Indiana Pacers Postgame Media Availability (at Golden State Warriors) | March 22, 2024

Indiana Pacers Postgame Media Availability (at Golden State Warriors) | March 22, 2024

Congratulations to uh Miles Turner alltime leader in Pacers franchise history and block shots passing uh the great Germaine O’Neal uh and Miles was dominant tonight um I think he had how many blocks did he have five five blocks and you know every one of those was needed and so uh a hearty

Congratulations to him if you want to check out the celebration check it out on on Pacers Instagram pretty cool and uh love the way we played um tough game both teams are playing well you know this building’s as loud as as any building in the league we had to survive

An early onslaught of shot making which you just expect in here but um our guys kept their Poise Tyrese put together a masterpiece uh tonight you know both scoring assists playmaking and defense too um and so he was uh he was great zakum was great a lot of guys really

Contributed um you know nard and uh and N Smith in particular did a great job chasing uh Curry and Thompson around I mean those two guys those two guys are murder and when you’re playing a g when you’re playing against a team where you got three guys you’re playing against

Who just go by everybody just calls them by their first name and they’re going to be in the Hall of Fame I mean you’re going against something special and so uh this is a great win for us and um really really really happy for the guys

I guess just to keep going on defense I mean you held him to 17 of 50 I think in the second half of like maybe four of 23 from three I mean just to keep going on on what they did I mean just what what

Do you feel like you guys were able to do just sort of you know flipping a switch to um play as tough a defense as you did in the second half know we just we had to amp up our attitude in the second half just our our overall you

Know nastiness to compete and and get physical um and you know the the half started out well you know Drew got a layup on the first play it was back and forth a little bit then we got a little bit of separation and the important thing was was to keep concentrating defensively

And keep running keep running so you know we were able to do those things and um you know this is this is uh you know every game’s important I mean there’s no there’s no point in overstating that just uh you Drew before I mean obviously he’s running through a billion screens

And having to chase Curry which has got to be one of the toughest assignments there is I mean just what all stood out to you about just what he was able to do to make him work I think he was nine of 23 somewhere in that range yeah look

Anytime you hold Steph Curry under 30 in this building you know you’ve done a you’ve done an amazing job I mean the guy’s you know just one of those guys he’s just different and Beyond special and you know the first three or four minutes of the game he hit two or three

Threes and the big Pro the biggest problem we were happen happening in the first half was we were not getting the loose balls we got 10 out of out of 25 loose balls in the first half and they got three or four of their threes off of

Those second half we were getting the loose balls and there was a that was a big difference uh last one just want to go back to what you said about Tyrese and just his masterful job obviously gets a couple shots to fall as well and that’s not everything but um just what

Just his his overall offensive performance what stood out to you and also just you know what most impressed you about what he also did on defense just thought the recognition the aggression um you know the timely shot making I mean the shot the shot at the end of the third quarter was

Enormous um you know it takes it from 11 to 14 there’s a huge difference there and they only had one timeout left so look special players do special things and um you know he was he was he was great tonight coach look at that uh second half the way your team came out

Possessed on defense to hold them to what they did and then force a lot of turnovers on their end what was the message set at halftime because there was a pretty even first half we had to get loose balls and we had to get more physical and I just said

It a moment ago we just had to you know bring our attitude up you know we just had to have a a Defiance to how we were playing defensively and offensively um and and we we did better I mean you know all the stats show that um look you know

Holding this team to you know whatever it is 111 is is a is really a great Collective effort and so uh my hats off to our guys you know this is a hard game Rick good to see you good to see you um with Tyrese you know obviously

This is the guy that that you got used to seeing your entire time in Indiana with him and you’ve seen everything in this league so you know that a guy like that is going to get back to where he was but how if if at all did you try to

Have an impact on him during this stretch where he struggled whether it’s schematically off the court talking to him you know and overall just how have you seen him try to navigate the the tough stretch well there’s a lot of communication that goes on um you know

The comeback from a hamstring you know is a is is a climb it’s a gradual climb and so even even when you get back to where you’re completely pain and soreness free um you know you still don’t have your training camp conditioning base and so it’s taken a

Little while um to build that back up but um you know he he’s just he’s making constant progress you know constant progress they may not be huge leaps but but but but he is making he’s making progress and um big difference right now between you know how he’s moving and how

