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NBA PLAYOFFS ROUND ONE: CLIPPERS vs WARRIORS

April 24, 2019

Doc Rivers

Oakland, California: Game Five

Clippers interview

Clippers - 129, Warriors - 121

COACH RIVERS: I don't want to get ahead of myself. They're up 3-2 still. But I just loved how we played. I really did. I thought -- all we talked about is being us. Like we really felt, and I told our guys, like, they've been them in the series. We have yet to put a game where we are us through the game.

And I thought tonight was more like us throughout. We kept attacking. We kept running. We kept spreading the floor and moving the ball. Patrick Beverley, the grit he showed with the rebounds, the tough rebounds.

Gal -- I mean, that was us. That was our team today. And so that was great to see.

Q. We all knew Gal's struggles coming into tonight. What did he do to get going?
COACH RIVERS: It was Gal. We did some things -- I told you before the game we thought there were places we could put him that would favor him. We did that.

But Gal came through. He made the shots. We posted him a lot more, which I thought got him started. So but it was more Gal. It was Gal being Gal.

We needed it. We needed Lou. To beat this team in a game we literally need everybody and I thought every single guy came in, did their role. Each guy was a star in their role and that's why we won the game.

Q. You did mention Lou. He had a big second quarter and fourth quarter. But those fourth quarters, could you talk a little bit about his mentality approach in those four quarters?
COACH RIVERS: He's a great scorer, just like Curry, just like Durant. In the games in L.A., they were trapping him a lot, so we took the picks away a lot tonight and iso'ed him with space.

And I thought that gave him room to work. Thought the end of the second quarter we did it over and over again. That got his rhythm. And when Lou gets his rhythm he's tough to guard. He's been tallying in the fourth. He believes he's a closer. He is a closer. He did that tonight for us.

It was tough keeping him in. There was a stretch -- we brought him in earlier than I wanted to in the third. And it was tough because I wanted to give him a minute of rest. We really weren't able to do that, but he kept going for us.

Q. Two wins in a place that's considered one of the hardest places to win, two losses at home. Do you almost want to play Game 6 here?
COACH RIVERS: No, I'd rather play Game 6 in L.A. I really do. We owe that to our fans. We want to do right by them.

So we're looking forward to going home. My guess is that probably not a lot of tickets sold because I don't think a lot of people thought Game 6 would happen.

I think our guys did. And that's all that mattered tonight. But when we get back, we need them all there.

Q. [Inaudible]?
COACH RIVERS: Yeah, that's what I yelled before the game. Ralph told me -- and Ralph never speaks to me before the game when I'm on the floor -- and he walked up to me, first time ever, and said, "Coach, I've had 20 people to congratulate me on my career and say good luck, like, tonight is the end of Ralph. Please do something about that."

So Ralph, we did. And it's all good.

Q. You mentioned that trying to get Gallinari going a little bit in this game. Do you think you were successful in that?
COACH RIVERS: I think we were. He was good. I think he will be even better in Game 6. I think he knows now where he can score from. At the end he had a couple turnovers. That's the errors we didn't want him to have the ball. And we got him back out of that spot. But he was absolutely terrific.

Q. You talked pregame about trying to do different things to get Steph out of his rhythm, to get KD out of his rhythm. Obviously KD was really great tonight, but Steph had kind of a cold shooting night. Can you talk a little bit about the top blocking what goes into the process of deciding to try something unconventional on these guys?
COACH RIVERS: Well, you have to. I think the key is I have a group of guys that are willing to try it, that are willing to do different stuff. And some of the top blocks don't make a lot of sense when you think about it. There's nobody on the backside -- and they're doing it -- is every time they don't get the ball it's a good thing.

Our catchers, which we call our help guys, are in support. They're trying to take away the back cuts. They've done a pretty good job there. We're trying to trap Steph whenever he gets the ball off a pick. So we're just trying our best to keep him in the box as much as we can, because you know when he gets loose, nothing good happens.

I thought he dominated the first three games, the first two games, and we just felt like we had to do something. And so it's been good so far.

Q. There was sort of a high after that Game 2 win and you knew the Warriors would come out firing in Game 3. How do you prevent --
COACH RIVERS: I think we learned a lesson. And they taught us it. They really did. So they were a great teacher for us. And we had that mentality coming in here tonight. And so our guys came out and played.

Q. Patrick Beverley was also on in that first half, 4-of-5 from 3-point land. Can you talk about his play tonight?
COACH RIVERS: Him and JaMychal in particular. JaMychal was spacing the floor. You know we took advantage of that lineup they had early with JaMychal being able to stay out and Bo gets back.

Pat was the other guy they were trying to help off of. We told him stay behind the 3 and let it fly. He did that tonight. That's how we have to play.

Pat offensively was great but the rebounds. When you look at this game, at the end of the game, he was matched up with 4s and 5s under the basket and he kept coming out with the rebound. It just tells you how tough he is. He's a tough dude. And he showed that tonight.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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