Full Post Game Media Availability | OKC Thunder at Denver Nuggets | NBA Playoffs | May 11, 2025

Full Post Game Media Availability | OKC Thunder at Denver Nuggets | NBA Playoffs | May 11, 2025

Shay, the uh the resolve that you guys showed throughout uh the tone you set and the way you you closed it. Uh what did you like best about the the overall performance and the way to gut out a win? Yeah, I think we we fought. Um we stayed the course like the game, sorry, the game especially in the series has been so like random almost and it’s thrown like different things at us and I think we’ve been able to stay the course. Uh we did that to perfection tonight and it gave us a chance late and then we closed the game. You and Dub were able to get downhill um and kind of maybe extend the defense a little bit more. What did you think about the ways that you guys were able to maybe uh stretch some things out and and get some downhill attacks? Yeah, we uh we’re decisive. We just tried to be aggressive. Um nothing more than that. Shay, kind of building off that, they obviously made it tough for you to get into the paint for the for the vast majority of the game. You know, a lot of that’s the zones that they’re throwing at you. What What are they doing defensively that that’s making life difficult for you? And then, you know, what kind of opened up for you down the stretch? Yeah, they uh they’re doing a good job of throwing multiple bodies. They’re, like you said, playing a lot of zone, which doesn’t really leave anybody on the island, and it’s like a box behind the guy guarding me. Um, but yeah, I think we we attacked it pretty good tonight. We got good looks in the zone. Um, that little spurt when they went on the run and they were in the zone, we uh got pretty good looks and weren’t making them and then they started to fall and we able to get back in the game. Um, but yeah, those type of defenses just force you to pass and I just have to be willing to make the right play every time and and live with the result. Uh, on the other side, Joker’s had three really rough shooting nights, especially for him. What What are you seeing that you guys are doing defensively uh to affect him? Um, I’m not sure. Uh, we have to keep doing it if we want to win. Hey Shay, at crunch time you guys really, you know, buckled down and got it done today. What What did you like in your your crunch time approach down the stretch? Say again, sorry. I’m sorry. In crunch time this in this game, you guys really buckled down and and and took care of business. What What did you like in your crunch crunch time, I guess, of approach? Yeah, we uh we got stops, we rebounded, and then we got uh quality possessions offensively. That’s what it usually comes down to, just quality possessions on both ends of the floor. Uh, and I think offensively we got that tonight. Shay, knowing the ramifications of what a loss would have meant, what was your mentality uh, coming into this game, um, walking into the arena and and are you the type that just puts a lot of pressure on yourself to make it happen? Uh, yeah. My mentality was do whatever it takes to win. Um and and yeah, I do put a lot of pressure on myself. I uh have high very high expectations for myself. I always have. I always dream big and reach for the stars and uh I try to accomplish my goals. At the end of the game, um you almost kind of like a closer in baseball. I kind of felt like you closed the game. Did did you feel like especially with such a tough offensive night for everybody on both sides that whether it’s you making a shot or you getting into the right teammate that you had to close the game? Um yeah, I I always feel like I have to I always feel like those are the moments where um the guy on the team um earns his buck. You earn your money. You you close games. You win games. And that’s what that’s what everything’s about, winning games. And the later you go in the season, the better the teams, the more the closer the games. Um, and you need to rise to the occasion. Shay, sorry, Mark was just saying that, you know, four games ago or four games later, I should say, that you guys are a stronger team now because of these experiences, because of sort of the way you close a game like today and and that sort of shows internally. Just how have you seen that sort of manifest? Yeah, I think I said it to Gallo, the series has thrown so many random things at us, things that like are unexpected or like out of the norm. And I think we’ve done a really good job of just like accepting where we are and not not fraying from who we are and who we’ve been all season. And I think that’s why we uh we we got a W tonight and are able to to even the series. We’ve done a really good job of just like not wavering from our identity. And as far as you going back to you being a closer, clearly you’ve tried to get that step back three to go for the past two games now. How how sort of gratifying is it even though that shot hasn’t really gone down. How gratifying is it for you to sort of close a game like today knowing all that Denver’s thrown at you? Yeah, it felt good. Um, it always feels good to win. Sucks to lose. And like I said, last game I I’m always willing to to take the good and the bad. And last game I took the bad and tonight I’ll take the good. Uh Shay, after that uh tough third quarter and you guys bounced back in a big way in that final uh in that final frame, how significant was those guys stepping up in the sense of you know Case Wallace and Aaron Wiggin, Aaron Wiggins and Caruso and all that and is that something that happened organically? Did you guys say something in the timeout? How