He was moving two and a half 3 weeks ago and so you know that’s that’s the big thing and um you know he he’s a he he’s a guy that has a brilliant mind for the game is extremely resourceful and so during a lot of this period he’s he’s

Been talking about ways to get other guys involved and to help the team as he’s trying to get back to where he needs needed to be and and so he’s getting he’s getting close have you seen just a quick follow the he talked the other day about a lot of it being mental

From a confidence standpoint and just the way he approaches the game especially a guy like that where when he gets you know gets hot nobody’s stopping him uh how is he navigated that part I mean he had he had a shot late tonight that could have sealed it and it seemed

Like he was pretty frustrated himself even on a good night when are you seeing the confidence go up and down a little bit Yeah I it’s it’s not a confidence thing it’s a process thing and you know um you know for me it was just it was

Just a matter of time and in recent games um you know the ball’s been going in more and so as that happens it’s going to energize a player you know and so um you got to you got to ride that momentum and we got to make sure that

His body is fresh and you know it’s uh this has been a this has been a testament to the strength of his will as a player to go through through all this and um so it just it it just raises my level of admiration for him both as a

Player and as a as a as as a as a human being uh you mentioned how hard it is to to win here um your Pacers are now 5 and0 in in this building um how impressive is that thatat given what you just said about how hard it is to to win

Here yeah I don’t you don’t look backward you know um you know they won the last game in our building who cares you know it’s just we can’t we can’t get caught up in in feeling good about anything like that that has to do with some five fiveyear

Period thing I mean we’ve got less than 48 hours and we play the Lakers you know and then we got another you know uh 22 hours and we play the Clippers and so uh you know that’s the world we’re living in and right now as we’re as we’re you

Know building this team to be a playoff team and a contending team um these games against highle teams that are physical and emotional um are essential because you you go through the same things that you do in the playoffs I mean this atmosphere tonight you know not not much

Different than an NBA playoff game and the more that we can get the better um and make their lives harder so I thought we did a good job one to five doing that they obviously have just great Shooters and they run around a billi screen just

What’s it like to go through that and just have to hang in with those guys uh it’s tough you got to be alert at all times you know I got three or four guys over there every time they pass the ball they uh they’re looking to come off a

Pin down a uh Chase ation any kind of screen so um you just got to be locked in at all times just what you know miles getting the Box record how cool is that celebrating that with him that’s so cool man like he works very hard he’s a

Leader of what he does and you know I feel blessed just to be a part of the team and a part of the moment that he got what just you know you guys talked about defense all year just what’s it mean to see real you know fruit your labor

Coming through uh especially in really the last five six games really the last month I mean yeah we’re doing a good job like we’re picking it up on um you know I said before if we continue to go at this pace and you know the way we play

Offense nobody can keep up with us um over 48 minutes um so we just got to keep building you know you said M got the block Le uh alltime block leader he’s our anchor he’s going to keep leading us on that side of the floor and um you know we’re going to be

Appreciate you what was the message game in the first half you guys came off Swit possessed defensiv that second half uh I mean like we had to fight over a bunch of screens they got high early they were making shots we had to get more physical uh make them more uncomfortable make

Their lives harder um so limit their liit limit their open looks and it helped out and does it help to like when you can stop hurry play having firsts to make him just second uh you know like I said like they made shots early we let

Them get some easy ones which you can’t do with guys that like that um so we had to be more physical we had to make their lives more uncomfortable we had to make them work the entire possession um so they didn’t have their legs at the end

Of their shot so um we did a good job just picking up our physicality the curer Simon did really good job of chasing him down just what’s it like you know running through that assignment you got to run through a billion you know screens and he’s running all places what

You feel like yeah it’s not easy it’s um it’s tiring he definitely moves a lot off the ball and never lets you rest so it was definitely a thing I had to keep focus on the whole game for sure um and he’s going to make shots regardless of

How tough you make it so it’s one of those things you got to keep yourself in it even when you he make shots on you is I guess the biggest thing there when he makes just forget have to kind of move on yeah I think that’s that’s that’s

Basketball so many mistakes happen in basketball you got to have a Amnesia type of mindset where you just really don’t care at all how do you feel like you guys just change your kind of collective you know physicality mindset and everything I think you hel s

Yeah I think I think the last two two two weeks or so we’ve had a real physical mindset where we’re just being dominant in that sense and and putting our will on the game and our youth no and I was just saying our youth too putting putting that depth into the

