NBA EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: HAWKS VS. BUCKS

June 29, 2021

P.J. Tucker

Milwaukee Bucks

Game 4: Postgame

Atlanta Hawks 110, Milwaukee Bucks 88.

Q. What is it like for you guys when you see Giannis go down and try to figure out how to regroup after that?

P.J. TUCKER: It's not good. Any time you see your best player go down, it's not great. But it's an opportunity for somebody else and everybody else to step up. It's the Eastern Conference Finals. There's no excuses. It doesn't matter whoever is playing, not playing. They’ve got guys out, everybody's hurt, everybody's banged up, everybody has injuries. You have to fight through it and win.

Q. Emotionally what was it like in those moments after Giannis got hurt and he's in the locker room and comes back out; what's the emotions of the team? You're out there playing but thinking about him at the same time?

P.J. TUCKER: It's not good. Same thing. It's not good losing anybody on your team. Losing a player stinks. But we didn't come out with energy tonight. We just thought we was going to walk in and win the game. We didn't do anything to show that we wanted to win this game tonight. We were flat, and our guy's injury was just another piece of the puzzle to us losing.

Q. I know in the fourth quarter -- what's going through your head in that moment as you're contemplating, you had the high, high, two wins away from the Finals, to now, this.

P.J. TUCKER: We still want to win. This is not how this series is going to go, this can't be right. That's all that’s going through my mind. No matter who is playing, no matter who is not playing, that's not how it's going. We're too good of a team. We've worked too hard to get to this point. To come out and be flat like that and not give the energy, effort, to be able to win this game. It was a very winnable game even when we got down early. For us to not turn it on and be able to get over that hump and be able to give ourselves a chance to win this game is disappointing. It can't happen.

Q. For you going forward, how do you feel like you win this series, whether or not Giannis plays, what is the mindset to win two more games and get to the Finals?

P.J. TUCKER: What's the mindset? It's the Eastern Conference Finals. Like if you don't have the mindset to want to win right now, you probably need another job.

Q. You guys played without him and won games. Is there something to lean on that you guys found?

P.J. TUCKER: Changes that we make, the coaches will make them, they will do what they need to do. As players, you just look at each other and whoever we got out there, that's who we're going with and we're going to go out and fight. Like to me, all that other stuff goes out the window and it comes down to be able to go out and give the effort every play, lay it on the line, and go out there and take it because tonight, that's what Atlanta did. They took it.