did that all play out? Yeah. Uh that’s who we’ve been all year. We’ve been a a deep team. We have guys that that have come in stepp stepped up all year. We’ve had injuries. Guys have stepped up their role. We’ve guys have lessened their role and jumped back in the rotation and had big minutes. Like we’ve been a team that has just done whatever it takes to win across the board. And that group to start the fourth did a really good job of getting us back in the game and uh definitely the reason why we won. Shay, a big topic of discussion for this team the last couple years has been the youth and lack of experience. Just wanted to ask with a guy like Caruso through these four games and the series before, how has he sort of filled in the gaps for you guys with sort of just elevating and going to the next level learning? Yeah, he’s a riser. He rises to the occasion. Um it’s clear as day how special he’s been to us. His just his his like ability to just impact the game, impact winning and whatever it calls for. He uh whether it’s making shots, whether it’s getting deflections, whether it’s getting steals, getting stops, picking up full court, rebounding, cracking back, like he he does whatever it takes and he he does that at a high level and he’s the only player on this team that’s won a championship and it’s no coincidence. He he does what it takes to win basketball games on the highest of stage and he’s done so so far. Anybody else? Yeah. Uh your mother was a great athlete in her own right. um dealt with high pressure situations. Do you get any counsel? I assume you talked to her before the game and said, you know, happy Mother’s Day. Yeah. Did you receive any counsel from her? Did she give you any words of wisdom that carried with you today? Um my they don’t like hype me up or turn me up for basketball games. But one thing like she always taught me was like no matter what happens, she’s going to love me. And I guess that gives me the ability to go out there and not really care what happens. Um, the people that matter most in my life are are going to treat me the same way no matter what happens out there. And that gives me the ability to just trust my work, trust whatever happens happens, and be able to put a smile on my face at end at end of the night no matter what. What’s your mentality going forward now with with the split? Um, series is 00 first of two games. Dub, defensively, what did you feel in the opening minutes of this game in, you know, the first quarter to hold them to eight and then late uh to just continue to stack up the stock stop stops that you needed? Energy was very good from the start. Um that’s it on the that part. part. I think when you hold the team to eight, a lot of that is just energy, attention to detail, uh holding them to one shot. Like we just did a lot of the core fundamental stuff that comes with defense and then um just being able to play through their runs. You know, we’ve kind of I don’t want to say collapse, but you know, they’ve they’ve made a lot of those deep runs with like three, four minutes left. And I thought we did a good job of like learning the lessons that we could from what happened in previous games and got better as the series has gotten on. and we did a good job of kind of clamping down on again just like the core stuff that we’ve been doing all year. And then you were able to kind of punch that gap on the left side to get that driving layup that that’s been hard to come by all series against that zone. What’s key to being able to kind of generate those types of attacks the way that you did late? Having a good process throughout the whole entire game. Um not giving them like a steady diet or the same thing over and over again. And uh I think too just being ready to make a play. Uh we had a lot of guys that were able to do that tonight, but specifically just punching that gap, just seeing what the defense gives me and going from there. Four games later, you guys are a better team, a stronger team internally than you were when the series started because of experiences like this. Like have you sensed that internally and did you see that sort of manifest itself? Yeah, for sure. Yeah, it’s hard to lose the first game at home and turn the table and obviously come back and win that one and then lo give up another one here and then especially like the way we’ve lost too like I think we’ve done a good job of just learning from it and getting better but yet we’re a totally different team and that’s going to go beyond this series even to like next year like we’re going to be better because a lot of the experiences that we’ve been in like they’ve thrown I know they thrown a lot at Shay in these in his series just he’s tried to get that step back three to go dating back to last game. He didn’t get it today, but it felt like he played a big role in closing. Like how have you seen him um sort of take the punches and and adjust and what you see from him late today? Uh yeah, I think that goes back to what Mark was saying just about how we’re a better team like even individually like some of those shots weren’t falling and it doesn’t ever falter his attack or his approach. like you never see him hesitate to shoot the next one and that’s why he’s such a good player and we still trust him to take those shots down the stretch and he made a bunch of them and uh you know ultimately that’s one of the big reasons why we won the game and um one of the big reasons he’s who he is. Uh Jaylen after losing game three you asked about late game usage you know getting touches and you immediately responded by saying not only do you get enough touches but there’s