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NBA WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: THUNDER v MAVERICKSMay 25, 2011Kevin DurantJames HardenDALLAS, TEXAS: Game Five Dallas Mavericks – 100 Q. Can you kind of compare your feelings tonight compared to last year? You lost here last game like everybody else is going to do except for one team, but you went further this year. Can you kind of compare the feelings you have? KEVIN DURANT: It's a different feeling. To be honest, all of us expected to go far. We had high expectations for ourselves coming into this year, and we knew we worked hard enough. You know, after a good first round, hard-fought second round, we put ourselves in good position to fight for a Finals appearance and thought we had a good chance. It's kind of shocking that our season is over with, you know what I mean? But we fought hard all season. I tried to keep it positive and tell the guys, hey, we had a great year. Collectively we've got to keep working. JAMES HARDEN: You know, it's tough. We let our last two games slip away. We had leads going late into the fourth quarter, and we couldn't grasp it. We had a great season. We worked so hard during the regular season and then had to battle through adversity early in the Playoffs. You know, we just had a great season. Q. Both of you guys, can you talk about the decision to use that small lineup in the fourth quarter? It really seemed to play, James, for you and Russell to get to the basket and the advantages and disadvantages ultimately to go with that somewhat smaller lineup? JAMES HARDEN: Yeah, we wanted to attack. You know, that lineup, you have Eric and Russell and me and Kevin and Nick, our four guards can attack the basket and create for one another. So we just tried to use that lineup, and then just rebound and go. But trying something new, it was working for us. Like I said, we just couldn't get stops, and Dirk hit that big three to get the lead. But other than that I thought we fought hard. Q. Kevin, it seems like the last couple days we've seen Russ take some heat for some perception from the outside about whether he was doing this or that the right way. Talk about how big his game has been for you all season? KEVIN DURANT: He was great. He was great all year. He's been a guy that we rely on to be a good point guard, but he scores the basketball very well, gets to the rim, shoot the pull-up, does a lot of things. It's kind of frustrating to see how much criticism he's been taking because he led us by playing the way he's playing now the whole season. That's what made him an all-star second team while in the NBA. It kind of baffles me that people just start to criticize him because he's playing like that now. That's how he's been playing the whole season. He got us here as our point guard, and we leaned on him for that. I thought it wasn't fair. But I can't control that. He can't control that. He just -- but the one thing about Russell is he kept playing his game all season no matter what people said, and he did a great job, man. I was proud of how he kept his composure and never let things get to him and led us and was one of our leaders on this team. He's been great all season. He deserves everything he's getting as far as accolades, and he had a great year. Q. Can you talk about what happened coming down the stretch for a second straight game? Is it going to take being successful next year to kind of get over that, or what's going to take to get over the hump with correcting that? JAMES HARDEN: There's no excuse. You know, we had two opportunities, two great opportunities with leads at home and on the road. We just have to close those games out. We've been in so many situations throughout this year and even in the Playoffs to where we should have closed the game out. There's no excuse. Like I said, we just have to be better going into next year and just know. KEVIN DURANT: I think that we got good looks. We got good looks, got to the rim a few times. I think we made a lot of hustle plays. There was a few plays where the guy threw the ball up in the air, and I think Shawn Marion grabbed it for a fast break lay-up. He got a dunk and they got an offensive rebound. So there was a lot of crazy plays that happened this game, last game, too, with Dirk hitting those shots and turnovers, but we can learn from everything. It's tough now, but we can learn from it. Like I've been saying, always try to stay positive with everyone and just learn from this. You know, the only way to get better is to keep pushing, man. That's all I can say. Q. Kevin, now that you've been through a longer Playoff run, can you describe how the game changes as you get into the second and the third rounds? KEVIN DURANT: It changes a lot, you know. Teams been watching on TV the first two rounds knowing what you do and knowing that they might have a chance to play you and they switch everything up as the series goes along. Every series for us has been physical and fun and hard-fought. But you know, this time we didn't end up on top. For me it's a great experience. I've just got to keep moving on and keep pushing. Q. Kevin, is there a way to verbalize what Dirk did this whole series, averaging about 32 points, some incredible shots throughout the series? KEVIN DURANT: Yeah, he played well. He played well. He set the tone early for them in that first game getting to the free-throw line and making shots. They go to him a lot. It's tough to double him because they have so many great shooters and players around him. They have a good team. Q. Kevin, it's so disappointing to go through this, and you've only been through this kind of a run two years now. Dirk has been eliminated with his team in the first round three of the last four years. For him to reach The Finals at this stage of his career, what kind of feelings do you have seeing him succeed even at your expense? KEVIN DURANT: I'm not happy at all. (Laughter). I'm a competitor, man. I really didn't care about what he went through last three or four years. I know it's been tough for him. He lost three of the first four years in the first round. I'm sure he's happy now he's going back to The Finals, but I'm not happy for him at all because I wanted to be there. But it happens like that. Q. I know it's soon after the loss, but KD, can you talk about just the improvement of this team this year overall with this deep run versus last year and then what you think it will have to take to get through next year? KEVIN DURANT: It was one of those seasons where it was kind of a fun ride. It was up and down sometimes, just like any other team. We learned a lot, moved our whole team around, got some new guys, and they helped us out so much. It's been a fun ride for us. To go this far is something that we really had our eyes on and we continued to stay humble and work hard every day and we expected to do good things, do big things, as well. Everybody came with a great mindset and team attitude, and nobody thought they were bigger than the team. We knew that we had 15 guys on this team and a whole city behind us and we had to represent pretty well and everybody did it great from the first man to the last man on the bench. Everybody was great the whole season. Not one guy has been a bad teammate. And as far as next year, we've just got to kind of enjoy our summers and work as hard as we can as individuals and come back and bring it all together again. I'm sure guys are hungry and ready to start next season already because I know I am. This is a fun Playoff run, and I can speak for all the guys when I say we'd love to be back here. It's about working. JAMES HARDEN: Hard work got us here. Last year we worked hard. We didn't really have any expectations. We just wanted to win games. We made the Playoffs last year, and then this year making it to the Western Conference Finals, we definitely had expectations. We know what it feels like. So this summer it's going to take a lot of hard work to get back to where we were. I'm sure the guys want to get back and love this feeling of winning. Obviously it hurts, but it's reality. So we've just got to get back and get better this summer. Q. You guys both just talked about working hard this off season. What can each of you do individually or what is a team to work on y'all's games going into next year? JAMES HARDEN: Just weaknesses. You see different defenses. Kevin has seen a lot of different defenses as well, you know, with guys double-teaming or we have to work on our weaknesses and just improve on them. That's the most important thing. Just complete our game individually, and then when we get back with our other guys, just work on things that can make us better as a team. I think we have all the right pieces, all the right pieces from 1 to 15. We just couldn't get it done. KEVIN DURANT: Just, you know, piggyback on what James said, just weaknesses as far as myself just keep getting stronger, different array of moves, posting up, mid-range game. I just want to be a complete player. I know I'm far from being where I want to be, and I think I'm moving in the right direction. You know, James is, as well, and we work so hard and we want to be great. That's one thing that you can't teach is wanting to love the game and wanting to be great. I see that in everybody on our team. Like he said, as individuals we're going to work hard, but once we get together we've got to really work on our chemistry as a team is good, but it could get better. Just the small things. You know, paying attention to details and things like that win you championships. That's what a good team like Dallas did, and that's one thing we continue to work on. It's tough right now, but I'm excited about what the future holds for us. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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