Full Post Game Media Availability | OKC Thunder vs Denver Nuggets | NBA Playoffs | May 13, 2025

Full Post Game Media Availability | OKC Thunder vs Denver Nuggets | NBA Playoffs | May 13, 2025

Shay, between just, you know, continuing to play the guys uh deep uh into the roster that you’re playing, the extra passing that you all made late, uh tell me about the feel of the trust that you guys have out on the floor. Yeah, we had no choice. Um the game obviously wasn’t going our way and uh we always say like the the answer is never like a hero play or anything out the ordinary. It’s it’s being who we are. It’s trusting each other. playing with all five on both ends and whatever the problem is, we can fix it with the collective e effort and not a single effort and that’s all we try to focus on when it wasn’t going our way. Uh we did enough to to to get a W. Sh maybe maybe you don’t view it as a hero play, but the three you hit late, you’ve been telling us that you’re fit for that moment all series. That’s sort of the shot that’s been nagging you all series. What What does it feel like in that moment when it hits? And and I guess what are your thoughts down the stretch as it becomes obvious that you’re going to, you know, pull away? Uh it felt like uh like it’s about time. Um now I always say like especially jump shooting, it goes up and down. It fluctuates so much. You can’t get caught up in the emotion of it. Um it’s just about like the discipline in it and staying true to it. And I could have turned it down and and and like because I had missed I didn’t make a three last game. I didn’t make a three this game up until that point. I could have turned it down. But something that I’m confident in and because of my confidence, it it paid dividends to that. And and just Mark was just here talking about lose impact specifically the threes he hit. He he compared it to uh he said him hitting those threes is like uh when a family member’s hurt or sad like the contagiousness of the the energy plays like that bring just what did you sense the team felt after the quarter he had? Yeah, it was big. Um Lou hadn’t been shooting the ball great obviously. Um but that just speaks to the worker and the the person he is to step into those shots with confidence. Obviously, they’re guarding us a certain way and those shots have been there and they haven’t been falling and tonight he stepped into those with confidence and like it’s clear as day we wouldn’t have been able to win tonight if lose and make those shots. So, his braveness to shoot him and his confidence to take him. Um, but nothing nothing out of the ordinary. That’s who Lou is. That’s his character and he came up big tonight. Go ahead. So, you seemed like your offense started clicking in the second half, getting to the basket in transition, maybe getting your spots a little quicker on the mid-range shot. What felt better in the second half versus first half for you? Um, just settling into the game like throwing different coverages, going from zone to man so often, like just taking what the game gives you, settling into it, um, and living with the result. Yeah, Vince, go ahead. Shay, the narrative this season has been about will Oklahoma City have the maturity, the experience to take the next step. I’m curious, how much responsibility as the presumptive MVP do you feel on helping getting this franchise over that hump right now? Um, a lot of responsibility. Um, like I like for for me first and foremost like winning is the end all be all. It’s why I play basketball and I know that across the locker room. Um, so like whatever it takes to get that done is what what our minds is on. And it’s not just it’s not just me, it’s not just coach, it’s not just Sam, like it’s across the locker room. And I think that’s why we’ve been able to win basketball games this year. Um, now we all know that we can’t get ahead of ourselves and we got to play the play in front of us if we want to get there. We can’t skip those steps and that’s what we that’s what we focus on. Jenny Shay, Mark was in here saying that you guys aren’t trying to answer anybody else’s questions, but I’m wondering with tonight and maybe even tacking it on to game four. What What answers are you guys providing yourselves with the way you finish these last two games? um when we do what we’re supposed to do um and we are locked in on both ends of the floor uh we’re able to go on runs and when we don’t do it on either end of the floor um it it leads to their runs. Uh so I like like coach said I don’t think it’s nothing’s been unexpected or wowed us in our performances. It’s been what we know all year and all year we’ve been building those habits to to make sure that we are uh ready for these moments and ready for these games. And we have one more to go get. Shay, I know you you just respect great players. So, you’re you’re in a series with a great player with Joic. What what have you learned just watching him play and watching him compete or how he goes about his business in these kind of games? Yeah, I think above all like he’s very smart. Um like I think that’s what’s what that’s what gives him his edge. He he’s he’s very smart. He’s always manipulating the game. He’s always thinking plays ahead. He’s reading the defenses, reading the offenses. Like he’s he’s his intelligence is very high out there and he’s uh always using it. Shay, going back to Lou, we’ve seen him hit big shots from the