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NBA EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: RAPTORS VS. BUCKS

May 25, 2019

Norman Powell

Toronto, Ontario - Postgame 6, Canada

Raptors - 100, Bucks - 94.

Q. Norman, you've been here a few years now. Most of the narrative about the Raptors the last few years is how that guy LeBron James always comes and takes their lunch money. What happened this year to make that scenario go away against a great player and a great team?
NORMAN POWELL: I think we saw an opening. It's no coincidence the moves we made this offseason, bringing in Kawhi, bringing in Danny, the move we made during the trade deadline and bringing in Marc. I've been a part of this team since 2015, and it's been tough playoff runs for us. My rookie year, we're two wins away from going to the Finals, battling LeBron James. Next two years after that, we get swept. It's been a constant grind here to get over that hump, and we were able to do that this year. We know we have a great group of guys who really believed it since Day One in training camp that we were on a mission, that we could do something special, that we could make history. I think from that day forward, we just continued to work each day toward that goal.

Q. You've been here for long enough that you get that this fan base almost fatalism, thinking things are going to go wrong. I'm curious how you think this win, getting to the Finals, can change not just the narrative of the team but the feeling of a city.
NORMAN POWELL: I think honestly, our fans have been great since I've been here, since Day One. The true fans who are standing out there in Jurassic Park in the rain, filling the arena early, chanting, cheering, never giving up. Since Day One, this building, this whole organization with all the great players who have played here and came to Toronto, they've been great. And you can see it. You feel the vibes around the city. You feel the wave around the city. I's special what we're able to do, create history.

I think since Day One the fans really believed this season that we could achieve and get over the hump finally and make it to the Finals. I'm just glad we were able to do that. I'm glad I've been able to experience every playoff run since I've been here, the ups and downs of it. We're really excited to be able to go out there and continue to shock the world and prove people wrong. We're not satisfied with just making it to the Finals. The main goal is to win a championship.

Q. Obviously Golden State's pedigree the last few years speaks for itself, but what kind of jumps out at you as you size them up as an opponent for the Finals?
NORMAN POWELL: They're a great team. They have great players, Hall of Fame players on their team. They're very experienced, well-coached. It's going to be a difficult task to stop the head of their snake, but it's going to take everybody. You can't single out one person and one player who's going to stop Steph Curry, Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson and Draymond. Those guys play together. Whoever is on the court, the starting five, the bench players, whoever is coming in is going to need to be tied into the game plan and just try to exploit little mismatches that the coaches see and just be aggressive and lay it out there on the floor.

They're a well-coached team. They're experienced. But we've just got to go out there and enjoy the moment and continue to work and continue to chip away at it.

Q. You were on the floor at the start of the fourth quarter when you erased the end of the Milwaukee lead. Just wondering what was said in the break there about trying to keep up the momentum? Kawhi was on the bench at that time, too.
NORMAN POWELL: I think in the timeout, Kawhi was like, Enjoy the moment, stay here, stay together, we're good. Just keep chipping away at it. Stay patient, take our open shots, continue to work the ball on offense and really lock in on defense. I think that's what we were able to do. We were able to make it really difficult for them. We picked up our physicality on the defensive end. We were able to get out, get them scrambling around on defense. Fred, me, Serge, we were able to hit shots. K-Lo was able to hit shots. We were really tied in on the defensive end, which gave our offense life because we were able to get out in transition.

Q. Can you describe what it was like to be down 15 points and then have so many guys contribute to a 26-3 run, punctuated by Lowry's steal in the handoff to Kawhi for the jam?
NORMAN POWELL: It was amazing. It's what you live for. It's what you play basketball for, those type of adversity moments. Seeing the guys really tied in, really still motivated, really still talking. Marc was telling Serge what he saw and how he could affect the game. Me and Fred were talking and Kyle was talking to us. Kawhi was talking to us.

It's what you play basketball for, for those moments. The one thing Kawhi really stressed to us was just to enjoy it. Don't get too out of character, just enjoy the moment and continue to go out there and just lay it on the floor. So it was an amazing feeling just to be able to battle and chip away at it. It's how you make history.

Q. How much better or different is this team now after 18 playoff games than it was heading into the postseason? What has this journey meant to you guys?
NORMAN POWELL: I think it's meant a lot. We've been battle-tested in all three series that we've had so far -- different looks, different playing styles, different coverages, different rotations. I just think the group of guys we have are so selfless and able to give themselves up for the team, sacrifice whatever the team needs to be able to go out there and get a win. I think every day, every game, we've just been able to grow and get better.

Even when there are games where we don't play our best, we're all open to learning how we can improve and get better and be more tied in on the defensive and offensive end. We've just been so motivating with one another, keeping guys motivated and positive through the ups and downs of bad games, bad shooting nights, good games. Just continuing to stay in the ear of guys that might have been struggling or not getting the minutes that they want or not hitting the shots that they normally hit. We've all been really tied in as a family, motivating our brothers to keep going and keep fighting.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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