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NBA PLAYOFFS ROUND ONE: WARRIORS v CLIPPERSApril 24, 2014Blake GriffinDeAndre JordanChris PaulOAKLAND, CALIFORNIA: Game Three Clippers – 98 Q. Blake and D.J., I kept thinking back to when Doc told you guys back in October you were going to have to win a game on the road in the playoffs, 18‑point lead, cut it down to 1. How did you guys finish it off to win that game on the road that he talked about? BLAKE GRIFFIN: You know, unfortunately, we did a poor job there in the second half of the third and then most of the fourth. But the promising part is we played well in the third quarter there. We got stops and shots, then when it came down to it, we got stops when we needed to. But we can't let them back in the game like that. DEANDRE JORDAN: I thought it was important for us to just stick with it. We knew they were going to make runs. Their crowd is one of the loudest crowds in the league so for us to withstand their biggest punch and just keep going and keep our defense up, I felt like that was the key to our win. Q. The way Chris was able to close out in the game, can you touch on‑‑ a lot of people don't talk about him defensively, what is the key there for him? BLAKE GRIFFIN: You know, he fights. He fights and doesn't give up. Even if he's given up some height, he doesn't give up much. He's constantly fighting, and he knows the ins and outs of the game, so he's capable of doing things like that for us. Q. What does it feel like to grab that last rebound out of the air? Tonight you tied a Clippers franchise playoff record for 22 rebounds. What was kind of the key to get you going there on the glass? DEANDRE JORDAN: You know, I felt like it's all our defense. We do a great job initially guarding the ball on the first possession, but we have to do an even better job of securing the rebounds and limiting those guys to one possession. I'm really happy that we got the win and everything else comes second, but when Steph shoots it, even if he does miss it, we did a great job of boxing out down there and making sure that they didn't get the ball back. Q. Blake, your teammates have noticed your growth this season. Mark Jackson's pointed it out. Have you noticed or are you realizing your own personal growth and the way you're playing the game differently right now? BLAKE GRIFFIN: Our team really, I think you saw it when C.P. got hurt in early January, I think everybody really has stepped up. I mean, Jamal Crawford was averaging 22 for us when he went out. D.J. all year long has been doing the things he did tonight. D.C., I mean, guys are all across the board. So it's nothing that I should really concentrate on or even sit back and dwell on. Everybody has to do their part. I've put in the work in the summertime. I've put in work throughout the season. Our team is what really makes us successful as individuals. Q. DeAndre, there was a lot of talk before the game. You guys weren't coming here to play the Warriors. It was Oracle Arena, fans and all of that. How do you feel you managed that aspect of it? For the most part over there? DEANDRE JORDAN: Well, Matt played here so he told us how the crowd was going to be. We know they're one of the loudest crowds in the league, especially during playoff time. We knew they were going to make runs, like I said. We withstood a couple punches. We had a big lead in the third quarter and kind of let that go, but at the same time, we kept fighting, kept going, kept getting stops. We didn't let the crowd get into us or get into the game. I commend us on our maturity as the season has gone on. Q. You guys last year were one of the worst teams at defending the three. This year you're the best at it. Is that just trust? Is it priority? What has led to that drastic turn around and that part of the defense? BLAKE GRIFFIN: I think that was two of the things we really concentrated on defensively at the beginning of the season and all throughout the season were defending the three, and also defending transition. You look at Golden State, and I mean, they're great in both of those categories. So, we were shaky at the beginning of the year. We were still learning our rotations. We were still learning to trust. I think we've learned that trust. It just has to be there for the full 48 minutes. We talk about they're going to hit shots. They're going to score points. They're a great team. But we just have to be together and we just center to withstand those runs that they put together. Q. You guys have lost five straight road games going back a couple years coming into tonight. What did you have to change to get this one? BLAKE GRIFFIN: Defensively we got stops man. D.J. was cleaning up everything on the inside. He finished with five blocks, but that doesn't even begin to paint the picture of how many shots he affected. I mean, just his presence alone down there was huge. That's what starts it. When he's playing defense like that, he's the anchor of our defense, and he's our defensive MVP and their defensive captain. When you see a guy like that busting himself through the whole game, I think everybody just falls into line. I think especially at the beginning of the third quarter there, we were getting stops. That's what allowed us to get to that lead. But whenever we needed it, we got stops, and I think that's what made us successful tonight. Q. Mark Jackson said they wanted to turn you into a jump shooter tonight, but you were able to drain a lot of those Js. Can you talk about your outside game tonight? BLAKE GRIFFIN: Just working on it, continuing to work on it. I still have a lot of work to do. I obviously didn't shoot like I wanted to from the free‑throw line. I got open shots and thankfully some of them fell, but, you know, just continuing to believe. My teammates give me the confidence to go out there and shoot every time I'm open. If I don't, I hear it from C.P. I hear it from Jamal. So I'm going to shoot, but trying to find a nice balance of inside and out. Q. One of those jumpers came