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NBA EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: RAPTORS VS. BUCKS

May 20, 2019

Nick Nurse

Toronto, Ontario - Practice Day, Canada

Q. Despite the win last night, looking at the first three games, do you think you guys have shown the Bucks your best punch yet? Have they seen the best from the Raptors quite yet?
NICK NURSE: I think in two of the three games, we've given an effort worthy of winning. We were pretty good last night, I thought. I don't know. I think we still had some moments -- there was a stretch there in the third where we turned it over a little bit too much, carelessly. I think it was more us just us beating us in those plays.

I would like to think that there are still some guys that could impact and play a little bit better and score a little bit better and shoot a little bit better that could improve our chances.

Q. Pascal was just talking about being in some of these playoff situations for the first time, playing a lot of minutes for the first time. Developmentally, what kind of dividends could that pay for a player to go through those at this age?
NICK NURSE: Obviously, the air is getting a little more rare when you get to this point.

Going through it for the first time is usually seen with some big ups and big downs and big swings of play. But you know what, almost everybody goes through it. Our veteran guys that have been here before are having really great games and then not so great games or games that could use improvement. I think it's kind of the nature.

I always keep saying: Each game is its own entity. Just because one guy played really great the last game doesn't mean he's going to do it again. We've seen that in all the series and this one as well. And just because someone plays poorly doesn't mean they're going to play poorly again. I think each night you go out there with the hopes of giving everyone their shot at it, see how the feel goes, see how the matches turn out, see how the ball bounces for them, and then you try to make the decisions and roll with who's rolling on that night.

Q. Danny was talking about how important it was for him to see you draw up the play for him late in the game after the shooting night he was having. What was your thought process there?
NICK NURSE: We put him back in and I said to him, You've got to hit one for us here, man. And he goes, I will. And I said, Okay. So we drew it up for him, and he knocked it down. Again, he's one of the guys, too -- I thought he had some good chances last night. He had a couple tough ones that he had to squeeze off with the shot clock running out, but he also had some really good ones.

I was more encouraged just with him, after watching the film, I thought he ran the floor a little harder last night. I thought he cut more decisively on offense last night rather than just kind of sitting in the corner and hoping something came to him. I thought he relocated a little bit better last night.

I'm going to try to continue to stress him moving a little bit harder and moving a little swifter, and maybe that will shake him free. Again, I still think the guy is a really, really good shooter. He's a really good proven playoff shooter. He's got a chance to impact the series still.

Q. When a guy like him with the track record he has is on an extended shooting slump, do you check the mechanics just to make sure everything's fine and then go on to everything else or --
NICK NURSE: Yeah, we do check some things. You and I have talked about this during the regular season a little bit. Nowadays, you can check it a lot of ways other than just looking at the film or seeing if it's coming off their hand or if their feet are squared up or if they're floating or things like that. We like to check all those things just to make sure they're lined up. We do that after each and every game just to see if anything sticks out. Nothing has really stuck out with us for him.

Q. Kawhi had big minutes last night, and he came up a little sore after that one dunk. Any follow-up today as to where he is physically heading into Game 4?
NICK NURSE: Yeah, I think the consensus today is he's tired. He's got two days and will be ready to go. Those are kind of the words coming out of his mouth. He's a little tired, but he'll get his rest. Got two days, and he'll be ready.

Q. How much of a grind is it for coaches as well? How do you manage yourself, your staff, in this kind of situation?
NICK NURSE: The stuff keeps coming at you. But also I would say there's a certain amount of adrenaline that gets pumping. I think that helps. When it goes up and you get into the game, I think there are no concerns there. I think it carries you through your workday. Again, you've got to get ready to get the film edited to the best of your ability. I've got a great staff, and they help out with that.

Obviously, when the team comes in, you've got to get your adjustments, game plan, your thoughts all together concisely for them. Go home and rest and try to re-energize a little bit and have a good night's sleep, and you're usually pretty good come game day.

Q. When you look at the game film, obviously, Kawhi didn't have Giannis for the whole game because that's not how the NBA works anymore. But how did that change your defense, that decision, in terms of how he handled him and everything else?
NICK NURSE: The job he did on him, you mean?

Q. Yes.
NICK NURSE: He did a really good job on him. I think he was just into him a little bit more. But so were the other guys. I said that after the game last night. There were guys that we were just getting down. I know you're asking me about a specific matchup, but that was going on all over the floor. We were up into guys. They were trying to break us down off the dribble. We were sliding and catching the first move. We were chesting them up a little bit and staying in front. If anything bad did happen, there was usually some reliable help there to make them try to make another play. And then the next piece was also there a lot of times, too.

But obviously, it set a good tone for us. They started the first two games, and I think he dunked it. He got the ball and dunked it the first two games. Obviously, that didn't happen last night, so that was a much better start to begin with.

Q. I think they had four transition threes in the first half and maybe none in the second half. First of all, how big of a challenge is that, just all the shooters that they have in transition and recognizing it? And what do you think was the difference there?
NICK NURSE: Coming down the floor, you've got to be really careful of not trying to run across the floor to get to your matchup. When it's in transition, if there's somebody coming on your side, you've just got to take whoever it is. You've heard cross-matched, how you get cross-matched on things. A couple of times in the first half, we did. We were trying to get to our matchup when we should have just stayed with the guy who was in our lane. That's how they got those.

A couple of other ones, they ran pretty hard to the corners and got into the paint. We had to try to stop the paint drive, and they kicked it out on those too. I think it was just better decision-making on our part in the second half, a little bit better communication on the matchups.

Q. I guess you can't say they're more dangerous than Golden State as far as transition threes, but they're just a different challenge than most teams in regard to recognizing all the different threats in transition?
NICK NURSE: I think the big challenge is pretty much every guy they put out there is shooting and shooting deep and not hesitating. And a lot of that gets created because there's a guy with the ball coming down the middle of the floor that usually takes more than one guy to defend. So as soon as you use two or three, that means one or two guys are open or at least open for a little while.

That's why they've had the best record in the league and why they're really good and why they're still playing at this point. They're high powered and can hurt you a lot of ways.

Q. Did Kawhi make that request to guard Giannis, or was that just a decision made toward him? Has he made any requests throughout the playoffs to have any defensive assignments?
NICK NURSE: No. Again, we have a lot of ideas that we put on the table. We were going to start last night that way. We did a lot of switching of matchups throughout the game. You guys probably noticed them. There were a lot of times we would come out of a timeout and totally change all the matchups. There were a lot of times in pick-and-rolls where we'd pre-switch things, and that way we'd get to a better switch by the time the pick-and-roll got there and stuff like that. So there are a lot of matchup switches going on out there at a really fast pace.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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