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NBA WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: THUNDER v SPURSMay 21, 2014Kevin DurantRussell WestbrookSAN ANTONIO, TEXAS: Game Two San Antonio – 112 Q. Kevin, you've been a part of a lot of great playoff runs with this franchise, but this was an epic defeat. Just what is your mindset the way all this happened, and going back to Oklahoma City now down 0‑2 in a big way. KEVIN DURANT: Down 0‑2 in a big way? We're down 0‑2. If they'd have won this game by one point, we still would have been down 0‑2. You know, it's easy for you to go hide and run and be negative and clash, but it's hard for you to stay positive at a time like this when we lost by a lot two games in a row. It's hard for you to stay together, but we have a group full of guys that's not front runners, and we'll figure it out. That's all we've got to do, come in and figure it out, stay together. Q. Kevin, you said that there's times where you guys feel like tackling each other. Was tonight one of those nights? KEVIN DURANT: No. Q. Can you talk about the importance of getting off to a good start at home in Game 3? RUSSELL WESTBROOK: I just think it's important to come out and play our brand of basketball, regardless if we're missing or making shots, come out and defend like we're supposed to and play like we're supposed to play. Q. You were up 36‑33, 7:18 to go, they go on a big run at the end of the second. What was the biggest change there, was it a matter of missing shots? What happened? KEVIN DURANT: I messed the game up at the end of the second quarter. I got hit on the screen and Danny Green got open for a three, I over helped, and he got another three and then Ginobili hit the three. All those plays was on me. It was my fault and I take full responsibility for it. Wish they wouldn't have happened. I can't get them back now, but I'll take that one. As I said, we shouldn't have been down that much at halftime, but I made three bonehead plays. Q. You talked a lot about trusting, continuing to trust your teammates, but there was a 17‑minute stretch in the second quarter to the third quarter, you guys were outscored 46‑16 and you and Russ used 27 of 38 possessions. Why did you guys stop trusting the pass? KEVIN DURANT: We didn't stop trusting. Q. Why did you stop moving the ball during that stretch? KEVIN DURANT: We didn't. Q. How do you explain it then? How do you use 27 of 38 possessions and say you didn't stop moving the ball? KEVIN DURANT: Because we're the focal point of the offense. Q. Do you guys feel more pressure, both of you, to make up for what Serge did scoring‑wise? RUSSELL WESTBROOK: No. I mean, we're just going to play the way we play, man, regardless of what happens. We're going to play the way we play, man, regardless of miss or make shots. We're going to live by it. That's how we won all season. We're not about to change now. We're going to continue to trust our teammates, continue to play our game, and continue to compete. Q. And can you guys divulge what your disagreement was at the end of the second quarter, 1:09 left in the second quarter? RUSSELL WESTBROOK: Yeah, we just‑‑ I was just getting on Kevin about some stuff and he got on me right back, and that's what teammates do, that's what leaders do, we get on each other, we come back and we talk about it and then we come out like nothing ever happened. Q. 40 shots between the two of you, and obviously that's your game that y'all are the focal point, but can you assess the shot selection that y'all had? RUSSELL WESTBROOK: We'll look at it on film, but a lot of those shots were in the paint, and we missed them. You know, it's easy to say that now when we miss them, but when we make them two weeks ago, there's nothing said. So now it's a problem when we miss. But that's how it goes. We're going to take it on the chest and we're going to be ready for Sunday. Q. How much over the next three days do you spend reminding yourself what happened in 2012, same situation, and does tonight feel the same way after that Game 2? KEVIN DURANT: I mean, you know, we've been there before. That's all we can say. You know, we try not to just say since we were down 0‑2 two years ago and we end up winning, we'll do the same thing. We've really got to figure it out on how we need to get better, and we've always done that. We've got to just stick together and believe in each other that we can come out and try to get Game 3 on Sunday. Like Russ said, we've been playing a certain way for so long, and it got us here, so we need to continue to stick with what we do and just do it better. Simple enough. Q. Kevin, I know you all know Danny Green is a good shooter. Is it a matter of picking your poison because they have so many weapons you really can't stop them all? KEVIN DURANT: Yeah, I mean, they scored 66 points in the paint the first game, so we just wanted to make a better effort of closing that up and also getting out to the shooters, and he hit some big shots for them. We've got to find him. He had seven out of 10 tonight. I think he's shooting almost 70 percent for the series. We've got to figure out a way to make second and third efforts to get out to him and make him put it on the floor a little bit but also get back in the paint. It's easier said than done, but we can do it. Q. Russell, Game 1 that's sort of an easy one to pin on Serge's absence with so many shots at the rim for them, but tonight it seemed like offense joined the list as problem areas. Can't really pin that an Ibaka. Can you talk about what was wrong with the offense tonight? RUSSELL WESTBROOK: Well, for one, we never pinned it on Ibaka. We don't put nothing on one individual on our team. That's what you did, so we didn't pin nothing on Ibaka. For two, offense wasn't a problem tonight, man. They just scored points. They made some good runs. Like Kevin said, we've just got to lock in defensively and find out what we need to do as a unit. Q. They're hitting threes but they continued to get tons of lay‑ups. Can you talk about why they are and what you need to do to stop that? KEVIN DURANT: That's a good question. It's easy for you guys to figure it out because y'all aren't playing, but for us, we've just got to fly around. We've got to make more efforts. We've got to play a little bit harder, and got to contest. We've got to take away some things from them and then live with some of them, as well, like those tough two‑pointers they shoot, taking them off the line and closing up the paint and getting off the shooters sounds easy, but it's hard to do, but like I said, we can do it. Of course everybody is going to try to spread us apart these next few days, but we've never been a team that front runs. We always stick together no matter what. We've just got to go out there and do it. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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