beginning really even going back to the bubble and that game seven like what is it about maybe his personality in these big moments? Yeah, it’s his confidence. He works hard and he trusts his work. It’s that simple. and he doesn’t waver whether it’s makes or misses. Like I think last game he started 0 for four from three and shot his fifth one like it was like it was his first shot of the game. Like Lou is special in that aspect. Like his confidence is unwavering and it’s it’s turned him into the NBA player and the basketball player he is and without it he wouldn’t be as good as he is. So hats off to Lou. Andrew, go ahead. Yeah, JDub hit that big shot in the corner down the stretch. You know, Denver calls a timeout. you know what’s going through your head at that moment. Um, whoever I think it was Lou, good pass, heart, good screening. Um, but I think that play we just like we just took what they gave us. I think I drove, they doubled me, I moved it, the next guy moved it and we found the open man and the open man was ready to shoot. Um, but I think that just goes back to what I was saying earlier like it’s nothing it’s been nothing special. Like it’s been nothing that has come out the blue. It’s been no secret formula. like we just on that play and the biggest plays and the biggest moments you just you flex the muscles that you’ve been working on all year and that play is exactly what we did. Sh this is now back toback games where you guys had like huge swing minutes from that lineup on with the bench with Caruso Case Wiggins but can you just talk about the overall depth and how that’s helped you guys succeed in the playoffs even to guys like Jwell? Yeah, it’s it’s helped us succeed all year really. um being able to play that many guys, get some guys rest, also be able to throw different personnel out there so it’s not as like scripted. It’s um a little harder to guard. Um and we have a bunch of guys that like can go in and impact the basketball game no matter the stage, no matter the game. Um and we use it to our strength and that’s what’s made us who we are. Dean, go ahead. Yeah, SGA wondering if this was the most physical of the games so far and uh on that play with Russ where where you went down the fans for what it’s worth, they they thought it was it seemed like a a a dirty play. How did how did you look at it? What did you think about that play? Um I don’t know. I was just trying to play fast and Russ came out of nowhere, fouled me. Like I didn’t think I didn’t think much of it to be honest. It happened so fast as well. I just glad I got a foul call, but I didn’t I didn’t I didn’t think it was ill intention at all or anything. I think he was just trying to stop the play. You guys You guys had uh third quarter. Uh you came out of a timeout. You really started driving against the zone. Had several drives and several possessions. They had to call timeout. Did that at all kind of loosen things up for the fourth quarter because you really were kind of struggling offensively to get inconsistency going? Um I’m not too sure. I I think like it’s it’s always going to come down to like just being aggressive and just like whatever they present to you, you take the you take what they give you. Um I did a better job of that in the second half. And I think that’s why I had more success. Um, yeah, in these big games, big moments, like you can get caught up in the emotion and and wanting to take over in certain parts of the game, but like trying to stay true to the possession game and stay true to just reading what they’re giving you is um the trick or the trade. So, that’s that’s I I regrouped at halftime and did a better job of that, I think, in the second half and was able to have a little bit of success. Hey, Shay, what do you expect from a closeout game in Denver for game six? Their greatest punch. Um I’m sure they don’t want to go home just as bad as we don’t. Um so we’ll probably get the best game out of them. Let me go Barry for last question for Shay. Yeah, I think the last two games Marcus has has uh shaken up your rotation. You’re going out late first quarter. Why is that? And how whatever the reason, how effective do you think it’s been? Yeah, Mark uh is a good coach. those wrinkles in the game. He comes to me and asks me if I’m with it. I tell him I don’t care as long as my minutes don’t change. Um but yeah, he is is coaching. I let him do his thing. I’m I’m cool with it. Dub, in the the first half, Denver was able to to kind of get on the glass and score in the paint, but in the second half, particularly fourth quarter, you guys were able to kind of seal that off. Tell me about that aspect of the game and how you can kind of stop that freight train when it’s already on the tracks, man. Uh, I think just having the right approach throughout the whole entire game and you kind of you kind of just got to like stay real steadfast in your approach and like trust what we’re trying to get accomplished. They hit some some like tough shots just the whole game and you know, you kind of just got to stick with it and and do your whole thing. I think it was really easy for us to probably like cave in a couple times. I think Joic hit a back foot fadeaway three that you kind of want to say is crazy, but he’s done it so much. And I think we just had the right approach about next play and just stacking possessions and, you know, trying to impose our will and we did a good job. That’s it. You hit