NBA EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: HAWKS VS. BUCKS

June 25, 2021

Nate McMillan

Atlanta Hawks

Game 2: Postgame

Bucks 125, Hawks 91

NATE McMILLAN: Anytime you can go .500 on the road, that's a good thing, especially in the Playoffs. We had an opportunity to get two. We got one. So we're happy with that.

But there's another level that we have to get to, where we are right now. You're playing for a trip to The Finals. They showed us that there's another level that we have to get to in order to win games and advance.

Q. What do you need to do to get to that level?

NATE McMILLAN: We have to play harder. We have to play harder. That intensity that they came out with wasn't a surprise to us. But they showed that there's another level that we have to get to. They totally just dominated the entire game.

Q. How did you see them defend pick-and-roll with Trae tonight and how do you try to counter that in Game 3?

NATE McMILLAN: I think they just picked up the pressure, the intensity. They played with more sense of urgency. I didn't think Jrue did anything other than stay focused on Trae, containing the ball, just being right there. We've got to do a better job of screening when you have that type of pressure on the ball.

They picked up their intensity, their pressure on the ball everywhere. They just brought that to the floor, picking us up full court and disrupting the rhythm of the offense with the pressure.

Q. This was Cam's first appearance in quite some time. What did you see from him?

NATE McMILLAN: Basically we were looking for an opportunity to get him some minutes. He hasn't played in, what, four months. You want to just get him out there. That's the first 5-on-5 he's seen since leaving the floor. So really to just get him some minutes out on the floor.

Q. What do you think about the team's ability to control the ball?

NATE McMILLAN: Offensively? We were not good. I thought their pressure bothered us. They were at 27 fast-break points. It was just really turnover after turnover. We never really got into a rhythm or were able to establish ourselves on the offensive end of the floor.

Good job by them pressuring the ball, pressuring the catch, active hands. They turned it up. I expected them to respond with this type of intensity, and they did. We just were caught on our heels.

Again, they showed us that there's another level that we have to get to if we're going to have success.

Q. You referenced the turnovers. Was that a matter of coming out flat? Was it lack of focus? What was it?

NATE McMILLAN: Not executing. I don't think it was a matter of coming out flat. We didn't handle their pressure that they came out with. We knew that they would come out with more pressure and play with a sense of urgency, getting into the ball. We just did not execute. 20 turnovers tonight. We really never got a rhythm offensively, never were able to establish ourselves on either end of the floor.

Q. I think Trae finished with nine turnovers. Was he just a part of that or was he sort of ahead of the curve, behind the curve in that area?

NATE McMILLAN: Yeah, he was a part of that. We all were a part of that. Again, 20 turnovers. They turned up their pressure, and we did not handle that pressure well.

Q. Looking at that first half and how well the Bucks shot and their offensive efficiency, how much was that on them and how much was on your defense do you think?

NATE McMILLAN: I think it was a little bit of both. We felt that we needed to be better defensively containing the ball. Even in the first game, they had some open looks that they normally knock down. Tonight I thought our close-outs were a little too short. They were getting some of the same shots and they were knocking them down tonight from the perimeter.

This is a really good team as far as shooting the three ball, and they had that going tonight.

I think it was a little bit of both. Defensively we just weren't able to get enough pressure. Close-outs were short. They beat us to the offensive rebound. So they won the hustle game. Really just totally dominated this game tonight.

Q. After getting blitzed in a half like that, what do you tell the team at halftime? What do you look for in the second half, and did you find anything you were looking for?

NATE McMILLAN: No, we didn't. What you tell your team is you go out and you try to win that third quarter. You've had bad halves before, and at the start of the third quarter you want to try to get a rhythm. You just watch that first half, and we just were never able to get a rhythm tonight. They pretty much controlled the game from start to finish.

Q. Do you think there were times tonight that Trae was trying to do too much, coming off the historic night on Sunday night, and do you think he was trying to dictate things a little too much in the first half?

NATE McMILLAN: I think they did what they needed to do. They came out with intensity, a lot of pressure. We didn't execute as a group. You have nights like that. This is something that we just move on. We did a good job of getting one game, and now we try to go home and try to defend home court.

Q. You guys probably played your worst game in the Playoffs, but as you say, you went to Milwaukee and win one game. What do you focus on your message to the team?

NATE McMILLAN: We know we're better than this. The message to the team is we've got to be able to take that next step, raise our level of play. That sense of urgency that we've been talking about, that team showed us that they are a really good team, and there's another level that we have to get to to have success against them.

Q. In a long series you guys can flip the script. Next stop, Games 3 and 4 in Atlanta. Talk about going home, getting home cooking and all of a sudden you're on your floor.

NATE McMILLAN: Yeah, we've been on the road for really over a week. It's really been an emotional week, and to come out of this road trip .500 is good. We'll take that. We had an opportunity to get two; it didn't happen. We go home where we've had success. We'll be able to sleep in our own beds and basically put this behind us, refocus and get ourselves ready for Game 3 on Sunday.

Q. One of the few bright spots today was you were able to get Cam out there today. What do you see from him and do you feel like you can get him some more minutes in the rotation as the Playoffs go?

NATE McMILLAN: We'll see. Basically it was an opportunity to get him some minutes tonight, but Cam hasn't played ball 5-on-5 in four months. It's really tough to throw a guy out there in a situation like he's been put in. But we'll see. He's available. If there's an opportunity to put him out there and we feel that he can help us, we'll do so.

Q. I know obviously it was a tough game tonight, but how important is it to you to have that positive messaging that you took the No. 1 seed Philadelphia on their home court in Game 7, snuck away with the first game of this series and it wasn't until the second quarter that tonight's game got away from you guys? How important is it to get that message into the team's head going back to Atlanta?

NATE McMILLAN: Absolutely. That's what we talked about just a few minutes ago, that we were able to split here. Again, anytime you're able to go .500 on the road in the NBA, that's a good thing. We were able to get that first one. Again, we were able to put ourselves in position to win two, but it didn't happen tonight. Just as we have been talking about all season long, you can't get too high when you win and you can't get too low when you drop a game. The thing we'll do is clean up some things tomorrow and get ourselves ready for Sunday.