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NBA EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: RAPTORS VS. BUCKS

May 20, 2019

Kyle Lowry

Toronto, Ontario - Practice Day, Canada

Q. Kyle, a lot of players from Milwaukee said that was more of a bad game for them than it was a good game for the Raptors. They're taking the positive going, hey, we went into double overtime and we had an off night. What do you say to that?
KYLE LOWRY: That's their opinion. They felt like they didn't play well. We didn't play well either. Both teams shot under 40 percent.

Q. Kyle, the adjustment of Kawhi on Giannis more, how did that affect the rest of the team's defense from your vantage point?
KYLE LOWRY: You've got Kawhi, he's probably the best two-way basketball player in the NBA, and it kind of takes a little bit of the help off of Giannis and let Kawhi play one-on-one, but just give him different looks, give him different bodies. They had four or five different guys guarding him last night. So just give him different looks and different bodies and different area situations so he doesn't get too comfortable, try to make him as uncomfortable and as unpredictable as he can possibly be.

Q. If you guys make it difficult for Giannis, whoever's guarding him, what does it do to the rest of the Bucks offense?
KYLE LOWRY: They've got good players. They've got guys that have been here before. They've got guys who are All-Stars, guys who can score. Everything's not all Giannis. They have really good guys. George Hill had 24, and [Malcolm] Brogdon had 20 last night. Game 2, Ilyasova had a big game. They've got a bunch of good guys that can make plays and can play good basketball.

Q. How are you feeling physically and mentally today?
KYLE LOWRY: I'm feeling great. Happy to be alive.

Q. Kyle, what steps do you guys take and go through in the 44 hours you have between a double overtime and when you play again?
KYLE LOWRY: I didn't play that much last night.

Q. But as athletes, maybe break it down a little bit how you get back to --
KYLE LOWRY: Just recovery after the game. Get some food. Get some rest. Come in and prepare yourself, watch film. It's all about recovery right now. Rest your body. Rest as much as your body needs it to rest. Coach has done a great job this year of letting us kind of figure out what we need to get done. Get shots up, get rest, treatment. Be a professional. Be a pro.

Q. You couldn't put a number on it as these games kind of mount up, but where does it -- how much recovery are you able to do? Do you get to 100 percent?
KYLE LOWRY: No one this time of the season is at 100 percent, but you get to a point where you feel good and go into the next game. At the end of the day, the adrenaline takes over. Your job is your job, and adrenaline takes over. Your preparation takes over. So you'll be ready to go for tomorrow.

Q. Kyle, the experience that Pascal [Siakam] is going through right now, highs, lows, just getting that experience at this point in his career, how beneficial can it be for a young player going forward?
KYLE LOWRY: It's going to be huge for him going forward. He's staying in the moment right now. All he's worried about is Game 4, which is a good thing. Game 3 is over. Game whatever, all that's over. All he's preparing for is Game 4 now. The experience that he'll learn will just take him and just continue to grow.

Q. Kyle, you were in a similar position with the Raptors a few years ago in the conference final against Cleveland. Obviously, a lot of faces have changed, but is there a different feel surrounding being down 2-1 right now than there was maybe a few years ago? Do you feel a different attitude?
KYLE LOWRY: We had to try to win that game, a Game 4, and that's what we've got to do tomorrow is try to win Game 4.

Q. Kyle, when you talk about mind over matter and putting bumps and bruises aside, how do you deal with that thumb when you're in the flow of the game?
KYLE LOWRY: I don't know. Try not to think about it. I mean, it is what it is. It's going to hurt. It's going to be sore, but you got to push through. At this time of year, you've just got to push through no matter what you're going to go through. Just got to make things happen however you can.

Q. How often do you consciously notice it?
KYLE LOWRY: When it hurts every time I do something, yeah, you notice it. You hit it, stuff like that.

Q. So pretty often?
KYLE LOWRY: Pretty much, but whatever. You've got to be mind over matter, man.

Q. Does that keep you from maybe digging in on trying to get steals?
KYLE LOWRY: Yeah, it does. Yes, it does, but whatever.

Q. How much does that change the way -- to protect it, how much does it change the way you have to play?
KYLE LOWRY: Obviously, it's not helping because I'm fouling out. Yeah, I've got to figure out how to be able to use the other hand just as effective. Just you've got to be a little more cautious about it, and it definitely is something that you think about, but it really doesn't matter honestly.

Q. What did you think after you found out the commitment the rest of those guys made to get that win?
KYLE LOWRY: That's their job. I mean, that's our team. It's next man up. Like I said, every opportunity, the next man has and take advantage of it. We're a team. We're not just one guy. We're a group of guys that's put together individually to make a team, and that's what we've done. We've formed a good team. Every guy is going to be always be ready to step up and ready to go.

Q. A couple transition opportunities helped loosen up the offense late in that game last night. What can you guys do in the half-court to sort of get free considering the way they're defending you guys?
KYLE LOWRY: Screen hard, cut hard, take the shots that are there. I think that's the one thing that we did last night, a good job of taking the first available shots, and then if it's not there, moving the ball side to side. Their length and the way they commit to the paint, that's their strength, and we've got to make moves and make plays to get to the paint, kick out, try to get shots up.

Q. You've been trying to get early offense a lot. You're consciously pushing the ball off of makes, off of misses. Is there sort of a fine line you try not to get into a running game with this team?
KYLE LOWRY: Just got to be smart. You've still got to take shots. Against this team, you don't want to turn the ball over. That's one thing they thrive off of, turnovers. You've just got to take the best shots. Even if the shots come within four seconds of the shot clock, if there's a good shot, you've got to take it. You've got to be smart about it and make the right plays. You can't be timid. You've got to be aggressive at all times.

Q. So you're seeing a similar balance has to be weighed with attacking the offensive glass too? A couple of times yesterday they were able to get out when you guys crashed?
KYLE LOWRY: When we take four shots and we're in a situation where we let them get out, we're too low or we don't take the first available shot, we're crashing -- this is a team you want to keep out of transition. You want to keep Giannis and [Eric] Bledsoe, [Khris] Middleton, those guys out of transition. You want to be back and show those guys bodies. That's why sometimes, taking that first shot, it may be early, but you've got four other, three other guys back already.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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