you hit the corner three late and afterwards you’re kind of I don’t know if you’re yelling at your your wrist or your hand. Can you I talk about that or not? What? He did you hear his question? I didn’t hear. Oh, can you ask your question again? Yeah. You were you were yelling at either your wrist or your hand as you’re running toward the bench after the timeout. Can you tell us what you’re saying? I don’t even remember that to be honest. I probably got to look at a clip or something. Yeah, I do want to follow up. Probably something not appropriate to be honest. I do want to follow up on Andrew’s question on there with you yelling at your hand or whatever, but obviously there’s some excitement there. There’s some jubilation there. just can you talk about just the excitement, maybe even the crowd pumping into it to kind of get over that hump? Uh, yeah. First off, big pass from Lou. He had just hit like three of them. So, for him to one more to me just shows the approach that we’ve had for the whole entire game. And I’m just happy I was able to knock down the shot and obviously having PCON behind me is a pretty cool pretty cool moment. But I don’t remember what I said. It probably wasn’t something that I should have said on TV. So, yeah. You mentioned loose threes. just how big of a boost was that for you guys? Yeah, I mean won us the game for real. And then I think too, it wasn’t even just the shots he hit. It’s just the defensive approach that he has as well when you have both sides of the ball and for him to make big shots and then not let up on the defensive end is the the biggest thing in regards to that. So, um, hats off to him for that. And then I think a lot of it too had to do with Shay trusting us down the stretch to make the big plays he did and still get off the ball and have us, you know, play through each other. Um, I think those two things kind of coexisted really well. Throughout basketball history, a lot of teams they go shorter rotations throughout the playoffs. I think Denver’s playing like seven guys or something like that. You guys go eight, nine, 10 deep. What’s sort of the value, the depth on this team in terms of the playoffs? I think it’s our superpower. Um, and our team really really embraces it. Mark’s been doing this since I’ve been here where we’ve just had guys like you look at my first year like I don’t think people anticipated me to play the minutes I was playing and just from then on like everybody is available, everybody’s ready to go and everybody knows that and I think that gives guys a lot of confidence to come to the game and make an impact. Jaylen, I think a lot of people looked at this game as I don’t you know not must win. And you got two more after this, but you know, with the scenarios out there, need to win probably is the way a lot of people might might have looked at it. For you guys to have come out to have weathered the storm, what does it sort of say just about where you guys are at this point and, you know, experience and and learning and all those sorts of things. We’re just getting better through the experiences. Obviously, the series is very far from over. Um, we’re going to have another fight like tonight. Uh Mark said something that really has stuck with us a lot is like everybody on the team wants to win so bad that in the game you kind of have to hone that in to like let’s win this possession instead of like let’s win the game. You know what I mean? Cuz then you kind of get sidetracked. So we just try and take it possession at a time and and build out from there. It’s very easy to get caught up in, you know, this is a must win or whatever’s going on. I think we’ve done a good job of just trying to just get better each possession and go from there. Go ahead, Barry. Yeah, J, you guys uh you were so dominant in the regular season. You didn’t have a many games like this way most teams do. Um you won a tight one in Denver, but it’s sort of a slo game tonight. You won with a lot of good plays on the offensive end. How important is that to execute and come through in crunch time? Is that a sign that you’re growing up or just surviving? What’s that a sign of? No, I don’t think we’re just surviving, but I don’t even want to say like we’re growing up. I don’t really like using that as like a excuse to like be great or like kind of use our age into it. I think we’re kind of past that. Me personally, I think it’s just more us getting better, trusting each other. We’ve been through these situations. We’ve been through the game five last year. Like, we’re just kind of like going through these experiences. So, I guess you could say it’s like growing up, I think, in a sense, but I think it’s more like just like trial by fire. like we’ve been in the positions and we trust each other and I think that’s what’s going on. Andrew Aaron Gordon’s been big in fourth quarters in this series tonight 0 of three. Anything different you guys showed him tonight? Well, I mean how many Jamal have 30 and Yokic have 44? They were kind of running through them a lot. Um yeah, but he has been really good this series and somebody that we’ve definitely had to key in on and and do that. Um, but I don’t I don’t know about anything different. I probably got to go back and like really look at what happened that fourth quarter, but I think a lot of it was them playing through the guy that almost had 50. Yeah. Anybody else? We go. Last one. Did Joel? No, I think you