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NBA WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: THUNDER v SPURSJune 2, 2012Manu GinobiliOKLAHOMA CITY, OKLAHOMA: Game Four Oklahoma City – 109 Q. Manu, can you talk about, you seemed to have the minimum time back in, and then Durant seemed to take over the game. What did it look like trying to stop him those last five or six minutes from your vantage point? MANU GINOBILI: Well, when a player that talented gets hot, he's really hard to contain. We tried different things, and they didn't work. He scored a bunch on a short period of time when we tried to blitz or really help, he kicked it. They made big shots. So it was hard because we were on a run. We were feeling good ourselves, and we just couldn't make a stop. We made a great effort in the second half, but we just couldn't contain him down the stretch. Q. Considering how veteran you guys are, you've been through ups and downs in series before, but to go back home 2‑2 after the way you guys really took care of business in those first two, how difficult a challenge is it now? MANU GINOBILI: It's, of course, a great challenge. We are playing against a really talented team. We earned ourselves the possibility of having home court advantage, and hopefully we'll use it. We played a bad Game 3. Today was a little better. But it's just part of the past. Both teams took care of business at home. Hopefully we keep that trend. Game 5 is always huge in every series when teams are 2‑2, Game 5 most of the time is decisive, so it's going to be a very important one. Q. Turnovers were a major factor in the loss in Game 3. Not so much tonight. What was the biggest factor in your opinion for the loss tonight? MANU GINOBILI: I think we moved the ball better. We were sharper, more in an attacking mode. We were better just offensively. So we were happy with that part. We shot 50%, didn't turn the ball over. We didn't get as many assists, but we scored. Now it will be important to make some stops, too, because we shot 50, which should be enough for us; but they shot 56. We are not a team that can afford to have that type of defensive performance. Q. Talk about your mindset at halftime. I know you were down and disappointed. But you were down with Durant only 8 points, and the guys you thought wanted to take shots, Ibaka and Perkins were hitting those shots? MANU GINOBILI: Yeah, it's true. Their bigs were making every shot, which we don't mind that much. They make jumpers, of course, if they make dunks, that's a different deal. We were dunked ten, I think. I'm not sure, which is not great. But we were okay. We had a good start in the third. Made a run at the end of the third and down 4 at the beginning of the fourth quarter is ideal for us on the road. So we were in a good shape. But you know what happened in the fourth. We just couldn't make stops. They scored 34 points, and the big ones, they all fell. So hopefully they miss a couple more, and we force them to turn the ball over a little bit more. Q. You guys credited Serge Ibaka for his defensive effort in Game 3. What effect did he have tonight on you guys? MANU GINOBILI: Well, yesterday he was impressive. 11 for 11 on Game 4 of the Conference Finals is not easy to do. I understand if he runs the transition and dunks or on drop offs when we help. That can happen. But he made five to six jumpers, and that's something we were willing to give up. But he was impressive today. He made every shot. He was very active as always on the defensive end. So he had an unbelievable game. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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