when you weren't open, and the Warriors had closed within one. You were kind of stuck over in the corner. It looked like you had to shoot the ball there. What was going on as you had the ball there, and how happy were you to see that ball go in? BLAKE GRIFFIN: You know, they played pretty good defense. We kind of got stuck. At times we got stagnant offensively, and just looked at the shot clock and it was going down and tried to make a play, but I was definitely pretty happy when it went in. Q. DeAndre, I know you were a little disappointed in the final results of the Defensive Player of the Year. Did you come into the playoffs with a little bit of a chip on your shoulder? DEANDRE JORDAN: I felt like that's kind of how I've been playing through this entire season. You know, these guys really rely on me a lot defensively, and when I'm out there, they give me‑‑ they have all the confidence in the world in me. So it's definitely a huge step for me in my career, but at the same time, it's always something to build on and it's more motivation for me. As long as I'm my team's defensive MVP, that's all that matters to me. Q. Chris, can you talk about the last play of the game there? Did you think they were going for a three‑pointer? What was going on in your mind when you saw the ball come into Curry? CHRIS PAUL: I haven't seen a replay of it or anything yet. I knew who was getting it, and I figured he was going to shoot it. So I just tried to make him as uncomfortable as possible and we won the game. Q.  Chris, Dennis mentioned that you were battling a fever. You were feeling sick. You had the hamstring. How exhausted were you in that fourth quarter? I guess, where did you find the energy to close the game? CHRIS PAUL: What did you say again? Q. You're sick, the hamstring is what it is and you're chasing Steph around. Where did you find the energy to close that game? CHRIS PAUL: You just try to find a way. Nobody cares about your hamstring. Nobody cares if you're sick or anything like that. You just try to find a way to win. I knew we had two days in between games, so you just leave it all out there. You play to win by any means necessary, I guess. Q. Chris, you closed this game out. Did Game 1 stick with you or did you put it behind you pretty quickly? CHRIS PAUL: Yeah, I put it behind me. I definitely put it behind me. You know, it's winning time. It's winning time. I still made a few pour decisions down the stretch. Like Doc told me, be more aggressive. But it's tough, man, when you're running around and trying to go on the offensive end, but no excuses. You've just got to find a way. Q. What was it like to see DeAndre rebound the ball like that? CHRIS PAUL: I didn't know any of this stuff until I just looked at this sheet. I'm dead serious. I don't know what's going on in the game. I don't know what anybody's shooting percentage is. I don't know how many turnovers or rebounds. I don't know. When you get to the playoffs, it's about winning. You could care a less what the stats are. At the end of the game, as long as you have more points than the other team. But it doesn't surprise me. Like I just sat up here and saw the big fella had 22 rebounds. It doesn't surprise me. He's been that way for us, five blocked shots a game. He just covers up for us so many times. When guys get by us, he's just there for us, and that's why he is who he is. Q. Chris, we were talking to Mark Jackson. He said you were talking to one of the assistants on his staff. You guys have been talking since Game 2. Is that just part of the playoffs? Can you recall that? CHRIS PAUL: I don't know, man. The heat of the game. I don't know. Q. It wasn't pretty in the end, of course, but how gratifying is it to get this win at Golden State given the home court advantage the Warriors have with their fans? CHRIS PAUL: It's a good win for us. I told the guys in one of the huddles we're not going to win or lose this series off this game, so it is what it is. We've got to come out Sunday just as hungry and ready to play. Q. You made defense almost more important in this series for you? It seems that's a priority for you. CHRIS PAUL: No question. No question. I told the guys in the locker room I sort of feel like Tony Allen trying to be a defensive stopper. Like going into the game, that's my focus. It's not how many shots I can get up, how many points I'm going to score. It's all about defense and trying to make things tough and slow them down. Q. Were you able to do that because of what Blake could do offensively? CHRIS PAUL: Yes, yes. And I tell "B" all through the game, like, "B", you've got to go. It's fun. Like it's fun. When you play, defense is fun. When you can stop guys and not let them get going because that is the way that we're winning right now. It's not our offense, because that's going to take care of itself, but having a guy like B.G. who can just keep going on the offensive end is big for us. You know, different games, different series call for different things. But that's what we have to do right now. Q. How were you able to shift into scoring mode? You hit a couple big shots there. CHRIS PAUL: That's luck. That's luck. I don't know. I mean I can shoot a little bit, but I don't know. It's just winning time. If nobody else is open, you've got to shoot it and be a little bit aggressive. But going into the games, it's all defense. Q. How important was it for you guys to see Jamal hit some shots? CHRIS PAUL: Oh, man, that was huge. That was huge. I'm sure all y'all know Mal and how personable he is. I'm sure everybody here probably has his number and stuff too. Like Mal is just one of those guys that everybody on our team feeds off his energy. So when we see him get going, it gets us excited. Mal made that move there in the third quarter, I think, and I jumped up off the bench, because we just feed off his energy. So when he gets going, oh, man, it's going to be tough for the other team. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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