NBA EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: HAWKS VS. BUCKS

June 23, 2021

Clint Capela

Kevin Huerter

Atlanta Hawks

Game 1: Postgame

Hawks 116, Bucks 113

Q. I think you were down seven with about four and a half minutes to go. What was the biggest thing that not only helped you get back in it but close this one out?

KEVIN HUERTER: I think we knew we had to get stops. They were kind of living in our paint all game, and we had to try to make them kick it out. We needed to get stops to give us a chance offensively, and we did that enough down the stretch. Trae hit some big shots and big free throws. J.C. had a big three. We needed to protect the paint at the end of the game, and for the most part we did it enough to win.

Q. Kevin, how have you seen Trae's ability to lead this team on and off the floor grow in your three seasons together now?

KEVIN HUERTER: Yeah, I think I said it after last game. It's like it's his game management, it's being aware of everything, how to close games, how to lead everybody. Right now, I feel like in a lot of ways we're just following his mentality. He's been fearless since he came into the league, took the league by storm. Everything he's doing right now on this stage, it's what you guys have been seeing when nobody else was for the past two years. He's just doing it on this stage.

We're out here, we believe in each other, we're confident. Everyone seems fearless on this stage, and he's obviously the ringleader of that.

Q. Nate said the other day how he feels like the team has taken on his identity and mentality. Do you guys feel that?

CLINT CAPELA: Yeah, definitely. Every time we were starting the game, he set the tone pretty early. Like Kev said, fearless, attacking again and again, using his speed and everything -- passing, keeping guys involved. It's been contagious in a positive way.

Q. You've been down a bunch of times in these road games. What is it about this team, which hasn't been on a playoff run before, that's allowed you guys to keep fighting back and coming back and winning these road games?

CLINT CAPELA: I think our mentality is just to keep playing. Whenever we make a mistake on defense we try to not make it again. Not really focus on the score but more about our mistakes that we're making. How offensively we can execute better, create multiple possessions on offense, offensive rebounding, kick it out, get open threes, get defensive stops, and it really generates us on both ends of the floor.

Q. Kevin, obviously Bogey is kind of on one leg right now, but Nate mentioned it's been really key for you guys to get the minutes you have from him, just to have his presence out there even if he's not 100 percent himself. Would you agree with that?

KEVIN HUERTER: Yeah, we need him. He's a smart player. Obviously just really good at the game of basketball, just knowing the game and being in the right spots. He's out there on one leg. He's gutting it out for us right now. I'm sure he probably wants to be out there more, but just having his presence on the court, still being a shooting threat, defenses obviously still got to prepare for him, and making the right plays. And defensively he had a couple big steals for us. Just being in the fight, we still need that from him for sure. It's big. And there might be one of these games where the leg feels better than it does the day before, and he goes off for a Bogey type of game.

Q. Nate said before that Trae's game is really built for this time of the season, which kind of surprised me only because Trae has never been on this stage and he's never played this time of the season. Why do you think Trae's game is built for this time of year?

CLINT CAPELA: Just like Kev said, I think he's really fearless. I've been on this stage. I've seen a lot of players just retreat whenever they get on this stage. What I see from him is so much confidence, fearless, attacking again and again. It's really contagious on our team. He's been doing it since we started.

KEVIN HUERTER: I mean, he's a prolific scorer. He's one of the best pick-and-roll players in the league. Like I said, this isn't something new. It's something he's been doing for the past two-plus years, scoring at a really high level, getting guys involved. I think in the Playoffs the ball is usually in the best player on the team's hands a lot more than it might be in the regular season. You trust them to make a lot of plays. The way the Bucks play defense, we're running a lot of pick-and-roll right now, and that's one of his biggest strengths -- coming off and scoring, obviously finding guys. So it's stuff he's been doing. It's just everybody is seeing it now.

Q. Kev, we saw after the Game 1 wins in New York and Philly on the road what happened in Game 2. Was there a common theme in those Game 2 losses, a sense of letdown, or it was just an off-night, and how do you learn from those two Game 2s for Friday?

KEVIN HUERTER: Yeah, I think just an off-night. It's tough to win on the road in the Playoffs. It's tough to win in somebody else's building. Teams are obviously the best teams in the league right now. Obviously tonight we took care of business. We've got another big one on Friday. I can't remember what day of the week it is. Got another big one on Friday against a really good team, so we've got to focus and get back to it.

