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NBA EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: RAPTORS VS. BUCKS

May 20, 2019

Khris Middleton

Toronto, Ontario - Practice Day, Canada

Q. Niko [Mirotic] was just saying that you didn't play great offense last night. Is that kind of the way the team is feeling today? That if there's a positive you can take out of the game, it's keeping it so close going into double OT?
KHRIS MIDDLETON: Definitely. We fought. We competed. A few shots didn't go down for us. But at the end of the day, we're on the road. We forced it into double overtime and we had a chance for a win. We just couldn't get a stop or two when we needed to. We couldn't get a bucket when we needed to here or there. But for the most part, it was a great fight. That's what you want in a playoff game on the road, to compete and get a chance to win in two overtimes.

Q. Is it more physically or emotionally draining to go through a game like that where it's close and you go through two overtimes and don't get the win?
KHRIS MIDDLETON: I think it's more emotionally draining. I wouldn't say draining, but more emotional. Physically, me and Giannis I think played the most minutes at 44. I remember regular-season games where we played that on back-to-back nights. I don't think it's physically draining to us as much. But the emotions of a playoff game are intense. The whole game, every possession means something. Going into two overtimes on the road in a game you could have won, I think that's the most emotional thing about it. You just have to forget about it and rebound from it. We have a meeting here in a couple of minutes, and just get ready for the next game.

Q. Do you think the tape will reveal a main area of correction, or will it reveal maybe just an off night?
KHRIS MIDDLETON: The film always reveals everything. Win or lose, you see a lot of your mistakes and you see a lot of what you did well. It exposes a lot of things. We didn't hit shots, but for the most part, the team played well. We competed on the road.

Q. What did they do differently last night that they didn't do in Games 1 or 2?
KHRIS MIDDLETON: I think they just changed up the matchups a little bit. They trapped Giannis a lot more, trapped me a lot more. They were just a lot more aggressive. I think that comes from being comfortable at home. When you're a home team and you're back in your home environment, you feel a little more comfortable. For us being on the road is different from being at home. It's a different type of crowd and different type of atmosphere. That's what home court and playing on the road does for teams.

Q. How do you stop Kawhi?
KHRIS MIDDLETON: Everybody's asked me that question. I'm serious. You can't. He's going to have the ball in his hands the whole possession, most of the possessions. He's going to force his way into the lane. He's going to force his way into his spots. He's going to shoot with one, two, sometimes even three or four guys on him. He's going to hit some. He's going to miss some.

I keep saying this over and over. He's a great player. You can't stop great players. You can only make it tough on them.

Q. Knowing how much energy you expend against defensively a guy like that, how impressed should we be that Kawhi is still able to produce offense even when he was assigned to Giannis like he was yesterday?
KHRIS MIDDLETON: They switched the matchups, like I said, to keep fresh bodies on him and keep fresh bodies on other people. They trapped him also. It's not like he's playing one-on-one defense against Giannis. Everybody knows, it's like Kawhi, you've got to guard him with the whole team.

Q. Do you feel a little drained by the work you've have to do defensively and it's affected your offense?
KHRIS MIDDLETON: No, definitely not. I don't think my defense has affected my offense at all. They forced me to take tough shots and trapped me a lot of the time. I don't think my defense is affecting my offense one bit. I've just got to hit shots.

Q. After the game, there was an exchange between George and Eric. They were sort of like, I'm not worried. We're much better than this. Was that kind of your feeling after last night as well?
KHRIS MIDDLETON: Yeah. We all talk to each other. George is a positive guy. He's been through a lot. He was probably sharing encouraging words for Eric. Eric knows how to bounce back from this game.

Q. Khris, I know you haven't seen the film, but in your mind, the time between the end of the game and seeing the film, is it filled with you replaying every play?
KHRIS MIDDLETON: It's tough. I'm a guy who thinks a lot, thinks a lot about the game.

I'm definitely replaying a lot of plays in my head over and over again. I haven't had a chance to watch the game yet by myself. After this, I probably will. It's one of those games where you know you had a chance to win and you know you didn't play well, but at the same time, you have to forget about it, as hard as it is, throughout the day and try to live life. It's a basketball game.

Q. I assume the one you're replaying is the three to go up one?
KHRIS MIDDLETON: Yeah. That's a shot that I've hit many times this season. That's a shot that I wish went down for me, but it didn't. But we still competed. We got another chance to tie it. We got another chance to win it. We got another chance to keep playing.

Q. Three straight games where the three-point shooting has been below 32 percent for you guys. Is this more you guys getting good looks and missing them or the Raptors running you off the line?
KHRIS MIDDLETON: I think we had a lot of great looks. I had a couple. I know Brook had a lot of great looks. Niko did too. We just have to knock them down. You have games like that, but at the end of the day, like I keep saying, our defense has been doing a great job of keeping us in games and helping us win games when our shots are not falling. That means when our shot is falling, how much more of a dangerous team we could be.

Q. With the emotions and the pressure, is the practice of bouncing back from a loss like that any different than in the regular season?
KHRIS MIDDLETON: That's what the regular season is for, to prepare you for these moments. This whole season, we've done a great job of bouncing back. It won't be a guaranteed win tomorrow, the way we've been doing it all season long, but as long as we bring the fight that we do, I think we'll live with the results.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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