NBA FINALS: HEAT VS. NUGGETS

June 3, 2023

Christian Braun

Denver Nuggets

Practice Day

Q. How do you handle nerves when you step on the court for your first game in the NBA Finals?

CHRISTIAN BRAUN: I mean, I think the guys did a really good job of handling that for me. They built a pretty big lead, and when I come in, my job is just to elevate it. There's not much nerves with what I do. I come out and try to guard people, play defense, get our guys the ball.

There's not too much nerves with my job, and like I said, those guys do a really good job of building a lead and my job is just to add on to that.

Q. With Miami's zone, what makes the way they're using it -- what's made it so effective? Is it the timing? Deploying it late in games when teams are tired?

CHRISTIAN BRAUN: I think they do a lot of really good adjustments throughout the game. That's what they're good at.

Obviously their coach is a great coach so you know that was a really good move for them at the time, and I think that we're a tough team to zone because of our shooters and we have Nikola, so I don't know, I think that we're going to attack it differently, be ready for it now.

So I don't know if it'll have the same effect, but they have great players that play really good defense, whether it's man or zone, and they have a really good coach. They're going to make adjustments like that and they're going to throw different things at us, and that's what they're really good at, and that's why they're here.

Q. KCP was talking about the Heat got some open shots in that first game and a lot was made out of that. We've seen you guys score a lot more than 104 points. Do you think they just defended well? How do you feel about your offensive execution? Can it be better?

CHRISTIAN BRAUN: Yeah, they're a really good defensive team, so there's going to be nights where it's tough to score, but you win basketball games making it tough on them.

I think we did a good job of making it tough on them. They missed some open shots, some stuff we have to tighten up, but the best part about that is we won when we played bad.

We didn't think we played well, and obviously we are going to come back and play a better game. We know they're going to come back and play a better game. If we just do what we're supposed to do, we're going to hit shots.

They didn't hit shots like they thought they would, but we had great shooters miss a lot of shots, too. We know they're going to be better, but we know we're going to be better. You want to win basketball games when you play bad. That's the most important part.

Q. Both of your parents hooped, so after a game, who gives you more constructive criticism, mom or dad?

CHRISTIAN BRAUN: Mom doesn't give me constructive criticism at all. Mom is more critical --

Q. It's not even constructive --

CHRISTIAN BRAUN: It's not constructive most of the time. (Laughter). She'll throw it in there every once in a while, but mom is definitely the critical one of the bunch.

Most of the time honestly it's at halftime or something. If she sees something she doesn't like, she'll text me and let me know. Obviously I see it after the game right away. Mom is definitely the critical one, but I know she means it with love.

Q. Have you heard from Coach Self at all before the game or after?

CHRISTIAN BRAUN: Yeah, Coach Self texted me before the game. I think I saw it after. He just told me good luck. That means a lot coming from him, obviously.

And then my brother is playing for him, too, so I've gotten to talk to him more recently. But yeah, he texted me before the game.

Q. I know Jamal's dad sends him messages, too. How many players' dads send messages at halftime?

CHRISTIAN BRAUN: I think it's a really cool thing, so hopefully everybody has that experience. I think it's really cool. I see Jamal talk to his dad all the time. They talk before games, and that's obviously a really cool moment for him.

Q. Is this almost business as usual for you because obviously you played big time college basketball, you've been on a big stage before. Is this business as usual for you?

CHRISTIAN BRAUN: Yeah, I think that being in these moments, obviously the Final Four kind of helped me with that, like I said I've kind of been here before and I think we played a million games this year it feels like. It's just another game at this point.

This game means a lot, but you've kind of got to approach it the same way you approach everything else. Same routine. So I think that's why we're so good. We got a lot of guys that are really consistent with the routine. Just because it's the Finals game we don't try to change anything. We try to be us. We come out there and play hard, and I think that's why we win a lot of games.