kind of already got asked about this, but the the moment where you hit the three late and you’re screaming at your wrist, I I think that’s the wrist that’s sort of been bothering you for my wrist been bothering me. You tell me. Is that not true? No, I feel great. Um, I’ve just seen you wearing tape on it, man. I’ve had tape on so much during the season. No, my wrist is cool. I honestly don’t even That was out of body experience. I just remember hitting the three and it was really loud and then I remember getting to the bench and Jay Will was yelling at me and then I had like that like ringing noise. So, I don’t really remember the stint. People were sending me videos of me yelling at my hand. Like, I really don’t remember it. I don’t know why I did it. But, I don’t know. when it’s loud in there and you have that much energy like it might make you do like a back flip. Like there’s just so much energy involved in paycom. So that’s my No, I sure I sure wouldn’t have tried up three. Chad from the the depth that you guys continue to display and you know the extra passing um the way that guys have just you know fed into each other. Tell me about the trust that you’re feeling on the floor right now with your guys. Yeah, it extends way longer than, you know, from the tip off of the game or the beginning of the series or the beginning of the playoffs. Uh, you know, we’ve all been in the gym working together, uh, you know, improving, getting better, and, uh, everybody sees how hard each other works. And because of that, you know, we all we know what we’re capable of, and we’re able to to kind of trust each other knowing that, uh, we’re all in it together. Yeah, Chad, you guys were down nine with about 8 minutes left and Lou hit those three shots in about a five possession span. Besides the points and catching up, what did seeing those three shots go in do for everybody’s confidence, morale, energy, all those things? Um, I mean, I think you said it really well when you said energy. Uh, you know, he hit some big shots, made a lot of big plays. uh you know, he has a hard task chasing around a lot of ball screens all game long. You know, I’m sure it’s exhausting and um you know, I’m sure it’s hard to do that every single time down and then go down and shoot the ball. So, uh you know, he’s being asked to do something that’s extremely difficult and you know, the point in the game when he made those shots was huge. It completely turned the game around and uh like you said, you know, changed the energy, changed uh, you know, just changed the whole game, you know. Shout out Lou. I’m curious what you expect going to Denver in a closeout game from you guys. Uh, you know, I I expect nothing less than what it is. It’s a closeout game in Denver against a really good team and uh you know we have to be locked in and ready uh ready to bring it knowing that uh you know closeout games are the hardest games. Uh on top of that being on the road uh we have to understand what’s at stake and uh you know we can’t let but we can’t let that kind of drift us from doing what we need to do uh to win the game. uh we can’t focus so much on winning the game that we don’t win every aspect throughout the game, every minute of the game. We have to focus on where we’re at in the game when we get there and leading up to it. Starting, you know, pretty much now doing what we have to do to get ready for it. So, what’s it do for I mean that comeback Lou got it started, but Shay hits a big three, Jaylen hits a big three on the rotation of the ball, you alter the shots. What’s it do for the growth of the team when so many guys contribute to a win like this? A comeback kind of like in game one where they came back late on you, you come back late on them in this game. Yeah. Um I think it just kind of it adds to the experiences. Uh obviously we’ve had some tough experiences so far. Uh obviously this one feels a lot better, but uh you know, win or lose, we’re going to look at this and see where we can be better. We made some great plays down the stretch and we’re going to look at those and figure out you know why they went in our favor and you know figure out how to keep doing that going forward knowing that uh the other team is on the other side of that looking at how they could be better in those situations and it’s going to be a back and forth and we just have to trust that you know continuing to work on it with the right intentions and everything is going to put us in a better position than the other team. Chad, will you talk about the mental and physical uh roller coaster guarding Joic? When you think you got him doing something, then he ends up with the fourth quarter the way he did. Just can you talk about the roller coaster with him? Yeah, I mean, I wouldn’t say it’s just him. Uh, you know, that’s the NBA. Uh, it’s the best league in the world. There’s really good players. Uh, you know, there’s a lot on the line and everybody’s locked in. And uh you just have to understand that, you know, I don’t know how many games have been played in NBA history. No team’s ever scored zero points. So, you’re never going to shut anybody out. Uh it’s just understanding that you have to make things as tough as possible. Not only on a team, but on certain players and certain aspects. You have to understand what they’re what they want to do, uh what they’re not as good at. Try and force them to the things they’re not as good at, and then trust that