Thunder Talk Game 3 Loss vs. Pacers | 2025 NBA Finals

Thunder Talk Game 3 Loss vs. Pacers | 2025 NBA Finals

sh Jenny Carlson with the Oklahoma mark said that he didn’t feel like their strategy defensively on you changed much but their execution that he felt like their force was more um on point tonight what did you see from them defensively and what impact did that have on the turnovers especially you had tonight yeah they were aggressive they were um they were higher on the pick and rolls um they really were just like coach said more aggressive more forceful um yeah we got to starts with me but we got to um apply that pressure back um especially if you want to beat a team like that on the road you got to beat the more forceful team for sure first here on the left Shay uh you guys go in the fourth quarter up five then you’re only able to score 18 in the quarter you only got three shots up uh what got you guys stuck in the mud and you know what kept you from get going individually in the fourth um it’s hard to say like it’s hard to say cuz I don’t see it from like a bird’s eye view right now after watching film we we’ll definitely have a better idea um but they were like they were aggressive they were heavy in the crowd um I’m not sure how many points they have but it felt like um that when they scored like we’re going against a set defense and it’s always harder against a set defense um so off the top of my head those are a few things but I’m sure there’s probably more that we can uh weave through once you watch film first here on the right Joel Lens with Gome Shay it was almost too many winning plays to count on any side it felt like in the fourth quarter you know Obie’s put back the the steel on the inbound like what was maybe the most frustrating part of the way the fourth quarter unraveled uh I’m not too sure we just like you said they it felt like they won all the 50-50 plays um they executed on both ends of the both ends of the ball um when you uh when you give those two things up and no matter what quarter you’re probably going to lose the quarter um especially and and then it goes back to especially on the road in a hostile environment the crowd’s behind them so yeah we got to take care of those things if you want to come out of game four with a d all right second row middle world their defensive pressure seemed to really affect you guys right there at midc court both you and Jaylen were always sort of uh coralled up what What was different about tonight more besides maybe they’re just playing with more force they were higher in the pick and rolls um had they been going that high no they had during the series no they hadn’t that’s what they were higher tonight in the pick and rolls like they were above the screen so like when you come off it you got to go backwards and that’s a little bit of it goes back to a little bit more force like if we are more aggressive to start the pick and roll and setting it up then we get a better angle um things like that usually come down to like who throws the first punch and I think that’s what that was all right first row far left nick Gallow Casey Thunder Shay uh what do you guys do as competitors here for the next 48 hours i know you probably wish you could get right back out there and and play those guys again right now but how do you win these next 48 hours yeah learn from your mistakes rest recovery um do everything we can to be a better basketball team next game uh yeah I would say those things second row on the left yeah McConnell steals three inbounds and uh you guys had a few more I think Caruso called them pick six type turnovers where it’s just you know run out dunks um as you look at a game like this how detrimental are not only those points but just how it feels when a guy just like you know steals the inbound layup yeah uh those plays hurt especially because they’re very like controllable um you can take your time and mount the ball but you make mistakes in basketball no matter the stage and we definitely had opportunities to to cover those things up but also you also don’t let plays like that happen um so yeah it like it just goes back to being tighter being more focused being more forceful all night and um things like that really hurt for sure last question fourth row the middle john Hollinger from the Athletic yeah nine of 20 from the field tonight did you feel happy with the shots you got or did you feel like you could get to better ones or was it more just you got what you wanted and miss on yeah I feel like I had some good looks in it than I miss I usually make um uh there’s moments where I could have been a little bit more aggressive I would say um but yeah I’ll watch film clean everything up and try to be better for this basketball team come next game joel Lorenzi with the Oklahoma jaylen I I believe it was 19 turnovers after it all um just how would you sort of characterize those and and on the inbounds steals from McConnell like what did those plays sort of feel like they sucked just bad unforced turnovers so those usually those usually hurt you especially especially like in these games where there’s like such high stakes and it’s going to be separated by you know one or two possessions those are very controllable turnovers and they resulted in points so we had control of the game and those turnovers are the ones where like you know they get back into it they get the crowd into it you know what I mean so if we can cut those out I think we’ll be in be in good shape but yeah we had a lot of uncharacteristic turnovers that also led to touchdowns so um or points for everybody that doesn’t know that reference but