NBA EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: HAWKS VS. BUCKS

June 29, 2021

Nate McMillan

Atlanta Hawks

Game 4: Postgame

Hawks 110, Bucks 88

Q. How happy are you with the way that Lou stepped up in particular but also kind of all the guys, especially with Trae out?

NATE McMILLAN: I just respect this team and their approach all season long. As I mentioned at the beginning, we've had this situation where we've got a lot of guys out, and our guys continue to step up, next man up, and play solid game, play solid basketball.

Lou did an excellent job for us tonight just running the team, establishing the tempo. We got great ball movement tonight, all the things that we talked about. We needed, we got that tonight. It started with our guards.

I thought Bogey [Bogdan Bogdanovic] found his rhythm tonight, knocking down some shots. Kevin [Huerter] was really good again. It was a total team effort, and guys continued to step in and take advantage of opportunities when they get them.

Q. Do you have any kind of update on Clint?

NATE McMILLAN: No. No, I don't.

Q. Obviously Trae couldn't go tonight. What do you think for him for Game 5?

NATE McMILLAN: I don't know. I don't know. The report was just tonight he's out. He didn't feel comfortable enough to put pressure on his foot tonight. I'll get a report tomorrow, and I'm sure it'll be a game-time decision.

Q. You mentioned already the ball really was moving more tonight than it has in the series. What was the discussion coming into this game about moving it, and did it have anything to do with trying to compensate for Trae being out?

NATE McMILLAN: Well, we played a different style of basketball. Trae does a great job of initiating offense for us when he's in the game, and when we go to our second unit, we have to play a different style of basketball. That's been good for us.

Tonight without Trae we had to do some different things. We got some good ball movement, and our guys were able to make them defend. We did a good job of taking care of the basketball -- only 11 turnovers. Tonight they scored only four points off of our turnovers.

I didn't think that we had too many possessions where we settled. We made them play from side to side, got good ball movement, really established a rhythm, and was able to knock down some shots.

And with that, we were able to keep our floor balanced so that we could get back in transition.

Q. With Lou, was there anything that you had to do to kind of lessen the blow on him when he was traded here?

NATE McMILLAN: No, no. Basically I talked to Lou -- I knew what Lou would bring, and we all did. We knew that his ability to score and come off the bench and be productive -- basically I talked to him about the role that Rondo was playing when he came here, and that was a role of mentoring Trae.

He understood that role. He accepted that role. He knew that Trae is the future of this organization. He's coming in to back him up. And he's done a great job of mentoring Trae, talking about different situations, how to manage a game, different things that he can do. His minutes were really cut coming here. He was a 20-plus minute guy, and he only has about 15 -- 10 to 15 minutes behind Trae.

He really sacrificed that role to help this team, and he's done a great job for us.

Q. When Giannis went out you guys didn’t relax. You kept pushing hard.

NATE McMILLAN: Yeah, we condition ourselves to play that way. That's still a good team. They are a really good team, still have really solid players, Jrue and Middleton and Lopez, Pat [Connaughton], all those guys over there. That's a good team. So no, there was no way we were going to relax. We knew we had to put together a 48-minute game, and I thought our guys did a good job of really just keeping the pressure on defensively. We were forcing misses and were able to get out into transition because of the really good, I think, ball movement. We got into a rhythm offensively, was knocking down shots and was able to stretch that lead at that time.

Those are things that you want to do when something like that happens. You want to try to take advantage of that, and I thought our guys stayed focused on what we needed to do, and they executed well.

Q. Are there one or two things that allow players to make that pivot when their role changes? When Trae is out, everything is modified somewhat. What is the key to having guys be successful in these different roles?

NATE McMILLAN: Well, first I want to give credit to my coaching staff because a lot of times these guys who are stepping in like Cam [Reddish]. Cam came in tonight and had a solid night for us, a really good night. Those were important minutes. We were going to give him minutes tonight even if Trae played. But without Trae and losing that body, his minutes became even more important.

But our coaches do a great job of keeping these guys ready, working them, conditioning them to be ready to play if their name is called. You know, once again, we've just had guys -- when they've gotten that opportunity, they've taken advantage of it.

Lou is an experienced guard. He really understood what he needed to do. He understood the moment that was in front of him, and he did a good job of really leading this team, establishing the tempo of the game tonight.

Q. You said before the game you didn't want your guys to try to do more than what they normally do. Do you think overall you guys were able to do that?

