NBA WESTERN CONFERENCE SEMIFINALS: WARRIORS VS GRIZZLIES

May 9, 2022

Taylor Jenkins

Memphis Grizzlies

Game 4: Postgame

Warriors 101, Grizzlies 98

Q. Coach, as you look at the stat sheet, it's like the only thing that really stands out is the free-throw shooting. When you come out of a game like that, how do you feel knowing that that could have been the difference of winning and losing?

TAYLOR JENKINS: I'm just super proud of how hard our guys competed tonight. Unbelievable effort for 48 minutes. Ball just doesn't bounce our way a couple times late in the fourth quarter. We've just got to find a way to play better and find a way to win Game 5.

Q. What did you make of the shots that you guys got there in the final minutes? It seemed like it was a little stagnant.

TAYLOR JENKINS: Yeah, we struggled getting a little organized. They ramped up their pressure. Credit to them. We got forced into a couple tough twos, tough threes. We rushed a couple of plays there. We've just got to learn from it and get better for the next game.

Q. Dillon was having a rough game offensively; you decided to roll with him pretty deep. Your thoughts on that?

TAYLOR JENKINS: Yeah, got a lot of trust in him, and I loved what he was doing defensively. Had a big three, big two late in the game, just ball wasn't bouncing for him the majority of the game, but got a lot of trust in that guy.

Q. What went into the decision to start Adams, and what did you think of the looks with him out there?

TAYLOR JENKINS: Yeah, just ready for a change. He's been working hard to get back. I felt like this was the time to do it. His experience, his force that he plays with, he was great tonight, rebounding, setting screens, rolling, executing the defensive coverages. Was really impressed with Steven tonight.

Q. You talked last game about kind of discombobulated rotations that you had defensively. Tonight you guys had numerous times where you forced them just into pump fakes and give-up threes, really good three-point shooters giving up threes. Did you see what you liked more in that sense?

TAYLOR JENKINS: Yeah, I thought our defense was really good. We hold them to 101 points, we just didn't make enough shots. I thought we took care of the three-point line well, the paint well, our one-on-one defense was great, our rotations. A couple breakdowns here and there, but they're going to do that to you with how fast and constant they play on the offensive end.

But just super impressed with our ability to improve from Game 3 to Game 4. We just didn't have enough at the end.

Q. Emotionally how do you unpack this? Obviously shorthanded play, you're leading until 45 seconds left, but obviously in the final 45 seconds it kind of slips away. How do you unpack that emotionally going into at elimination game now?

TAYLOR JENKINS: Yeah, you recognize the good things you did and just focus on the season isn't over yet. It's 3-1. I told them to forget what the record is in the series. You've just got to focus on just winning a game. Just go focus on winning one game right now. We'll travel tomorrow. We'll learn from it. We'll watch the film.

We've got a game back at home in front of our fans. They're going to give us a great boost, great juice, but I said, if you play with that effort and that urgency, you're going to have a chance to win every single night, and I'm so proud of them.

So come out, replicate that, still find a way individually and collectively to play better, and then hopefully we get the result we want in Game 5.

Q. The contact seemed fairly light on the push-off offensive foul from Desmond on to Steph Curry. Any thoughts of challenging that?

TAYLOR JENKINS: Which play? You mean the offensive rebounding one? Yeah, they looked at it and they felt like that probably wasn't going to be one we were going to win.

Q. How did you feel about Dillon Brooks' shots today?

TAYLOR JENKINS: Yeah, he forced a couple. Trying to get his groove back. Obviously he's been off for a couple of days. But when he was playing with force under control, I loved the playmaking that he had. His playmaking was great tonight.

He had eight assists. His defensive effort was great, just trying to get his rhythm back. Ball didn't bounce his way a couple times. Had some big shots in the fourth quarter. He'll be better in Game 5.

Q. When they're struggling early offensively, how do you interpret that? How do you decide, okay, these guys are missing shots, it's more on us versus on them?

TAYLOR JENKINS: Yeah, you're probably not going to keep them at bay for 48 minutes. We've got to capitalize. It was a low-scoring affair in the first half. We've got to capitalize on the turnovers, the missed shots that they had, but luckily we were executing and forcing them into tough shots that they were missing. Just our offense couldn't get going in that first half.

In the second half I thought it was really good. We held them to 101, and that's with free throws at the end. Our defensive effort was phenomenal. We just didn't get the shots to fall on the offensive end at the end of the day.

Q. I think you guys were down three late. Jaren has a three at the top of the key and Draymond comes over to contest. Was that the shot you wanted, and what did you see on that?

TAYLOR JENKINS: Yeah, we were trying with 19 seconds left to go quick, get a quick two or a quick three. I think maybe a shot that was a little rushed right there. I'm actually curious what they'll say if there was -- I think there was contact. I'm just curious what they're going to say at the end of that one. That was heavily contested, but I think there was a lot of contact. Probably a rushed shot on our part. But just didn't go our way.

Q. What do you make of Jaren's game overall? It looked like you were making an effort to get him shots there late.

TAYLOR JENKINS: Yeah, I thought obviously he didn't knock down shots from the outside, but the force he was playing with, like getting to the foul line was big. We needed to find a way to get a bucket. We were struggling out there with where we were going to get our shots from, who was going to knock one down.

I thought the force he played with getting downhill and finishing at the rim, he had a couple tough finishes throughout the game, getting to the foul line eight different times -- or eight free throws, excuse me. Just had a lot of trust in him to make a play. Late in the game we put the ball in his hands, he had a nice drive, a shot that he makes a lot of times, just didn't go down late in that fourth quarter.

Q. Do you think there is any -- what would you put the chances of Ja being available for Game 5?

TAYLOR JENKINS: Yeah, to be determined. We're just going to see once we get back, more evaluation where he's at.