that that hurt us tonight for sure first row Jenny jaylen Mark said that um Jenny Carlson with the Oklahoma Mark said that he didn’t feel like defensively they changed philosophy but attack and approach was more forceful how do you counter that going into four b um you said them yeah they didn’t they didn’t change they didn’t change around too much they just amped up their pressure and you know being at home you have that that juice to do it so we got to meet that same amount of force and exceed it we hit that pull up sorry Tim right here you hit that pull up at the end of the third seemed like a huge shot at the time put you guys up five what stands out to you about what went wrong after that i missed a shot and then I fouled and they were right back in the game that’s that’s been kind of the same thing it’s kind of like the thing I was talking about with the turnovers like this team makes big runs and like those little unforced errors are where obviously I can’t control if I missed a shot or not that’s that’s not really the issue it’s just more a foul give up and one now they’re back within two and now that shot kind of means nothing you know what I mean so I think we can just have we just had a lot of unforced errors and they capitalize on them because they’re a good team third row on the right hi Jaylen Mike Ornoff with The Athletic most young teams when they try to win a title for the first time kind of have this inflection point or pivot moment for themselves now down to one in this series do you view that um as that moment for you guys and what do you think um you can learn from the Denver series here i mean we’ve been in that exact same kind of predicament um this game three was a better game three than the ones we’ve had so we’ll take that and run with it but yeah I mean it’s very pivotal obviously you know you don’t like being down in a series but we have been here before so we’ll use that experience and work to get better from it chad Jenny Carlson with the Oklahoma just felt like too many mistakes tonight and obviously fourth quarter didn’t close the way you guys would want what did you feel like was lacking tonight um I wouldn’t even say uh there’s a feeling of something being lacking um there’s a lot of areas we can clean up myself personally uh everyone on the roster that got in tonight can look in the mirror and see see where they can be better everybody who stepped out there can be better and uh you know it starts with me i got to be better uh there’s a couple opportunities that we gave away uh on the inbounds just you know taking care of the ball um you know there’s you could look at every single breakdown and and see a opportunity to be better uh we got to understand that no game’s going to be perfect next game’s not going to be perfect but uh you know we have to watch the film and see what we can do to put ourselves in a better position to win the game fourth throw in the center yeah john Hollinger from the Athletic yeah chad the fourth quarter in particular you guys scored 18 points missed nine of your last 10 shots what do you What do you think happened to you guys down the stretch that caused you to struggle so much um I’m going to have to go back and watch the film on that one i don’t want to say something without being able to see the whole picture um obviously you know to win games uh of this magnitude at this level uh you know we have to be better than you know the stat you just threw out there uh you know we we need to close games close quarters close possessions you know it doesn’t doesn’t just come down to the end of the game we got to figure out how to put ourselves in a better position you know for the whole 48 minutes second row here yeah chad Barry Tramble Tulsa World you scored 13 in the first quarter uh struggled after that what was working so well for you in the first quarter and then what went arry after that yeah I think uh you know I was playing aggressive um but uh you know I kind of got more to two feet when I got in the painted area and then uh you know the plays that didn’t go my way uh you know I felt like I got a little sped up at times and um you know I got a little bit out of control in the paint um you know which is again another one of the areas where I I need to clean up and be better for the next game uh you know and I think there’s more than just that i got to you know watch the film and and and improve fourth row on the right Joel Lorenzy with the Oklahoma check um we just asked Alex in the locker room if this feels at all similar to the way the Denver series sort of unfolded and he was just saying that this is probably more frustrating because it is the finals i just wonder what’s what’s sort of the most frustrating part about the way these finals have unfolded and do you feel there are similarities to the Denver series uh I wouldn’t say that now is the time for emotions to be thinking about how you’re feeling uh emotional this emotional that like you know you you kind of have to cut that out and uh just kind of look at the substance of what it is we have a great opportunity here um and you know the great thing is we have another game coming up game four so uh we can’t be thinking about frustration or anything no matter how good it’s going how bad it’s going uh you know the focus can’t be on on your emotions it has to be on uh you know what we’re trying to accomplish task at hand all right thank you Chad

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams, and Chet Holmgren’s postgame press conferences after the Thunder lose to the Pacers in Game 3 of the NBA Finals.

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