that puts you in a position to win the game. Um, and you know, he’s a really good player, so you’re not going to shut him out. It’s just you have to uh make things as tough as you can on him and his team. Uh, and trust that that puts you in a position to win the game. Chad, there were obviously moments of big celebration in in the course of that game, but at the very end of the game, it was sort of a been there, done that almost attitude that I saw out of you guys. Not sort of going crazy, celebrating that sort of thing. What does it say just about the mentality approach just where this team is um to have come through a game like that in big stakes and just sort of be I mean not not going crazy at the end I guess. Yeah. I would just say understanding that uh you know we’ve been on the other side of it. Uh and whether you’re on the winning side or the losing side, it can’t be these big ups and downs. uh you know, you have to stay really steady knowing that uh you know, we’re flying to Denver tomorrow to play another game. So, uh that’s not the end all be all and uh I feel like collectively we have a good understanding of that and uh you know, now we have to turn the page from this game and get ready for the next one. Uh Chad, with some coaches, you can see them sort of just lose confidence in guys. Mark’s been just very very apparent and just open about not losing confidence in guys like you and Lou. Lou tonight has slow start, turns it around. You had something sort of similar against Memphis earlier in the playoffs. What is sort of the value of having a coach like that who you know has your back? Uh I mean it’s extremely important. Uh you know, a lot of credit goes to Mark on that one. Um you know, he’s he’s going to stick in there with if he if he believes in you. uh he he’s not an outcome oriented person. Uh you know, if you’re out there with the right process, the right intentions, trying to make the right plays. Uh the outcome of those plays isn’t necessarily what he’s focused on in the short term. Uh you know, if you have a track record behind you, you know, he’s going to believe in that more so than uh you know, what happened in the shortterm memory of things. Uh, and Lou has a track record of coming up big for us on both ends of the floor. And, uh, you know, it’s going to take a lot more than that for not only Mark, but us to lose confidence in him. Uh, you know, we saw it tonight why why you just can’t do that. Check. Check. The the play is probably lost on you now because I mean, between everything that happened in those last few minutes, it’s probably one of the crazier clutch finishes in the league in recent memory. But the the three that Jokic hits late clock one foot like what’s going through your head when that happens and and what do you think now that you know you guys managed to close it out even even after that? Yeah. Uh immediately afterwards my my thought was going towards the next possession. Uh you know once the shot goes in you’re not going to change change that. It’s now all right, what do we have to do on the other end to, you know, keep things moving forward. Um, but I mean, I’m going to go back and obviously it’s tough shot. Uh, credit to him, but I’m going to go back and watch and see what I can do to make it tougher on them. Uh, defend it better, make him miss a shot. Uh, you know, again, understanding great players make make plays. You’re not going to shut them out. But, uh, you know, he made the shot, so it’s a makeable shot. So, you got to figure out how to defend it better. Go ahead, Lou. You hit that third three and they call a timeout and and you just had this moment of reaction heading to the bench. Uh tell me about that feeling uh as you’re walking towards your guys. Um just a lot of energy honestly. Um shout out to the crowd. Uh the crowd got a lot of emotion out of me today. Um they were great. Um you know, I just had to keep trusting it. Um honestly um you know J well find me on a good pass and I just had to shoot it. And dude that moment and just the entire fourth knowing that Mark turned to you after you know going with Case last last game. The fact that he turned to you in that moment and kept you the rest of the game. What does what does that mean to you and and I guess how would you describe the kind of faith he has in you? Uh it’s just the trust. I mean you know coach Mark is a big reason why I have this success in in this league. you know, he’s the the first first coach that called me in the game my rookie year. So, you know, I have a lot of trust in him and he has a lot of trust in me at uh the same time and um you know, next man up, you know, Queso had a a great game last game and and and uh he he hit some some big shots. So, um he had to make the right move for the team and and I I stand by by that as well. So, um you know, I any everybody on the team got to stay ready. um he went back to me today in the fourth I had to stay ready and and I was you know I was I was out there uh playing hard and and plenty of the conversation surrounding you guys into the postseason was you know whether you guys could especially the series whether you could you know match the sort of experience Denver has and sort of win clutch games just knowing what you did down the stretch and seeing the shot dub hit shot hit like what’s going through your head as it’s unfolding we getting better honestly um you know it was kind of hard this season to prepare