LOS ANGELES CLIPPERS MEDIA CONFERENCE

August 21, 2020

Doc Rivers

Postgame Press Conference

Clippers 130, Mavericks 122

THE MODERATOR: Questions for Doc.

Q. The decision to start Landry, what you thought about his performance today?

DOC RIVERS: I thought Landry was fantastic. He knows our guys better, probably knows our system better. He's going to play off of Kawhi and P.G. and let the game come to him. I just thought we needed the ball to be in P.G. and Kawhi's hands more. With Sham on the floor, you just can't leave him because he can make shots. I thought he was great.

Q. Going forward from here, how disconcerting is it to see Paul George, how he shot today?

DOC RIVERS: Yeah, I'm not worried about it. He's a great player. He's human. I can tell you this, I can guarantee you this, he has not forgotten how to shoot. It will fall for him.

It's funny, that last bucket of the game, he made a layup. Saw the ball go in. Amazing how the basketball gods... That's probably going to be a carryover for the next game for him.

Q. You put Trez in early. Was that something you wanted to do after seeing how he dominated Game 2? Is that something you want to do moving forward?

DOC RIVERS: Yeah, we just like it that way. Trez played with both guys, but we wanted to get him in early, try to speed the game up a little bit. I thought he did that.

Q. What did you make of the chippiness early on and how you responded?

DOC RIVERS: It's a good question. First of all, I thought it was much ado about nothing. I think they got tangled up, both fell to the floor. Next thing you know I'm standing next to Ray Carlyle on the floor talking.

But I just liked that we didn't get distracted. I thought the game started out defensive, we were very physical without fouling, which is key. Then it got chippy a little bit. We just stayed the same. We didn't change.

It's a good sign. Teams are going to test us. We have to be mentally tough as well, and I thought we were tonight.

Q. Is Kawhi one of the most cerebral players you've ever coached? Seems like he can get to his spot at any time casually.

DOC RIVERS: Yeah, I mean, he's just smart. He kind of sees the game. It's amazing. That was a fast-paced game. But for Kawhi the game, he can see the game. Even though it's fast, he goes fast, he's never in a rush, knows where to go.

I thought his play making was incredible tonight. Obviously his scoring, his defense. But I thought his play making set the tone for everybody else.

Q. It seemed like the team came out with some real emphasis on being locked in defensively and rebounding the ball. Was that intentional?

DOC RIVERS: Yeah. I mean, it should be intentional every night. We haven't been. Listen, I thought we let up in the fourth, gave them too many open threes which allowed them to stay in the game. But I thought for the first three quarters, we were locked in defensively.

The whole key for us is rebounding. They're a great offensive rebounding team. I thought we did a great job on the glass.

Q. Do you think Trez is starting to get going here? What have you specifically seen out of Trez?

DOC RIVERS: Trez has been fantastic overall. This is the first game that I thought Trez played at Trez speed. I thought yesterday he got a lot of one-on-one in practice, which game speed, we played a lot of one-on-one with him. I thought that got him a little bit of rhythm.

Q. What did you see from Luka and his injury? What goes through your mind when you see the other team's star dealing with that?

DOC RIVERS: I've been on both sides of that. I don't worry about it. I just keep coaching my team. Listen, it's just part of the game.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you, Doc.

DOC RIVERS: Take care, guys.