knowing when it's time for you to get it going or him or both? How have you seen it play out through the course of the season?
KEVIN DURANT: Two years together, two seasons together, I think we've figured out a good balance. I think being able to play off of each other definitely helps. But not just us two. Everybody else on the court kind of plays off each other well. We just try to do whatever it takes to get the W. Run the right plays. Run them with force and with pace.

When you get your opportunities, be disciplined in your work and trust in your work. That will dictate the outcome. So just try to keep things as simple as possible.

Q. You spent a lot of time -- or not a lot of times, but sometimes when the offense is stagnant, a lot of people talk about the ball not moving, what contributes to that overall do you think?
KEVIN DURANT: I think a lot of people lately have been talking about that because of how we played in Houston. Houston did such a good job of switching everything. And in basketball, when you switch everything -- meaning pin downs, cross screens, just everything -- it takes you out of your movement of your offense, and it puts the ball into the guys that create off the dribble the most. We had a lot of those opportunities because of the switching defense.

So I think that's the reason why things may look a little bit bigger than what they really are as far as the iso stuff is concerned. But I thought we did a good job of navigating through it all and still playing our game and just showing that we can adapt to different situations.

Q. You guys with the 2-0 lead, sometimes that can give you that sort of natural, I guess you could say, instinct that you've got a little bit of a cushion to play with, which you do. But, obviously, you try to fight that. What do you do to fight that going into Game 3? What do you remember from Game 4 last year when you guys lost here?
KEVIN DURANT: I don't really think about being up 2-0 because the series could turn so fast. It's a great position to be in. I don't want to take that for granted; don't get me wrong. But the job is not done, and you can't relax or be comfortable when you're still trying to win this thing.

We know coming on the road is going to be tougher. We just want to play our best brand of basketball and play as hard as we can when we step out on the court.

Q. What do you recall from Game 4 last year, the game you guys did not win? The only game you didn't win?
KEVIN DURANT: We didn't play well. They shot the ball extremely well, and we were a step slow on everything. So we can't be that way.

Q. After the game Sunday, Draymond got up and said Klay is probably the toughest guy he's ever played with. You don't always think of Klay for his toughness. But other than the fact that he doesn't miss games, what is it that you think Draymond was getting at talking about just how tough he is?
KEVIN DURANT: He doesn't complain., He's low maintenance. He doesn't really care for the celebrity or the fame that comes with being an NBA player. He just works hard every day, comes and plays defense hard. And he cares. You see that. Sometimes you see it, sometimes you don't with Klay, but we know it's there all the time because he's so consistent every day.

Somebody who just genuinely loves to play ball and wants to do it as best as he can, because he knows his time is short. So somebody who embraces every single day, that's toughness to me.

Q. With Andre Iguodala on the floor with you guys, what does he give you? What does he bring you?
KEVIN DURANT: Just another guy with veteran experience that can do multiple things; that can pass; that can rebound, dribble, can shoot the ball. Just smart. Just knows how to play the game of basketball, especially the Warrior way of playing basketball for us.

He kind of settles us down a little bit. You look at 'Dre, he has an even keel for the game. Somebody that's just always dependable. We're looking forward to getting him back. Hopefully he's here soon. Don't know the significance of the injury, but just knowing that we miss him out on the court and we want him back out there.

Q. And you know he's hurt because he's not playing golf.
KEVIN DURANT: Yes, so he really is hurt.

Q. You were asked about the drop-off in Game 4, but what do you remember about Game 3? Now, I know you've dismissed that game in some ways, but what did it mean to be back in this building and knowing what Game 3 did for you in terms of how people see that shot?
KEVIN DURANT: It really didn't do anything for me, to be honest. We won a championship, but me personally, I mean, there were just so many other plays in that game that helped us get that championship that were just as important.

That's how I approach the game. Just knowing that everything that led up to the win, it happened the days before. It happened in practice. It happened in the first quarter, second quarter.

So we just know how important every possession is. That situation may not happen again. So we've just got to embrace whatever happens and look forward to a crazy, crazy environment with a team that's desperate. Those combinations are tough to stop.

We're looking forward to it, though. We've got a great opportunity, being up 2-0, and we can't wait to go out there and take advantage of it.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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