NBA WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: CLIPPERS VS. SUNS

June 25, 2021

Luke Kennard

LA Clippers

Practice Day

Q. What's been the discussion about you as a ball hander and a creator off the dribble? You're capable of doing that but you've taken more of a spot shooting role and maybe a one dribble, mid-range pull up. What's been the discussion about you as a ball handler and creator?

LUKE KENNARD: Obviously our offense changes a little with Kawhi out, so I mean, it puts even more of a pick-and-roll handler, play maker role on Paul and he's done a tremendous job of that. I feel he's been incredible the last few series with Kawhi out. But for me, yeah, they want me to be even more aggressive like with the ball, running DHOs, dribble handoffs, pin-aways for me.

So they are definitely calling more plays and they just want me to be aggressive. Teams are starting to hug up towards me a little more and running me off the three-point line and they say take it to the basket, make a play, use those abilities that you've done before and just create.

So yeah they want me to be more aggressive and I think for us, you know, I think it kind of showed last night the way that we are able to move the ball when we move the ball well, we've got guys that can make plays. So it's just continuing to be aggressive, sharing the ball, trusting the pass and making the right reads out of it.

Q. I think in the early parts of the season, looked like you were able to pass it, and some of the guys have talked a lot about Ty empowering them. When did it click for you to just fire away because you're a really good shooter, and I think everyone believes that on the team, too.

LUKE KENNARD: Yeah, I think for me, learning an entirely new system, new players, it's just getting comfortable with everybody. But they told me since the beginning of the year to shoot the ball. Kawhi, PG, everybody, our leaders of the team, they told me to shoot the ball. But I think as the season went on, just getting more comfortable with everything, my role, just got better and better.

And now I'm just believing in myself and everybody believes in each other and just having the confidence, to go out and shoot the ball and not have any kind of space. That's what I'm doing. That's what they continue to tell me, to do that, and it's been my mentality from here on out.

Q. Happy belated birthday to you.

LUKE KENNARD: Thank you.

Q. Pretty sure you haven't had a four-point play on your birthday before.

LUKE KENNARD: Yeah, it was nice.

Q. We've talked all season about you being more aggressive, you understanding what you need to do to be at your best, but just in the series alone, it seems like you find your footing after halftime. So I'm wondering if there are discussions that are happening pointed to you specifically, where it's like, look, we didn't get you shots in the first half and you need to be ready. Is that happening or something you're doing on your own?

LUKE KENNARD: No, it's just kind of how the flow of the game goes. I know last night at halftime, we weren't moving the ball well in the first half and we got a little stagnant there. We kind of settled for some shots. We turned the ball over a few times. We just weren't really attacking like we should have, and you know, that was a key point during halftime just to make sure we were moving the ball and just continuing to play the right way. And I thought we did a great job of responding to that in the second half. We were driving the ball and just getting it out, and for me, I'm always ready to shoot the ball.

You know, Paul made some good plays last night, hit me in the corner, I had a pass to Marcus, he hit a three and I got an open three. We just kept trusting in the pass and trusting our guys to make the right plays, and I think last night in the second half we did a much better job than we did in the first.

Q. It sounded like that was a problem in the first half of Game 2 as well in Phoenix. So do you feel like after two bad or substandard first halves, the team gets it as far as moving the ball and being more on point with that?

LUKE KENNARD: Yeah, it's been a key point. Even going back to the Jazz series, that was one of the big things we talked about. And it allowed us to come out with some wins. We know what we can do and we know what we're capable of, and we're just excited to continue to grow and we're just ready for Game 4.

Q. We've seen how PG has responded since Kawhi went down. He's been terrific in all these games, but behind the scenes, what are you guys seeing from him as far as how he has led and responded ever since Kawhi went down to kind of really try to lead this team?

LUKE KENNARD: Yeah, I mean, Paul, he's been great. His voice has been even louder in the locker room, off the court, especially on the court. I think his play speaks for itself. I think I heard T-Lue mention we wouldn't be in this position without him and that's 100 percent correct. We would not be here without Paul George and the way he's played.

He's had an incredible playoff run this postseason, and you know, I'm just proud to be his teammate honestly. It's fun to watch him play and watch what he can do and he's a special player. He's a great teammate. We trust him and we believe in what he can do and where he can lead us. So we're just kind of playing off of him and letting him lead us and doing everything that we can to take a little pressure off him. But he enjoys it. He enjoys what this is all about. He enjoys the pressure of making big plays. He's been here before and we're excited that he's showing everybody what he can do.

Q. How has he gone from not being as loud at certain points to becoming louder? Is there any examples?

LUKE KENNARD: Not necessarily. But he's just continuing to tell everybody, like, yeah, you know, Kawhi is out, and that's obviously a huge key piece of our team. He has been all year. But it's next man up and he's making sure we believe in this and we can still win this. PG has been great and he's been our leader and our go-to guy.