for those type of moments. You know, there’s a lot of games. We didn’t have a we didn’t have a lot of close game during the season, but um you know, it it’s happening in in the postseason and and and we we ready. We’re getting better. Um you know, after every game, we watch film and we see some of the stuff we can get get better at, especially from the first uh uh the first game and and the third game and the four game, whatever. But, uh we just getting better and we see some of the stuff that we can get better at. Andrew, go ahead. Lou, where where does your fearlessness as a shooter come from? You you’ve had a lot of playoff games where you’ve taken a lot of threes and, you know, moments up and down for you even in this series, but where’s that fearlessness come from for you? Um, honestly, the work, you know, I I put a lot of work in. I work on on those type of shots. Um, you know, I’ve been in those situation before. I’ve been been the worst. So, um, you know, I just got to keep believing in myself. My teammates have my backs all the time. Um, you know, I I I had a great year shooting the three this year, so I got to keep believing and keep trusting it and um, you know, I’ll keep doing that. Go ahead, J. Hey, Lou. Mark was saying that you guys aren’t out to answer any outside questions um, in in these playoffs, but the way that you guys have won these last two games, have you guys internally gotten any answers about yourselves? Just what this team is about, anything like that? Honestly, we just got to we just got to execute. Um, play our game, you know. Um, it’s a it’s it’s a tough team. A lot of experience. They know what they’re doing. So, um, like I said, we we getting better from from the the previous game. Uh, we just got to stay confident, stay at it, and just execute our stuff and we’ll be fine. Lou, uh, defensively, just chasing a guy like Jamal around all series. I know you guys are obviously close. What’s that been like just competing against him in this series? competing like you said. Um he’s a tough player. He’s going to make a lot of tough shots. Um um yeah, he’s he’s a good player. Um I just got to make everything tough, honestly. Um you know, keep um keep my pressure um contest everything, but um you know, we just got to go out there and compete. Yeah, Lou, you hit those three threes and you guys were down nine and you hit the three- threes in a very short span. Besides getting the score close or caught up, what did you sense as how important that was to the momentum, the confidence, just the spirit of your teammates, the crowd, everybody? Um, yeah, like you said, a little bit of everything. Um, honestly, they they had it going. Um, they was they was hitting some some tough shots. that they they was they was making their runs, but you know, us um on the bench, timeouts and all that, we kept talking to each other, saying that we we we good, that we we can fight through this. Um and uh we just keep kept trusting each other, moving the ball and and finding the right shots, and you know, I was I was open for some of them and and and I and I and I made them. But uh it was it was great from you know, the team and and the crowd at the same time. Go to Michael Martin. Well, you sort of touched on both, but AC’s talked about the amnesia you need to have as a great defender. Uh, you talked about how Jamal’s going to make great shots, but you sort of have just wipe that. The same with offense of just sort of your confidence. Where does that sort of mental fortitude and strength come from and how have you built that up of being able to just wipe away bad possessions on either end? Yeah. Um, like I said, the work, the the experience I went through, um, you know, um, you know, my first playoff experience, um, it was kind of like that where, um, you know, I wasn’t that good of a shooter, but now I just got to keep I keep trusting it. You know, I spend a lot of time in the gym. Um, I got to trust in my teammates, for my coaches. So, um, you know, just really re the game and let the game come to me, honestly. But, uh, you know, I got to I got to stay confident. Luke, you’re involved in a lot of those pick and rolls with Jokic and and the physicality between the two of you just going on this entire series. Like, are you surprised about how uh he can show up like in a fourth quarter like this just in the physicality he’s playing with and just his energy level going up? I mean, obviously you go back and forth with him. You you’re physical with him. Yeah, he’s a he’s a great player. Um he’s been in those situations before. Um he know what to do. Um he’s he’s he’s a big guy, really physical, so we just got to match that. Um obviously he’s way taller than me, so I’m I’m trying my best to to to battle um with him. But uh I know I know I know. But um um yeah, it’s not it’s not it’s not me honestly. It’s it’s credit to to to Jart and and Chad and all the guys that we we we throw out of him. But, uh, um, like you said, he’s a great he’s a great player and he’s going to make a lot of tough shots. Thank you, Luke. Mark, whether it be, you know, the extra passing, the the team defense, um, you know, the the rotations, just tell me about the level of trust that this team exhibited tonight in a gut check game. Yeah, great job. Um, hanging in there. First of all, we didn’t play great. Um, we’re a little sloppy in the first half on both ends of the floor. That was as loose as we’ve been