Q. How does it change the vibe when Trae breaks off a defender for a shimmy three or throws an alley-oop off the glass?

CLINT CAPELA: It gets our bench hyped. It gets us hyped. It's crazy, man. It's just crazy. Even that pass against the backboard, like that's some crazy s---. That's crazy. I mean, I've played with a lot of good players. I've never seen that, especially on this stage. It's crazy to see.

Q. Clint, there in the first half and first quarter especially, the Bucks were doing a good job of scoring in the paint. What adjustments did you make to kind of hold your ground and finish with a playoff career-high 19 rebounds and kind of take over there in the second half?

CLINT CAPELA: Yeah, just be a presence inside. We knew of course that they scored a lot in the paint, so we knew we've got to do a better job. This team really puts pressure on the rim every single time. We have a lot of guys that are being aggressive, really smart. They play the right way. We just have to make it tougher for them and make sure they didn't get any second chances on those rebounds. I was really focusing on that. Make sure it was one shot and to help us generate our offense.

Q. How difficult is it mentally and physically to get the rebound and then immediately go back up to lay it in or slam it? What's your mind thinking --

CLINT CAPELA: That's our mentality. Whenever we get a rebound, we want to get back up hard. I know I have two trees on their team trying to block the shot. So I have to go back up pretty hard and just do that over and over again.

Q. With you guys winning on the road to open the series in each series, what does at that say about Coach McMillan and his coaching staff and his ability to close out games and adjust?

KEVIN HUERTER: Yeah, we just kind of find a way. I think that's the best way to put it. Coach has got a lot of belief in us. Really at all moments of the game, it doesn't matter if we're up or down, his message usually stays the same. So end of games it seems like it's always somebody different right now, and we just kind of find a way. I feel like that's the best way to put it. I don't think it was our best game, and we find a way to win.

Q. On that shimmy in particular, do you kind of almost laugh or react when you see him stand there and do that when he's got a few seconds --

CLINT CAPELA: Personally I was like, wow, is he going to make that? When it splashes, it's like, oh, wow. We all saw it.

KEVIN HUERTER: I feel like we were as excited as you guys were, like wow, he just did that.

CLINT CAPELA: Yeah, everybody was just so far out. I was like, man, nobody is around. Was it that bad?

KEVIN HUERTER: It was wide open.

Q. It wasn't a very heavy foul game this Game 1. How did the flow of the game feel as far as just refs allowing you guys to just freely play and not calling everything?

KEVIN HUERTER: I feel like in a lot of ways both teams were feeling each other out. Game 1, for us we've probably got to be more physical on to the ball. They lived in our paint that whole first half. It's got to be a team defense mentality, especially with the three guys they've got over there and the shooters they have around them. I think both teams will probably be more physical Game 2. I think the first game you're feeling each other out. You're learning each other's plays. Everything you've been preparing. We'll continue to lock in and be more physical and protect the paint, for sure.

Q. On the shimmy, what are the odds you do it in your career let alone the Conference Finals?

KEVIN HUERTER: I can tell you I'm not doing it in the Conference Finals. It might be the second game of the year next year or something like that. But that's definitely not me.

CLINT CAPELA: It's not happening.

Q. What is it that makes this team so special?

CLINT CAPELA: I feel this team, we just go and play. We go out there and play. I feel like we all know that we earned the right to be here. We worked hard the whole year. We made it here, and I just feel like we just play like we belong. Really aggressive the whole game, play with confidence, everybody is fearless. I think this is the mentality that we need to have. This is the mentality that we tell ourselves that the sky is the limit. When you play with that energy, that connection, that synergy, I just feel like our team is unstoppable.

Q. Kevin, what would you like to maintain from Game 1 to Game 2, and how important is it to prepare yourselves for the reaction to what happened tonight?

KEVIN HUERTER: Yeah, they're going to respond. They're a really good team. We have a lot of things we know we can fix up. I'm sure they have a lot of things they can fix up. In a lot of ways, it was kind of an ugly game other than Trae going off, and a couple of their guys had good games. But I think both teams probably feel like they can play better, so Game 2 is going to be an interesting one.