other guys that can step up. Those other guys stepped up big time in this fourth quarter, right after this game. Uh guys like Caruso, guys like Wiggins. Um how significant is that? And do you think that that’s a uh an advantage that you guys have? A legitimate advantage you guys have in the series against the Nuggets? Yeah. Um we just have guys that are ready to go. I’ve been saying that all year, so I’m I’m not really going to deviate from it. We have a lot of guys that can play and do a lot of things on the floor, and it doesn’t have to be scoring. Um, and that’s what that’s what makes our team special. Um, being able to play multiple guys in a series and then for them to have the same mentality to be ready and make plays is um is really good. Can you guys hear me or is that loud? Okay. Um, but yeah, we just have guys that are ready to step up. And I think that’s just an advantage, not even this series, but it’s just an advantage in general to know that, you know, you can go down your roster and somebody’s going to be ready to make a play and just go out and buy into what the team’s trying to do. Um, Shay earlier was in here, he described AC as a riser. And I don’t know if he meant that just in the sense of the playoffs, but how’s he sort of helped you guys in just filling in the gaps as a team that doesn’t have a ton of experience, but he is a guy who’s done the ultimate goal? Um, yeah. I mean, he’s literally, like you said it last, like he’s literally won a championship, so he knows what it takes, what goes into it. I think he he won the bubble one, right? Yeah. Like that I I feel like that’s one of the harder championships to win just cuz there really wasn’t a lot going on. So, he’s he’s seen a lot and for him to win in that environment. He kind of knows what it takes and he’s kind of like our vocal leader and he goes out there and makes makes plays uh consistently throughout each series we’ve been in. So, definitely lucky to have him. He’s been uh doing a great job for us, too. Uh hey, Chad. Uh first of all, um how are you feeling uh after taking that huge blow? And second of all, uh just the way that fourth quarter played out in the sense of you guys closing out on a win like this, especially on the road, how significant is that uh in the playoffs? Yeah. Uh I’m good. Uh I caught one and it kind of it stung pretty bad, but like it didn’t like rattle my head too much. So, um I’m good. Uh, and then, you know, it’s it’s big. That’s that’s a must-win game right there. Um, wasn’t pretty on either side. Uh, but at the end of the day, you got to figure out how to come away with the win. We didn’t do that two times already in this series. So, uh, it was good to be able to do that tonight. And now, uh, you know, focus moves on towards the next next game. We got to uh you know continue to be better throughout the series. U put ourselves in a better spot to to win each of these games. Is there a relief at all to avoid going home in a 3-1 hole? Uh I mean there’s no relief at all. It’s you know still a really competitive series with a good team on the other side. Uh there’s no relaxing until uh you know there’s just no no relaxing at all. Did you guys gain some confidence the way you guys finished in the fourth quarter? Um, I say yes. We we executed well. Uh, you know, plays went our way as well. Uh, but we we can’t count on plays going our way. We have to continue to execute well down the stretch and uh do everything we can to put ourselves in the position that we need to be in to win the game. That’s what we did tonight and uh, you know, we’re going to have to continue doing that going forward. Last one for me. The bench today was incredible. Knock down eight threes. Man, I can’t speak enough about about those dudes. Um, you know, they stay ready on a moment’s notice uh for whatever’s asked of them and uh it showed tonight. Uh they came out and made big shots for us all night long. Uh especially Wigs in that fourth to get things started and uh you know without them we don’t win that game. So you know a lot of credit has to go to them. Chad, you mentioned the the execution late. What’ you feel out there in terms of the spacing and you guys ability to maybe spread their defense a little bit more. You got Dub and Shay on downhill attacks. Yeah. Um I felt like we knew where we needed to be. we knew what we were trying to do and then from there it was just kind of reading how the defense reacted and and making plays and you know I feel like everybody who touched the ball in those situations made the right reads made the right plays and uh you know we were able to make enough plays to to come away with the win. Yeah, Chad, after game one, you mentioned how Kenrich brought you over to watch basketball, kind of get your mind off of things. And a couple other guys mentioned how he stepped up as a a voice and locker room. He said in his message for game four or game three, game four was just you can’t lose it. How valuable has it been to have a guy like that that hasn’t really played in this series staying engaged as a leader? Uh it’s extremely important. um you know, we can’t just give credit to him. You know, all the guys are locked in. They’re all um you know, playing their part, doing whatever they can to to help push this team forward. And um you know, huge credit goes to K. uh he’s just uh super steady um mind and that kind of uh flows onto everybody around him. You know, just the way he speaks, the the advice that he gives us uh you know, it’s extremely helpful and um we don’t have a locker room where guys are uh afraid to say what needs to be said and um you know, he’s one of the