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NBA PLAYOFFS ROUND ONE: CLIPPERS vs WARRIORS

April 13, 2019

Kevin Durant

Oakland, California: Game One

Warriors - 121, Clippers - 104

Q. Kevin, what was your view with all the exchanges that Patrick Beverley was having with you throughout the game and the subsequent ejection?
KEVIN DURANT: Well, I've been playing against Pat Beverley since he was at Arkansas so I kind of know what he brings. He's a Chicago kid, grew up and played in the Chicago area, so those dudes play with a different type of grit, so I can appreciate that about Pat.

You know what he's going to bring to the table, just physicality, the mucking up the game a little bit with his physicality, his talking, everything. That's what he brings to each team he plays on. That's his identity, and they support him with the Clippers.

For me, I know that coming into the series. I thought it was fun tonight.

Q. Just overall how do you assess this first step of the journey?
KEVIN DURANT: Well, it feels like a lot of excitement in the building, especially throughout the locker room. You've got some guys it's their first time, and you know, we had 22 turnovers, we can't have that going forward.

I think more so than anything, it was a lot of just over-excited to play, I guess, to start the game, and we had six turnovers to start the first quarter. We still ended up winning by 17, and they only had three more shots than us. We controlled that, but if we had 21 turnovers again and in the Playoffs, I think that will be a tougher game for us.

But overall, solid first game.

Q. What do you think of their strategy to start Beverley and have him guard you most of the game, basically a foot shorter?
KEVIN DURANT: Yeah, well, obviously he's never going to guard me one-on-one. When I get the ball in the post, I've got a good game plan of leaving Draymond and Boogie at the top of the key. And soon as I catch bring it, they bring in a double. So if they're going to do that, I'll be happy to give myself up to get stuff on that backside.

Sometimes we're going to play into that, sometimes we don't want to give them a heavy dosage of exploiting the mismatches, and we want to play motion offense. So just mix it up a little bit. I know as the series progresses, Coach will figure out more ways for us to score.

Q. What is it like playing with Steph Curry out there when he's going off like that, specifically in the Playoffs?
KEVIN DURANT: I mean, well, I expect it at this point. I'm not surprised by anything he does. You know, I expect him to come in and shoot well every night because he puts the work in. I expect him to come out here with MVP-like focus because he is an MVP.

It was just another night at the office for him.

Q. How much do you worry about technicals because you only get four, seven -- do you worry about that at all?
KEVIN DURANT: No, I can control myself.

Q. On the play where you did get ejected, you were having fun, you weren't mad or anything like that; were you surprised the refs took it to that extent and ejected the both of you?
KEVIN DURANT: Yeah, yeah, because the previous play, I got fouled on the lay-up and Pat came out of nowhere and blocked it. It was just -- not friendly, but just trash talk, you know, and it's emotional play for him, so he's going to show his intensity after that play, and I respected it, and I'm sure everybody on the court did.

But it was the same play for me coming back on the other end where I had an opportunity to kind of bring some intensity to the arena, to the game, to my team, and I thought that was a perfect time for me to do so, without resulting in a technical foul.

But I'm sure Ed was trying to just control that game and that -- trying to take it too far. I guess he thought we was taking it too far. I just thought it was one of those plays where I could show a little bit more emotion than I usually show.

Q. Landry had that game last week where he hit five threes in the first half and then you sort of slowed down the offense for them. How important is it not getting him involved in slowing down their offense?
KEVIN DURANT: Very important. You've got Lou Williams and Montrezl Harrell who can put pressure on your defense, and Galinari, you've got to have a guy like that who can roam around, knock down three, space the floor, keep guys honest.

And I thought we did a solid job on him tonight. One for six, three points, it's a great job. But he's still simmering. He's still ready to knock down shots. We've got to be aware of him from the start of the game next game.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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