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NBA EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: RAPTORS VS. BUCKS

May 15, 2019

Nick Nurse

Milwaukee, Wisconsin - Postgame 1

Bucks - 108, Raptors - 100

Q. On whether the team was fatigued down the stretch coming off a seven-game series:
NICK NURSE: I don't think so. I thought you could maybe think that or whatever, but I thought we were right there. I thought we answered a bunch of runs, and we were still there at like 100-98. Man, we had a couple great looks. We had a couple bad offensive possessions before that point, but we still clawed it back and we had a couple great looks there down the stretch. We had a couple good defensive possessions that didn't end up going our way.

Just those couple of plays there from about two minutes to one minute, back and forth, that were probably the difference in the game. I didn't see any fatigue or any of that kind of stuff that was all of a sudden a big problem or anything.

Q. Before the game you kind of described the defensive needs as essentially just having to be everywhere in the paint, out. How do you think you guys handled that, and how stressful and taxing is it to play against that team defensively when you do have to essentially be everywhere?
NICK NURSE: It was OK. I thought our defense was pretty good. I thought we were executing our game plans really well. I didn't feel like we were under that much stress.

The biggest thing is the transition. When you blow a layup or you get knocked down or something and the ball is still in play, they come at you in transition. Those were the only real tough offensive possessions we had, I thought. I don't know, I've got to look at it a little bit more, too.

Q. When you're preparing to face a team that's had a layoff like Milwaukee, do you see it as an opportunity to kind of come out and maybe take advantage of a group that hasn't really had that intensity for a couple days?
NICK NURSE: I think the one thing that we all know about these playoff games is you'd better have the intensity or you're in trouble. I thought we did a good job of bringing some effort and pace and physicality at the beginning.

But I don't think it would be any different if they were coming off back-to-back-to-back or hadn't played in five days. I think both teams are trying to come out there and play with some intensity and effort and force and pace and all those things.

Q. Kyle Lowry's best performance of the postseason, 7 of 9 from three, saving Danny's pass. Can you talk about his performance?
NICK NURSE: Yeah, he was really good. It's not easy. We talked about pregame, they've got a bunch of athletic guards and they run a bunch of guys at him and they're doing a decent job of limiting his touches. So I thought it was good that he could get the ball as much as he did.

He stepped into all of them. It's been a while since he's had one of those nights where every time he pulled up you thought he was going to make it. Every time he let it go tonight, you were like, That's going in. And that was good to see because we've seen those a lot in the regular season.

But he was great. He was fighting like heck out there. I thought he threw his body in front of people on a few things, didn't get the whistle on a few. He always draws charges and there were tons of charges going on out there, but he still was taking them. That's his thing. And he was good. He was awesome.

Q. Nick, I know you haven't seen tape yet, and kind of almost following Doug's question a little bit, everybody but Kyle was 0 for 15 in the fourth. Without studying film, did you like the looks you were getting for the most part?
NICK NURSE: Yeah, I think when we did get shots, they were pretty good. I think we got hemmed up a couple times and turned it over, and that's like a recipe for a bucket in the other direction. I think for the most part we did. I'm just trying to think -- Kawhi had an iso that might have been a turnover. Danny [Green] had one there. I'm just trying to think of a really tough one. Maybe Kawhi had a fallaway with a couple guys on him. But I can't think of any right now without watching the tape. Pretty happy.

I think even Marc [Gasol] had a clean look at a three. Danny, we're down four down right away there with about 1:20 to go. We kick it out, clean look and we got the rebound and Kyle took a pretty deep one. Marc had a couple 8-to 10-footers that were there. So that's the best I can do with my memory right there.

Q. You talk a lot about intensity and focus. With you guys being so close to stealing a Game 1 here in Milwaukee, what do you do to get your guys refocused on Friday night and try to get a win there?
NICK NURSE: Yeah, I think that you don't really have much choice, right? It's just we're learning that each one of these games is critical. I thought we played tough tonight, a tough brand of basketball for the most part. We gave ourselves a chance to win on the road in an Eastern Conference Final that didn't turn out, and we put in a lot of work.

But you've got to file that one away and put in more work next time. That's really where it starts. We've got to get some rest here tonight, focus in on our film, figure out some adjustments, build some confidence. Then, again, once it gets ready to go up for Game 2, we've got to be tough.

Q. Psychologically for your team, especially with a Game 1, would you rather have a game where you play clearly well enough to win and then lose in the final couple minutes, or would you rather lose by 13?
NICK NURSE: No, neither one of those. (Laughter). Neither one of those feels good.

And that's a good question, though, because it really doesn't matter. You know what I'm saying? If it's a buzzer-beater and you lose, or if it's a 30-point blowout and you lose, that game's over. We saw that in that last series. We went up and blow them out in the first game and it was going to be a cruise, but we know better than that. These teams are too good. Both teams are good. I thought the Philly series was going to be a long one, and a good chance this one will be, too.

Q. How would you compare the way the ball moved and maybe some of the distribution in the first half versus the second half or down the stretch?
NICK NURSE: Well, not terribly bad. I didn't like the start to the second half. We did all that work in the first half to kind of control that thing, and it really seemed like we had them reeling defensively. The only bad shots we were taking were because of ourselves. If we looked and touched the paint and sprayed it around and made another play and went into another action, we were finding some good stuff.

I thought like three of the first four possessions we took it hard down the paint, got rocked big time physically, and they went down and laid it in. They got four layups to start the first half, and those were off three turnovers for sure. Might have been four.

If we're going to take it in there and there's going to be some hitting and slapping and stuff, we've got to play through it and make sure we don't turn it over because, again, turnovers against this team are trouble.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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