first to be speaking when something needs to be said and we need to figure something out. And uh we always trust that the intentions are right behind that no matter who it is. And uh you know we’re going to need that from everybody going forward and and especially K. Chad, last season you guys were in a somewhat similar situation where 2-1 you’re facing going down 3-1 on the road, big gutsy win on the road, you come back home. How does that experience sort of help you handle and approach this one? Um, we always learn from our experiences, uh, good or bad. And, uh, I don’t think last year was anything different. Um, we just have to understand that this year it’s a different team that we’re playing. Uh, they’re going to throw different looks at us. We’re going to see different things, but the goal doesn’t change. uh we have to do what we have to do to control the things we can control on our end to put ourselves in the best spot to win the game and uh you know saying game four is a must win uh you know every game is a must win so we got to we got to figure out how to get it done hard again tonight uh the the rebounding and the the paint you guys win those battles uh tell me about the impact that that’s playing right now on the series and uh and how it helped out tonight. Um it’s huge. I mean, you want to win those little battles and I think especially in the playoff series, um rebounding, um not turning the ball over, um controlling the paint, um is big and so I think every night we try to establish that. Um and it’s again, it’s a team effort. Um, I mean, yeah, we have Jokic crashing a lot, so I kind of have to box him out a lot. But, um, again, still boxing out Gordon Westbrook and all those guys that consistently crashing. I think just as a team, we’ve been doing a right a really good job of just consistently um getting bodies on guys and going to get the ball. And then on the other end, they’ve been trying to keep that zone so compact and not get it extended. And you guys, you were you specifically, I think, were able to, you know, help spring Shay and Dub uh on downhill drives. What was key there in terms of spacing execution late? Again, I think like everything everything on our team, it’s about team basketball. So, I think it’s it’s not just not just letting Shay just go one-on-one against everybody. So, it’s hey, how can we move? How can we get him easier looks, but then how also they’re both Shay’s unselfish, Dub’s unselfish. And so I think they do also a great job of how can they get us easy looks. So I think in general it’s a mixture between both. Um again getting Shay open, getting Dub open, but um I think they do a great job of also finding us at the same time. Isaia, you’ve been a part of some playoff battles up close and you’ve seen kind of the swings of playoff series in general. What was kind of your role as a leader once this team went down 2-1 kind of heading into this big game? Um again, just not overreacting. I think especially in this playoff series, it’s so emotional. And so I think you just have to be consistent, know what the reality is. And the reality was, hey, we let those two games slip. We can’t change that at this moment. The only thing we can change is what we do in the present moment. So, I think that’s just kind of my role is just a get everyone refocused, get everyone emotionally ready for what we have to do. And that’s the biggest thing with the playoffs. The swings go up and down. And uh yeah, Isaiah, I guess a two-parter for you. I’m going to ask first one first. Um Joker just appeared to be fatigued at the end. I mean, it’s a lot of minutes, a lot big series, but what are you what are you guys doing well? just teamwork to kind of force him into a bad shooting night again. Um, it’s a it’s a team effort, I think. Um, we do a great job of um, yeah, it’s mostly my job to defend him one-on-one, but again, I don’t think my teammates are leaving me on the island. I think that’s that’s what makes it so good. I mean, again, he’s going to he’s going to make tough shots, and you just kind of have to mentally live with that. But I think in general we’re doing a great job of swarming um rotating the right way and executing the game plan and um that’s what you’re gonna need against a great player like that. And the second one is I know it’s a small sample size but when you were here and you saw him in practice and you got to go against him. How much does that help you for now? I mean I was there for like two days low key. So no no but um in general he he helped me a lot. I mean I have a lot of respect for him. A lot of respect how he approached each day. Um, I think passing wise he helped me take another step. I think, um, before I was a good passer, but he took me really to now I think I’m one of the best big passers in the league and he took me to that another level just with the details of how to get guys open, how to get guys open with your eyes, um, knowing when someone’s open, but maybe doesn’t seem open, if that kind of makes sense. So, um, he’s he helped me a lot in that aspect and he was always very open to any question I had. And so I have a lot of respect for him for doing that. Somewhat related to that, I know the series isn’t over, but you had that experience with him. You’ve obviously played against him a lot. Which was the bigger challenge between sort of the mental game with his basketball IQ and skills versus just the physical game? It’s a mixture. I think more mental. I think any playoff series, just the mental aspect of it. A I’m gonna be disciplined. Every time we have a game plan, I’m gonna stick to it. And then especially with a