NBA WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: LAKERS VS. NUGGETS

September 23, 2020

Torrey Craig

Denver Nuggets

Practice Day

Q. Torrey, can you kind of explain what's gotten into the defense since pretty much the second half of Game 2? What has switched over the last six quarters?

TORREY CRAIG: Just our urgency and the will to want to defend. I think a lot of guys know what we can do on this team, and when we defend at a high level, offense will come pretty easy to us. If we make defending a priority, it will come.

Q. Even coming into the series, was there anything intimidating to you about the Lakers and the way that they play?

TORREY CRAIG: No, not intimidating, but we know they're a huge team. They're a good defensive team, a good rebounding team. Their size is an issue for anyone, and I think we knew that coming into the games, and we've adapted to it pretty well.

Q. I know that your path to the NBA was a little different than most guys', and I'm curious when you talk about the underdog mentality and the resiliency of this team and that becoming a part of you guys' identity, how much has your guys' individual paths to the NBA played a role in collectively being this resilient team?

TORREY CRAIG: Yeah, I would say it plays a part. No guys other than like Mike [Porter Jr.] and those guys were drafted high, and Jamal [Murray]. Joker [Jokic] was a second-round pick, Monte [Morris], myself, went undrafted. Yeah, we just came in, we weren’t given anything, fought for everything we have, and now were in the Western Conference Playoffs and trying to prove that we can compete with the best teams in the league. I kind of like being the underdog. I like proving people wrong. I like just trying to show people that we can play for real against the best teams in the league.

Q. The zone they threw at you all late, how surprising was it? Frank Vogel just told us he's never run one before in his whole career. It's kind of a junk move that worked. How did that hit you?

TORREY CRAIG: I would say it was unexpected, forced us into a lot of turnovers early. I just think we was shocked by it, thrown off guard by it. We were rattled a little bit, but we settled down. Once we settled down and seen some shots go in, we were fine.

Q. I'm not sure if you had a chance to see the news that came out of Louisville yet when it comes to the Breonna Taylor case but two of the officers were not charged and one was charged with wanton endangerment for shooting through another person's apartment. When you hear that news, what is your initial thought to the charges and everything else that has taken place?

TORREY CRAIG: I mean, it's just disappointing. It's depressing. It's not the outcome anybody wanted. Yeah, that's a touchy subject, so I'm just going to leave it at that.

Q. When you see Jamal Murray, and I know that obviously you guys as a team know Jamal better than anybody, but when he makes the shots that he made last night in the fourth quarter, he's done everything that he's done in the Playoffs, what's your reaction when he's hitting like that way-out three-pointer, hitting shots in guys' faces? Are you just excited for him? Are you surprised?

TORREY CRAIG: I mean, I'm excited for our team when he does things like that. That's good for us. I'm not surprised. I've been here three years and I've seen him make a lot of those shots, whether in practice or in the summer and in games. Jamal is the ultimate competitor. He wants to take on any challenge, and like I say, he likes to prove people wrong, as well. He's definitely playing with a chip on his shoulder, and that's good for us.

Q. What do you think is the latest layer that Jamal has added to his game? You saw it last year, kind of a specialist scorer, but this year we're seeing the whole package, the conditioning, the rebounding. What are you seeing?

TORREY CRAIG: Yeah, like you said, the rebounding, the passing, playmaking for other guys and just being a threat as a passer, as well. Everybody knows he can score and shoot the ball, but when he breaks down defenses and finds the open man or makes big-time passes, that's definitely elevating his game.