Game all that energy we got you feel like that’s just the biggest most important thing you guys figured out on defense your defensive numbers the last five six seven games are really really good I think it’s I think it’s a part of energy and effort too I think it’s also

A schematic thing where we need to be better at the coverages that we were doing I think recently we’ve done a better job maybe in the ball screen or um just just executing coverages better I think another thing said was just you guys had to keep running I mean you got

A bunch of layups uh just run out wide how important was that piece to get stops and then you know try to maximize yeah I think we have a bunch of good players that um Can expose matchups at any time so it’s hard to not get fixated on finding matches you want to

Go at I think that we’re best when we just play our flow movement everybody’s touching it we’re playing super random we’re going to score anyways in my opinion against the career block record today how cool is it to see that it’s cool it’s cool man it’s U he’s

Been here for so long so it’s it’s nice to see him kind of uh breaking records and U making a name for himself even more happy for him great great great locker room guy great teammate always helped me ever stop in the league so I

Love him my a terrific night for you as one of the leaders of this team as well as you for individually U how’s it feel to be the Pacers all time BL shots leader um it’s definitely an emotional feeling just being here as long as I have and um just going through

Everything I’ve been through um I think it’s a it’s amazing I can leave with something you know no matter what happens you know in the future um I can tell my kids about this moment my grandkids and hopefully this record’s here to stay for a long time but the

Fact of the matter is you had five and you did it on a night where you guys got a fifth straight road win how does it feel to do it on such a night like that um well just the fact that we did it by committee I mean there’s so many big

Performances by so many people on the team tonight and um uh to do it in a you know Arena like this and uh with a team like that you know it’s pretty cool you know just really starting our road trip off the right way and a critical moment

Of the Year you guys have had five straight road wins all by double figures what’s the difference in how you guys are approaching the road now from earlier in the year um I want I don’t think the road I think it’s our defense man I think we really turned to up a

Different level there got guys uh committed more and that end the floor and um you know I think to where we started the year you know being last in the NBA 30th whatever it was so where we are now I think it’s incredible just to the resiliency of this group how has the

Addition of Pascal seaka made things easier for you oh it’s been huge man he’s a match up nightmare for a lot of teams and um you know he’s going to come in get his numbers and uh he’s really going to help us you know for this postseason stretch so you he’s

Definitely help me you know I’m able to space the floor and um we’re able to work off each other pretty well we’re starting to develop some good chemistry just what overall switch As far as defense in the second half I think you held him to 17 to 50 obviously guys both

Both making shots a lot in the first you guys just turn up guess um I think we just kind of just locked in and got it done man there wasn’t like one little uh like you know formula to it that you know made it happen we started playing a little bit

Harder and just uh we dug in and just do what we needed to do Andrew and Aaron did especially Andrew covering Curry you know when he gets going early but to hang with him and I think 9 and 23 I was impressed but that’s nothing different than what

They’ve done all season you know what I mean I feel like those guys really are a big ingal part of our team you know Drew whatever reason loves out here in the bay man you know he plays very well when he comes out here I thought he did an

Excellent job I think Aaron didn’t back down whatsoever you know just that’s just his personality you know what I mean I think he’s just a junkyard out of our te and um I said he was able to come in here and make some big plays for us

Miles to that end about the defense the last 10 games you guys are top 10 uh defensively now in defensive rating what was the switch or was it mindset what’s happened to make you guys so much better defensively well you can be the best offensive team but if you don’t defend

Anybody you know nothing’s going to go your way um you know I really feel like um it’s a credit to the coaching staff you know I think they really kind of just switched our mentality and um you know we know we can score right you know

We’ve done a lot of stuff we’ve done you know Ty Rees you heading shift but you know our coach def really put a lot of on our defense and I think our group as a whole is in a good job on responding what do you want yeah McConnell with all what you

Have uh almost 1250 blocks now I think but you’ve never blocked TJ McConnell I’ve never blocked I’ve never blocked TJ McConnell in an opposing NBA uniform but you know there’s been a few practices where I have had my way too little

Rick Carlisle, Aaron Nesmith, Andrew Nembhard and Myles Turner speak to media following the win against the Warriors on Friday night.

0:00 – Rick Carlisle
8:52 – Aaron Nesmith
10:45 – Andrew Nembhard
13:00 – Myles Turner