guy like him, I mean, he’ll make a step back fade away shot where you’re like, how did I go in? But you have to mentally just be okay with this and knowing that this is a shot kind of want him to take and he’s going to make tough shots exactly kind of how Shay I mean, I’ve been watching all year. T Shay makes tough shots where probably the defenders are like mentally kind of down on it. So, I think just mentally staying in mentally knowing what you want to get him to and then kind of sticking to that game plan. Late and it seemed like you guys got that action maybe up a little bit higher on the floor. How did that impact some of those downhill drives you were able to get which were obviously hard to come by? Yeah, yesterday we were talking about the um execution of the down the stretch stuff and um that was I thought that showed up. You know, I thought we were just we weren’t doing anything crazy. We just did a little bit better. the execution, the things we could control, uh, were just a little bit sharper. I said they were probably a six or seven out of 10 in game three. They were like a eight or nine today, you know, and those those are the margins you have to win in a close playoff game that is hard is as hard fought as that one was. Coach in particular, uh, piggyback on that, just talk about Shay, like the last seven minutes, he more or less was involved with anything scoring wise that you did and sealed the game and even his assists were huge assists. Yeah, I mean he’s just I’m I always marvel at his ability to get himself back to zero after every single game. Usually he’s getting himself back to zero off of a great game, you know, and that’s that’s his secret sauce is he stays so level and humble despite his success. But when he does fail, he doesn’t point fingers. Um he doesn’t pout, he doesn’t he’s not emotional, he’s not angry, you know, he’s just so level um that he just gets himself back ready to play. and the last guy you’re worried about bouncing back um from a tough shooting night like he had the other night is him and he delivered big time for us down the stretch. Mark, you you mentioned the quick turnaround a little bit. Obviously, you guys are on a you know an even playing field in terms of that, but what what did you make of that and do you feel like this team just just with the depth that you have is particularly equipped to to handle that kind of just swing in a playoff series? Yeah, I mean I’m not gonna I don’t know um what that means big picture, but I just know, you know, when we come off a tough game like that where we extend some minutes, um we’ve got guys we trust. We got guys that have earned trust. They’ve stepped up in big moments um in previous playoff runs. They’ve stepped up in big moments in the regular season. They have the trust and support of their teammates. Um and they feel a sense of responsibility to go in there and and play the way they did. And I just thought we tried to keep the subs very fresh in the first half. Um, and everybody that touched the floor brought energy to the game and those guys in particular that I mentioned off the top, those bench guys today were unbelievable. You know, they they just brought great juice to the game and made big big plays for us. Shay didn’t have a bucket in the second half until that drive with like I think 436 to go. Obviously, a few big buckets down the stretch. Wasn’t able to get a lot of shot attempt. I think only two shot attempts until those last five minutes in the second half. what was what was stopping him from from getting looks and then how did things open up for him those last five minutes? Yeah, I mean uh some of it’s execution, some of it’s the defense, some of its shot making, but it’s like, you know, he was he was pretty sharp today, but like Dub goes two for 13, Murray goes uh where was Murray, you know, five for 15, Joic seven for 22. It’s like this is the playoffs, you know. It’s hard. It’s really really hard to get great looks. it’s really really hard um because of the physicality, the scheming, the familiarity, you know, it’s much easier to score in the All-Star game obviously for those four guys than it is to score in the playoffs. So, um I thought our guys on our end showed great resilience of just staying in there for the game. And Shay obviously not, you know, his best third quarter, but he really really delivered down the stretch. Coach Jamal Jamal finished with 17 points on 15 shots. Just how important was the collective approach? Obviously, Lou draws the brunt of that responsibility, but how important was the collective approach on Jamal? Yeah, I thought, like I said, it’s really, you know, he’s a great player. It’s really hard in the playoffs, you know, for everybody. And, uh, there’s nothing convenient about these games. And so, it tests your will as a player. Um, he’s a great player, but, you know, we tried to keep fresh legs on him and on Joic, you know, not only today, but, uh, in the series, you know. So with Joic, we’ve got, you know, Jay Will on him. We got hard on him. We’ll throw Chad on him for a period of time. We’ve put Smalls on him uh sparingly, but we’re not afraid to do it. And then with Murray, same thing. You know, Dort does a great job on them, obviously, but AC down the stretch, Kase in kind of the meat of the second half was unbelievable on them. So those guys are really good, you know, and so we’re trying uh to utilize the strength of our team, you know, to try to slow them down. Mark, both you and the players expressed a lot of optimism after game three, but is there a part of you that is happier to see your group win a game in this fashion than