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NBA WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: WARRIORS vs ROCKETS

May 22, 2018

Mike D'Antoni

Oakland, California: Game Four

Rockets - 95, Warriors - 92

Q. Was this about basketball or was this about the toughness and the grit kind of things that you guys have talked to us about?
MIKE D'ANTONI: No, it's all about toughness right now. It's going to be spotty both ways. I think there was great basketball played on both sides, stretches of it, the rest of it is just gutting it out and finding a will, a way, and a want. Somebody asked me before the game about our adversity or how do we respond, I think we saw not only to respond to the game, but we're down 12-0, and we fought back.

Holding them to 12 points in the fourth quarter, obviously, is key.

Q. You guys lose by 41 in Game 3. What's it say about this team and what you've been building really for the last two years to be able to get a win like this that way at Oracle Arena?
MIKE D'ANTONI: There are just so many things that go into it. Obviously you have to have great players, that is number one. It always is. But they believe in each other, they can get on each other and push each other and do all the right things and all from the right spot. Everybody just win, no matter what.

The bench was great. Most of them didn't get in. Their energy was key, and just says a lot about character.

Q. Your point about toughness, not a lot of teams can withstand the Warriors' runs constantly. How did you guys keep your poise in those moments?
MIKE D'ANTONI: You know, it happens sometimes. It's not like you know we have a magic formula. It's just we have guys that believe. We knew, we talk about a lot, they're going to make their runs there's nothing you can do about it. Idea is to keep attacking, keep going back at them. Sooner or later, it's like anything else, they hit four or five threes in a row, they're going to miss two or three. If we keep attacking and score, then we can stay there within range, and we did. And guys came up with big plays at the end of the game. Big defensive stops, big rebounds. Eric Gordon hits a big three. Just a lot of stuff.

Q. You said this team would be ready, and you find yourself down 12-0. What do you say to the team?
MIKE D'ANTONI: I just wanted to get out without embarrassing myself too much. I was going, you don't have to say anything to these guys. That's, you know, it's so much fun coaching them, just because you don't have to say a lot. They found a way, and again, it's just they've done it all year, and they'll keep doing it. You know, all we did too was just get back to even. It's not like we're all excited. So we're even with them, but at least we're even with them. We didn't go down 3-1. So it was a must game, but we've got a lot of work to be done.

Q. How physically tired were your players in the moments you were able to kind of speak with them and share with them down the stretch? You had a bunch of guys over 40 minutes tonight, and those are playoff minutes too?
MIKE D'ANTONI: Oh, no, they were big-time minutes. They were tired, but, you know, we were able to just get enough rest, enough timeouts, enough stoppage that I'm sitting there trying to look at their faces and make sure they're okay, they kept saying they were okay. I think we did have four guys in for 40 minutes. But they had four guys right there. So they're tired, we're tired, and now you've just got to find the will. It's not always going to be pretty, but it can always be tough.

Q. You said before the game that you guys hadn't had too many pressure games this year. Would you consider this game tonight to be one of them? Secondly, how much did they miss Andre Iguodala?
MIKE D'ANTONI: Well, he's a good player, I'm sure they missed him, without a doubt. Now you'll have to ask Steve [Kerr]. He knows his team better than I do. But obviously you're going to miss somebody like that.

Pressure, through their careers, they've been in a lot of games. We just thought if we could get down the stretch even or up a little bit, we can close it out, because we have two of the best iso guys, and that's what it's going to come down to. Making shots. We have guys that do that. Then Trevor [Ariza] locks somebody down on one end, PJ [Tucker] just getting rebounds and just being a bear, as he usually is. Just so many guys contributed that it's a fun team to coach.

Q. In that last possession, the full possession that they had where they took the ball down the floor, what were your thoughts during that possession as you watched your defense try to recover? And what were your thoughts as you saw that Steve was just going to let it play out, even though Klay [Thompson] was in big trouble?
MIKE D'ANTONI: I'll have to watch the tape.

That's way too complicated for me. I mean, if I remember correctly, I do know that they called a timeout. There was about 30-something seconds, isn't that right?

Q. I'm talking about the last, the rebound after James missed?
MIKE D'ANTONI: Oh, and they just played out. Just guys doing what they've been doing the whole quarter. They got into people. I think that's where Trevor got on Klay really in the corner and locked him down. You know they have a lot of movement, and we switch it, and guys just read it and played as hard as they could. They knew that one stop, the game's over more or less, and came up huge.

Q. What were you thinking when Curry put one up at the end?
MIKE D'ANTONI: I thought it was after the buzzer, so we'll have to look and see. I'm hoping. You know, all kinds of things. You think, okay, do you foul. But then you know they're catching and shooting, so now it's a three. You don't want to do that. We're up two, and then we miss the foul shot, do we miss the other foul shot? But then if you miss the whole goal, then you're only down two. So if you make it worse, we go into overtime. So just so many things, I just trusted our guys. I knew they'd make big plays, and they did.

Q. Eric Gordon had a really tough offensive game tonight, but you kept with him for 35 minutes. What did he bring to the team tonight?
MIKE D'ANTONI: I know one big shot he made, I know about that. But even he started off a little shaky offensively, but then he had a little stretch there, he hit a dunk and a couple hard drives. You know, Eric's just so important to us, so there was never a thought that I could do without Eric. We can't do without him. So we'll ride him all the way until he either works or doesn't work.

But there are a lot of guys like that. I just trust them 100 percent in what they try to do.

Q. Even with that burst in the third quarter, the Warriors end up shooting 39 percent, I believe around 16 percent in the fourth quarter. Spent the whole season talking about what your defense would have to be. Did this exceed even that? What would you say about the defense it took to get this win?
MIKE D'ANTONI: Yeah, I thought this is the highest level we've ever played defensively, without a doubt. Because you're talking about maybe the best offensive team ever, and they got on a roll. Even when we're down 12-zip, there was some good defense in there to get us back, because it wasn't like we were lighting it up to get it back.

So just a lot of stops and a lot of tough rebounds, and getting loose balls and we didn't get into foul trouble too early. It was just a lot of good things. Great switching, and they got a little tired in the fourth quarter, and that's because they felt us for three quarters. If we can repeat that, and that's what the formula is, and we'll see if we can do that when we get to Houston.

Q. After Game 3 you said the game had to make some corrections. What was the biggest fix or was the word calling them soft appropriate?
MIKE D'ANTONI: I regret it, because I'm up here with a lot of adrenaline, and I was disappointed in our overall effort of offense and defense. They're not soft. It's just we didn't play with the amount of force that you need. And I know they didn't think it was going to be easy. It just sometimes happens, and give them credit or whatever.

As a matter of fact, I don't remember that game, I'm just focusing on what we did right now. But they're not soft, and they proved it. I misspoke, and you guys miswrote it (laughing). I shouldn't have quoted myself, but I misquoted myself.

Q. What was one of the things that were fixed that you saw in this game?
MIKE D'ANTONI: Intensity is number one and getting into people. We tried to do the same thing. We played with more pace. You know, Chris [Paul] felt better, his foot felt better. He told me, I called him after Game 3, and he said, Coach, I'm telling you, if I can get my foot right, we'll beat these guys. Lo and behold, he got his foot right. And just like I said, we're back to even. We know what we have to do and see if we can do it against a great team.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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