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NBA WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: THUNDER v SPURSMay 27, 2014Kevin DurantRussell WestbrookOKLAHOMA CITY, OKLAHOMA: Game Four Oklahoma City – 105 Q. Russell, can you sense a night like that coming from film watching or scouting work, and how does a night like that evolve for you, if it isn't something in scouting? RUSSELL WESTBROOK: No, it's just defensively, man, I try to come in personally just with a defensive mindset of trying to help my team win and let the offense come to me. Kevin and those guys got me some open shots, and I was able to knock them down. Q. Kevin, can you describe the difference in emotion of you guys going back to San Antonio, from when you left San Antonio down to, didn't have Serge, now you're back even and have Serge and playing really well? KEVIN DURANT: You know, we just trying to look forward to be honest. We know how tough it is to go in there and get a W, but we're excited for this opportunity. Coming back home, we did what we were supposed to do. We've got to go on the road and handle our business, so of course we feel a little better, but we don't feel satisfied at all, you know, coming back to San Antonio. We're looking forward to playing. Q. Russ, your superior defense the last two games means now that everyone will expect that every game. Talk about the balance of having to put so much energy into your offense and still play at that pace defensively. RUSSELL WESTBROOK: It's something you've got to do if you want to win. I mean, Coach told us he needed maximum effort from us tonight, and it starts with me at the point guard position, and my job is to play both sides of the ball. You know, if you want to win a championship, those are things you have to do. Q. Scott Brooks said when Serge is out there, you guys can do so much more defensively that you can't do when he's not there. What are some of the things you're able to do when he's there? KEVIN DURANT: He's versatile at guarding‑‑ he can guard from 1 to 5 to be honest, some possessions guards the point guard and he can switch out on a lot of situations. He's long and athletic. We can use a lot of lineups with Serge out there and play different ways. I'm glad he's healthy, he's back, and we're going to need him to continue to bring that energy and effort every time down the court. Q. Russell, I think it was Shaq, one of the national people said they thought it was collectively the best game that you two have ever played together in the same game, regular season or Playoffs. Do you feel that way, and what got you both going tonight? RUSSELL WESTBROOK: I don't know, I wouldn't say that, but I just think myself and Kevin, obviously we want to win, and we want to get better. Tonight we came out with a defensive mindset. I thought we did a great job of helping each other out defensively, and that led to us getting out in transition, getting open looks, and it looked easy for both of us. KEVIN DURANT: I don't know to be honest. We've played so many games together. But we were just so focused on bringing that energy for our teammates. We're the leaders, we set the tone, and they follow us. Russell does a great job every single game of just playing with that fire and that force, and I just try to do the same things and have our teammates follow behind us. I don't know about the best game we've ever played. I think we have another level we can go to. Q. Kevin, not that you need Russ to rub off on you, but when he's having a night like he did tonight, how much fun is that for you out there? KEVIN DURANT: It's just fun to watch. You know, for a guy to just go out there and just‑‑ you know how much he wants to win and just to lay it all out there and play extremely hard every possession, I think that's more fun than seeing him score 40 points. Just his focus on every possession on the defensive end and his poise on the offensive end, I think that's what's fun to watch. People outside of our team don't really look at that type of stuff, but that's something that we can definitely build on as a group is watching him wreak havoc on the defensive end and offensively playing with such patience. Q. You guys on the outside, it looks like they have a tough time scoring against you. Do you feel the same thing on the inside when it's a group collectively? RUSSELL WESTBROOK: Man, we just try to come in and let our presence be felt. They're a great team when they move the ball around, and you let them kind of run freely. Like I said before, once we use our athleticism, use our size, use our strength, it's at our advantage, and I think we're in a good position when we do things like that. Q. Can you talk about the energy that you had to expel? We asked Pop why he didn't play his starters more, and he said Thursday. He's already looking ahead. You guys play 45‑and‑a‑half minutes, Russ, can you talk about fatigue and any concern about that? RUSSELL WESTBROOK: Nah, our job is to worry about us. We've got to win the game, regardless of who they have on the floor, regardless of if they're worried about the next game. We're worried about tonight's game. We're young, we're going to recover, take care of our body and be ready to play. Q. You guys have beaten them now seven straight when you're fully healthy, 12 of 14 games. Does it benefit you to think about that, or does it benefit you to not think about that? KEVIN DURANT: No, that's different. It's Playoffs now, Western Conference Finals. It's different. We can't think about the past. We've got to focus on right now and game by game. This team is well coached, obviously, great group of guys. They make it tough on you, but we can't worry about that. We've just got to focus on how we can get better going into the next game, and just making sure we have all our focus and energy on every single play. We're looking forward to the challenge. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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