maybe the fashion you did in game two? Or does that not kind of matter just getting it back to 22 is the is the most important thing? I mean, every game’s different, you know, so um you have to play the game as it comes and and learn from every experience. You know, the one thing I will say is um you know, competition’s about throwing punches and competition’s about taking punches and every time you take punches and you get back up, you get stronger, you know, and that’s what we’re preaching to our team, you know, is, you know, we lost a tough one the other night in overtime, you know, stood back up today, especially at the start of the game. I I really love the approach to start the game and then we took punches in the game today and had to stand back up. But every time you do that, you you bind together more um and you get stronger. And uh that’s a good thing for us. You have to embrace every experience that happens in the playoffs, whether it’s uh positive or a challenge. Mark, you talked about Lou’s defensive impact, but he’s been an integral part on both ends for you guys this year. He shot 42% from three during the regular season. For whatever reason, the shots aren’t really falling. I think he’s under 30% in the playoffs. How do you sort of evaluate playing on the margins with stuff like that whenever I guess the margins are so thin in the playoffs of just writing out those stretches because he has been a guy who’s been somewhat streaky. Yeah, I mean I definitely trust the body of work over time more than small sample sizes. So, you know, if the question is whether or not I’m confident lose three-point shooting, I am. You know, because he’s shown the ability to not only uh make a lot of shots over a long period of time, but he’s made big shots, you know, in big moments in playoff games. So, um, he’s the last guy I’m worried about, but, you know, we also have a deep team, you know, and, uh, I thought Kase gave us good juice tonight. Caruso was really engaged in the game in the fourth quarter, decided to go with those guys down the stretch. It wasn’t necessarily related to the shooting. It was more related to how the guys that were in the game were playing. Can you kind of touch on the poise of Kase Wallace specifically? Caruso’s been here. Wiggins has been around longer, but it’s easy to forget that Kase’s a secondyear player. Yeah, it is. You know, because he doesn’t act like it. He doesn’t play like it. So, um, great juice tonight. You know, he was unbelievable on Murray. He made some big like hustle plays. You know, he made a I think a deflection on Gordon in transition right before we subbed him out. That was a big time play. And then offensively, you know, played really well. Really, really solid, shot the right shots, made the right plays for the most part. Um, but I he was fresh, too. You know, I didn’t play him a ton the other night. Um, and so we knew we would have fresh legs with him and that he would he was ready to compete in the game. and uh he delivered. Mark, you you mentioned having to embrace this experience. I think you and and Alex the other day we’re just saying that you guys were excited for the Denver series because you got a chance to push a team like that to their limit. Just in doing so, did you learn anything about this group? I mean, it today wasn’t an end point. you know, it’s a it’s a series to four and it’s two to2 right now, you know, so we’re not drawing any conclusions, but you have to embrace all the experiences that happen in the playoffs. It’s there’s a reason, you know, that everybody loves the playoffs. It’s because it’s really challenging and you got to be able to rise to different challenges. You have to be able to rise through the discomfort of the playoffs, whether that’s individually for a player that’s struggling or whether that’s collectively for a team. Um, and if you take the right approach to that, it can forge you into a better team. and into a great team. As I said the other night after the loss. Um, and I thought we got strong. We’re a stronger team right now internally, you know, not even relative to the series. We’re a stronger team right now than we were four games ago because of these experiences and we have just have to continue to take that mindset to whatever comes our way. Mark, I think it’s three straight games now that you guys have won the rebounding battle after game one. Just how do you like the response from the group after the physicality Denver showed in that first game? Just kind of on both ends offensively and defensively? Yeah, Denver uh crashed harder tonight. So, um that was a taller task tonight um because I think as they they missed shots early, both teams missed shots early, you know, started sending a lot of guys to the glass and so they were firing in there and we really had to earn a lot of those rebounds and we we did and so uh the guys done a great job on the offensive glass as well and pretty much limiting their transition despite the offensive rebounding. um you know, we got to hit them, but if they’re crashing in there, we think we can run them if we get the ball. And that that showed up multiple times in the game. So, um a great effort by the guys, physicality.

Hear from Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams, Chet Holmgren, Isaiah Hartenstein, and Coach Mark Daigneault following the Thunder’s 92-87 win over the Nuggets in Game 4 of the Western Conference semifinals.

0:00 Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
7:56 Jalen Williams
12:34 Chet Holmgren
17:32 Isaiah Hartenstein
22:30 Coach Mark Daigneault

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