NBA EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: HAWKS VS. BUCKS

July 3, 2021

Nate McMillan

Atlanta Hawks

Game 6: Pregame

Q. Will Trae be available?

NATE McMILLAN: It's a game-time decision, yeah.

Q. Can you elaborate on that?

NATE McMILLAN: He was at shootaround. I guess I'll answer the same way I did before. He was at shootaround.

Q. [Inaudible]

NATE McMILLAN: It's going to be a game-time decision. He's going to go through the same thing he went through before the last game.

Q. The Bucks switched one through five throughout that game. First quarter, it seemed like you guys struggled a little bit but then got better as you moved on. How specifically do you feel like you guys got better going against that?

NATE McMILLAN: That's something that we've really tried to prepare the team for really all season long. Once you get to this point, teams are going to be able to switch one through five, a lot of teams. They switch during the season, one through four, but are capable, these good teams are capable of switching one through five, and it forces you to play an isolation game.

You have to be patient and see where your matchups are at and get the ball to those matchups, and then you have to win those matchups that they're giving you. They're switching smalls on our bigs and bigs on our smalls. You have to find those matchups quickly, and you have to win those matchups.

Q. When you get the switches, do you sometimes fall in the trap of trying to do too much?

NATE McMILLAN: You can. You can do that. You can fall in that trap in the sense of trying to go to that matchup in the post too much, or you can fall in the trap of trying to go at the matchup on the perimeter too much. So it's a balance there.

But you don't want to get stagnant. You want to be aggressive and attack those matchups. If you can't create something for yourself, you've got to create something for your team because they're going to continue to do it until you beat what they're doing.

Q. Coach, I know you had one deciding win or go home game in Philly, but is there a special message you give the team going into this game when this could be it?

NATE McMILLAN: Well, we know exactly, we're clear about what we need to do. There's no real special message. We understand the position that we're in, and it's very clear what we need to do. We need to win this game tonight.

Q. I know you guys are getting prepared for this game. You guys basically have played under pressure the entire postseason. Any other new messages that you brought to the players for tonight or just keeping it the way you've had it?

NATE McMILLAN: Again, we talked this morning about what we need to do. It's really clear. It's pretty simple. We've got to win this game tonight. We've got to win one game tonight, and they understand that we didn't play well enough or do the things we needed to do to win our last game.

It's win or go home. I don't think anything else needs to be really said about that.

Q. What are your overall thoughts on this run?

NATE McMILLAN: We've enjoyed it. This team, they've continued to show growth and do some things that I think a lot of people really didn't expect, but as I've told them, you really -- it's difficult to get to this point in your career where you're playing to go to the Finals.

You look at a situation like Chris Paul, who's been in the league 16, 17 years, a very talented guard, and he's reaching the Finals for the first time. So you want to enjoy the moment but try to take advantage of this opportunity, this moment, because it's tough to get here. They've been playing really solid basketball all year long. We've responded when our backs have been against the wall. I'm expecting our guys to come out and play and respond again tonight.

Q. You personally, a year ago you were let go. Then you started this season as the assistant coach and now you're coaching. What do you draw on that?

NATE McMILLAN: Again, I'm a spiritual guy. Basically, at that moment that I was let go last year, I knew that it wasn't over for me, and I just was blessed with another opportunity. Things have worked out, but at that time, I knew that it wasn't over. A lot of times when one door closes, another door opens, and Coach [Lloyd] Pierce gave me the opportunity to come here and work with him. Things didn't work out, and an opportunity was presented to me, and I've just tried to make the most of it.

These guys have responded to a slow start this season, and here we are with an opportunity to play for a championship. So tonight we know we have to win one game. We're not looking at two. We're looking at one game. We need to win one game, and that's the focus tonight.