defensively. uh really since game one or maybe worse than game one. I’ll have to watch it. But um to hang in there the way we did uh and get back on track um was impressive. And then I thought we closed really well. You know, both ends of the floor, high level of connection. Um guys play great. Mark, you you you went away from Lou late last game. He he doesn’t start the fourth, but you go to him and he plays the rest of the way. Hits three threes. He saved some pretty huge possessions. Can you describe your your faith in him? Yeah, I don’t bet against Lou. It’s that simple. You know, he’s just got an unbelievable um there’s just a special thing about him. You know, he’s just he’s always going to stand back up. He’s not perfect, but um he’s always going to respond. He’s always going to compete. You always can count on him to do that. Um and I just I don’t like betting against that guy. and and you know all series we’ve asked you about your comparative experience and clutch time minutes and for my money that it feels like you just clutched up maybe the biggest game in this building. Just what are your thoughts going down the stretch and and I guess how do you feel about your team in clutch time? I mean the the close games are first of all our execution was excellent. you know, I thought we executed as well as we have, you know, in the playoffs, you know, down the stretch of a close game. We had a couple in Memphis and then we had the few here. Um, and our execution was very good. Um, but at the end of the day, those games can come down to one shot, one play. You know, it could go either way. Um, you so you can’t overreact to the outcome. I just thought our process tonight down the stretch was excellent. We got into stuff. We were organized on both ends of the floor. No breakdowns. uh and strong execution. I think going into the fourth quarter, you’re seven of 20 from three, then Lou hits three in that two-minute stretch, and then you close with Jay Dub and Shay hitting big threes. Was that just what the defense gave those guys? I mean, what turned it around from distance for you here? Um I mean, Lou, you know, stepped in with confidence and and made big shots during that stretch. That was huge because we were, you know, down whatever we were nine or 10 uh around that time. the two down the stretch, you know, Shay’s just taken what they gave him. You know, he was clean on that one. He didn’t force that. It was a great rhythm shot. And the dub one was a great early pass by Sheay, extra by Lou, uh, to generate a really good look. So, um, like I said, I thought our process down the stretch on both ends of the floor was really, really clean. Quick followup on Jaylen Williams. Jay Will gave you a nice little spark in the third quarter. Then you subbed him in with Chad after Lou hit that first three with about eight minutes left. couple of rebounds, couple of good defensive possessions on on Joker and then a couple of nice passes, too. What did you think about his minutes and how big was he tonight? Yeah, he was huge. You know, he’s been huge in this series, but um you know, I heart Hart in the first quarter. I let his stint linger too long. We’re trying to keep these guys uh fresh uh especially the guys that are handling the major matchups. Um and and so that was on me and uh getting to him earlier in both the third and fourth and keeping everybody fresh uh for Joic um was a huge point of emphasis. So um but he stepped up. I mean he’s Jaylen is a unbelievable competitor. He made big time plays. He had a great pass to Chad there down the stretch uh and played great D on Joic. admiring Mark. Uh gosh, 68 wins, all the good things that happened this season, but a lot of people question you guys inexperience and everything else and playoff, I guess, toughness, whatever. You guys are trading licks back and forth in that fourth quarter. What does a game like this do to answer some of those critics and what does it just do for the confidence of the team overall? Yeah, we don’t play to answer anybody. We just play uh for one another, you know, for our fans. Um the guys have an unbelievable connection uh in the locker room. You know, that’s that’s enough for us. Um and they’ve had an unbelievable spirit, you know, that’s why they’ve accomplished what they’ve accomplished to this point. Um and it’s why they show the type of resolve on a night, like I said, that we, you know, for a lot of that game, we we didn’t have our fast ball, but we hung around long enough uh and show great will and and connectedness down the stretch. Mark, this is now back-to-back games of really impactful minutes from that trio of Kase, Caruso, and Wiggins. What is it about those three guys in particular that allows them to play well so well together and sort of amplify each other? Um, I I just think first of all, they’re all like team first guys. The whole team is, but those guys are team first guys. They compete together. Um, they complement one one anothers with their skills. Um, Kase and Cruso defensively, there’s a great contrast there. They bring different things to the table. Uh but they really play together. They have great chemistry out there, but the all the guys do. Um but that unit again, that unit was big in the second quarter. Um they kind of stabilized the game for us. Um and then obviously gave us good minutes in the second half. Coach, what’ you see from uh Joker in terms of energy? I mean, he he did look