NATE McMILLAN: I thought everybody stayed in their lane. They played their game, and they played connected basketball.

We often talk about it really doesn't make a difference who is out on the floor, what five is out on the floor, we need to be connected on both ends of the floor. I thought our defense was much better tonight, guarding the ball, keeping the ball out of the paint.

We still need to do a better job of rebounding. They were pounding us on the boards.

Offensively we were connected where we had good ball movement. We weren't turning the ball over. Shot selection was really good. We were able to get our defense back and set our defense.

We talk about our three C's: Being calm, I thought we showed that all night long; being clear about what we needed to do; and being connected on both ends of the floor, and they did that for 48 minutes.

Q. You talked a lot about the paint defense the last three games. Tonight you outscored them in the paint. What allowed you to have such a different level of success?

NATE McMILLAN: I thought our pressure was much better. We have to make these guys uncomfortable. This time of the year you can't allow good players to get rhythm, and I thought our pressure was much better tonight, really the first time in this series we've played that type of defense, and we're capable of doing it.

I thought tonight we established our defense, and our offense seemed to find its rhythm.

Q. What stood out to you about what Cam brought on the defensive end for you guys tonight, and do you envision if his body handled tonight well, do you envision a bigger role for him moving forward in the series?

NATE McMILLAN: Yeah, well, he has length, and he takes pride in defending. He's one of the few guys in this league that actually -- that's his game. That's where he draws his energy from. It's not so much the offensive end of the floor. He comes out from the start wanting to play defense.

Tonight he had a couple of matchups that we wanted to get him on a few of their guys. Of course Middleton and Jrue, try to get some length on those two guys.

I thought he did a solid job. His first time really playing in a long time. Just making them work to score over the top. But he brings length, his ability to guard a guard as well as a forward. Just gave us an extra body that we could put out there, especially with our second unit. With most of our guys being in that first unit, it was good to have Cam coming off the bench along with KD [Kris Dunn] tonight.

Q. And can you see a bigger role for Cam if his body is able to handle it?

NATE McMILLAN: Yeah, basically I will get a report basically how Cam is feeling. He's on a minute restriction. If he comes out of this okay tomorrow, they may increase his minutes, but I'll get that information the day of the game.

Q. How good was it to see shots fall for Bogey? I know even when shots weren't falling he was still pushing through that injury to give you guys time you needed from him. How good was it to see it pay off for him tonight?

NATE McMILLAN: Well, Bogey is basically an example of this team. They just keep fighting. There's a lot of guys with some tweaks and some injuries and playing in some pain. His shot hasn't been falling the last few games, and he stayed with it.

But we believe that the next shot is going in. I thought he took some good shots tonight. He didn't settle. I thought he got aggressive, tried to get to the basket, and the ball was falling for him tonight.

We didn't lose confidence in him. We believed that the shots that he takes are going to go in. He's an elite shooter in this league, and it was good to see that ball go down for him.

Q. Since you've taken over your messaging to the team has been to believe. When Trae goes down and is ruled out prior to the game, what do you say to this group to make them believe that they can win without obviously the best player?

NATE McMILLAN: Well, we continue to believe. What I said to the team was we've been here before where we've lost players on the day of a game. We've had a lot of our starters out throughout this season, and we've continued to basically play next-man-up role. The next man up for us, they've been able to take advantage of that opportunity and give us good production.

We've been able to win games, and this has been going on throughout the season.

So losing Trae was, of course, a big loss for us tonight, but we've been in that position before. We needed to come out and play a good solid basketball game.

The guys that are stepping into those roles and getting those opportunities, we just tell them to stay in their lane. We don't need them to try to be that player that is out; play your game. I thought Lou really did a solid job tonight establishing us both offensively as well as defensively tonight. We had really good ball movement -- 26 assists with this group tonight, only 11 turnovers. And it started on the defensive end of the floor.

Lou is a veteran, and he got the nod right before the game. He didn't know this morning that he would be starting. He knew that probably was an opportunity, but he really didn't know until we got the call from the trainer that Trae would not be able to go. He's a pro. He's been really good for us all season long playing that backup role but in a starting role tonight I thought he was just solid, establishing us out there tonight against Milwaukee.

