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NBA WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: THUNDER v SPURSMay 30, 2012James HardenOKLAHOMA CITY, OKLAHOMA: Practice Day Q. You guys have faced this kind of adversity before. Are you feeling like a squad that's going to stick together and problem solve together? JAMES HARDEN: Yeah, that's what we've been doing this entire year and postseason. Sticking together no matter what, being down late in games, coming back and winning. Then once we get on our home court we've got an unbelievable opportunity to come here in Game 3 and win and play well. So everyone's looking forward to it. Q. How frustrating is it that you and Kevin and Russell all did your part last night very well, and still didn't have enough points? JAMES HARDEN: Points doesn't matter. You just saw, all three of us scored 30 and we still lost, so that doesn't matter. It's about us defending. We're going to score points and give you 90 or 100 points, but they had 120, so it's our defense that matters. That's what we've got to get down is locking in and containing them on the defensive end. Q. What adjustments need to be made defensively? JAMES HARDEN: Five guys on the court at one time really playing and locking in for 48 minutes. Like I said, they do a great job of passing the ball. So if one or two people are in with everybody else, then it doesn't work. They score. They get lay‑ups, and that's when they get threes. So you have to be in on the same page and ready to close out their shooters. Q. The way Game 1 went, you did so well for three quarters and then fell apart. Will that carry over to Game 2 initially, or were you able to forget Game 1 before Game 2? JAMES HARDEN: Oh, yeah, every game is different. We had a great opportunity in Game 1, losing in the fourth quarter. In Game 2, playing well and them having that big lead of 20, then us fighting back and playing Thunder basketball. Cut it to 6 with 6:00 minutes to go, and not having enough energy. So we can't let them get big leads like that. Like I said, it starts off for 48 minutes, and we've got to play the right way. Q. When you looked at the film, you were able to see some things that you can do better? It's not like you looked at it and said, Geez, we did the best we could and still got beat? JAMES HARDEN: No, not even close. We had spurts where we played very good basketball. We had spurts where the ball just stopped on offense. And on defense, they gave lay‑ups and easy three‑pointers, and that's when they went on their runs. So we have to play better throughout the entire game. They don't stop, so we can't either. Q. How demanding was it from the 6:00 minute mark to the end, you guys were getting after it really well. JAMES HARDEN: Those were the spurt that's we had. The spurts were really good. If we don't go down 20 and we have that spurt, we're in the lead. So we just can't allow our lack of focus to slip away in spurts. Q. Have you ever won 20 game that's row at any level? JAMES HARDEN: No. I haven't. It's something to do. Q. That being said, how much can you appreciate what they've accomplished up to this point? JAMES HARDEN: We all know they're a good team. We all know that. But we're a very good team as well, and we know how to win. We've just got to come back in Game 3 and protect at home. We haven't lost at home this postseason, so we're ready to come back and play in front of our home crowd. Q. What do you remember about the Lakers series two years ago that helped you guys come back from that 2‑0 deficit that you could maybe use this time? JAMES HARDEN: Yeah, we brought that up, definitely. Losing the first two games in L.A., and coming back and winning two, and then it's basically the best out of three. You have to do a good job of taking one game at a time and winning Game 3. Game 3 is the most important game for us. Like I said, we're happy to be back at home and play in front of our home crowd and work some energy. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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