just worn slick in that last game and tonight, not only does he make everything, but he he he looks uh like there was plenty of energy. Uh I mean he responded like great players respond to adversity. You know like we knew coming into the game that we were going to get uh a very very potent version of him and we did. You know he was um he was decisive and quick and forceful. He was you know just beating um the guy on the ball. He was beating the shell um getting to his spots. Um and we just have to understand going into game six in Denver like this is a prideful team. He’s a prideful player. Like that’s exactly what we’re getting. you know, they’re going to approach this game um the exact same way with the same type of physicality, force. Um and we can’t be late to that party. Coach, um it’s it’s it feels weird to ask somebody who won 68 games, like if their team is still learning how to win games, but it feels like in these playoffs, especially the way Denver’s pushed you guys, if they have you had to learn how to win these types of battles and the these kind of slower slower games they’ve been putting you guys through. Yeah, I I think you know I said this after game four uh and I’ll reiterate it now. I I actually think we’re a better team today than we were at the beginning of the series. Like we’re we’re definitely evolving and growing and learning uh despite the fact that we think we can play with anybody. Um and we’ve had some success. Um that doesn’t stop us from growing. This is a humble group of guys that um stay grounded through the success and that’s what allows them to continually improve despite the success. And so, um, we’ve had to really test ourselves through five games. Game six is going to be a massive test for us in Denver. Um, because it’s on the road and and because the way they’re going to play, um, and we’ll grow from that as well, regardless of outcome. Coach, in terms of confidence to see a player like Shay, young player, assume control in the second half and and in the game’s biggest moments, just from your own experience and your own vantage point, how do you see that pushing him and and continue to see him grow? Yeah. Shape in particular. Yes. Yeah. I just like our team like he I don’t think he had his fast ball early tonight. Um I thought there were some plays that he could have gotten calls on. He didn’t. Um he got hit. He went down there uh and played through that. Um and just didn’t seem to be in the same like rhythm and flow that he’s normally in in the first half. It’s the playoffs. You know, we’re talking about Joic the last couple games, but what the great players do is they rise, you know, in the face of those challenges and adversities, and I just thought he got more and more composed as the game went on and settled into the game. And despite the fact that the the pressure was mounting, and it got hotter in there, uh, he got cooler, you know, and and just kind of um settled into it, made the right plays, let the game tell him what to do. He was un he closed that thing down the stretch. Both both teams scored a lot in the paint tonight. What do you what do you feel led to that? I mean, both teams have not scored a lot in the paint in the series. Uh, and that’s how these things unfold is, you know, there’s you get confronted with very uncomfortable problems and then you have to solve them, you know, together. And while we’re trying to solve our problems, they’re they’re trying to solve theirs. And I thought both teams tonight, you know, showed the the remnants of that, you know, like they solve some of the things that have been bothering them that we’ve been doing. Uh, we solve some of the things that have been bothering us. And that’s um what a series does to you, you know. It’s just it’s it’s a it’s a slog in that way. But um both teams played better in certain areas of the game tonight, you know, and you tip your hat to them and I thought we did a good job ourselves. This will be the last question to Barry. Then we have players. Yeah, Mark. Uh when Lou, you were down nine when Lou made three threes in a four possession span. Clearly the nine points is important. You needed it. But what did that do to the rest of the guys to see Lou make those three shots in a in a short span just from a from an energy and confidence uh perspective? Yeah. Um yeah, it’s kind of like these guys are so connected. Um it’s kind of like if a family member of yours is hurting or happy, there’s a contagiousness to that because of the connection you have to a family member. That’s how they are with each other. So when they see a guy rise like that, they feel that, you know, and Jay Will in game two, Wiggins and Kase last game, it brings an energy to the whole team. It’s contagious through the team because of the um relationships that they have and the thing that they’ve built, you know, so it breathes great energy into the team every time um somebody rises back up from an adversity. And you know, he was obviously the story of the game with his ability to do that

Hear from Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams, Chet Holmgren, Lu Dort, and Coach Mark Daigneault following the Thunder’s 112-105 win over the Nuggets in Game 5 of the Western Conference semifinals.

0:00 Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
9:41 Jalen Williams
16:34 Chet Holmgren
24:53 Lu Dort
31:35 Coach Mark Daigneault

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