Q. Back to Bogey for a second, you said the other night that you trusted that the shots were going to fall for him. Obviously what we were seeing was he was struggling with his three-point shot. What made you believe that those shots were going to fall for him? What did you see from him specifically to make you believe that?

NATE McMILLAN: He's a great shooter. There's some times guys lose their rhythm. We know that he's battling some injuries and he doesn't really have his balance out there, or he hasn't had his balance out there on the floor. It's difficult to shoot and to play when you have really -- you're playing on one leg almost.

This kid just continues to fight through it. We believe in him. We needed him. We needed his body out on the floor because we just were limited with the bodies that we had, and he fought through it. He continued to give us everything that he had, and tonight it was good to see that ball fall for him.

I believe even on one leg if this guy gets an open look, he's going to knock those shots down, and tonight they were falling for him.

Q. I know as a coach you always have to be prepared for different scenarios. When did you first have a feeling that you might have to go without Trae tonight?

NATE McMILLAN: I mean, basically I went all the way up until just a few moments before I went into the locker room. Trae came in and he went through his workout and just didn't feel good enough, so I was waiting on that, and he came up, we talked. And so basically probably an hour before the game is when I got the call that Trae wouldn't be able to go, and I had to let Lou know that he would be starting tonight and KD would be backing him up.

Q. When you delivered the news to the locker room or the news got into the locker room, did you hear anything? What was the initial reaction from players as far as you could tell?

NATE McMILLAN: I think by the time I got to the locker room and we went into our meeting, pregame meeting, I'm sure guys knew about it. I did announce that because it was the first time that I was meeting with the team that Trae was out officially and that Lou would be starting tonight.

But as I said to them, we've been here before where we've had guys have injuries and they can't play, and another guy has to step up and fill in for that guy. So it wasn't something that we hadn't seen. Of course Trae does a lot for us, and he's a big part of what we like to do.

But these guys have just been playing solid team basketball regardless of who was out on the floor, and they continued to just give themselves a chance to win ball games.

Q. In the absence of Trae, how important was this team's ability to initiate offense from many different corners, not just Lou, but Huerter did it, Bogey did it, even John Collins, saw him throw an alley-oop pass rather than finish one. How did that versatility play tonight?

NATE McMILLAN: Well, that's the connection we talk about having out there, where we are connected out on the floor and we're playing as a fist, a tight fist. That's execution.

Again, all of these guys are capable of playing, and when a guy is out or off the floor, we still expect our guys or that five that is out on the floor to execute the game plan, execute the defensive end of the floor, execute on the offensive end of the floor. So it really shouldn't change much as far as what we're doing out there.

Now, you've got different guys doing some things, but these guys have shown they're capable of handling the ball, making plays, making reads, and I thought tonight on both sides of the ball we were connected for 48 minutes.

Q. You have been a part of so many huge games and situations just like the one that your team went through tonight, and so many players can be told by a coach, believe, play like a fist, be calm, be clear, be connected, and yet when the ball goes up and Giannis is standing on the other side and Khris Middleton and Jrue holiday and Trae Young, your best player, is on the bench, rarely do teams show the kind of fight and belief that your team did. What is it about this group that is capable of overcoming the loss of a guy who makes the game so easy for everybody else on the floor?

NATE McMILLAN: Well, we show them. We'll show video. We don't show a lot of bad. We try to show good. So we will show them what they look like tonight so that they can see that you believe, you play the game the right way, you play the game together -- we constantly get the effort from this group, you will give yourself a chance to win games.

So they will see this video. They will see a lot of good that they did tonight to show them that it works. Working together works. You have to continue to believe that. You have to continue to trust, and you have to make sure that you bring that effort to the floor.

So they've continued to do those things, and they've been able to win some big games. I really feel tonight probably was the biggest.

Q. If by any chance you don't have Trae in the next game, will this performance be even more fortifying for your guys in letting them believe that they can do this game after game, even if he's not on the floor?

NATE McMILLAN: Absolutely. You know, again, we talked about where we were at coming into this game. This was, of course, yesterday and this morning with Trae. We were in the same position in our last series against Philadelphia where we needed to win a home game.

Basically preparing them is something that we really lock in on. We feel that if we're prepared to play the game that we need to play and these guys go out and execute it as they did tonight, you're going to win games. They've been able to do that. As I've mentioned before, we don't get too high when we win, and we don't get too low when we lose. We show them the areas we need to improve on, and tonight they were better than they were our last game.

We always try to take that approach.