Indiana Pacers and Oklahoma City Thunder | 2025 NBA Finals Game 7 Pre Game Interviews

Indiana Pacers and Oklahoma City Thunder | 2025 NBA Finals Game 7 Pre Game Interviews

here on the left mark Dustin the Pak Indianapolis star you you talked at the beginning of the series about just the respect you have for Rick Carlile just what’s it been like to kind of sit on the other end of the the chessboard against him for seven games uh humbling humbling he’s a great coach um their team uh plays with a a ruthlessly consistent identity um they really compete uh they’re never out of a game uh they’ve done an unbelievable job collectively of building the team uh to the point where they can get to this point and perform the way they have uh in this point um and it’s been the case you know in the end i mean there’s not a lot of nights where um you feel like you’re in at an advantage from a coaching standpoint there’s great coaches in the league and he’s certainly right at the top of the list on your right Nick mark you often talk about simplicity in your message and you know tactics how how key for you is it tomorrow that your guys are uh playing instinctually and and not thinking uh here in a game seven critical critical um I think that’s the that’s the deal is uh you want to be prepared um certainly want to learn the lessons get the game plan into the game but not at the expense of aggressiveness confidence uh instincts i think that’s been a um strength of ours this season we certainly need to lean on that we got to understand the work’s done you know and we got to trust that work the muscle’s built we got to flex that muscle that’s what tomorrow will come down to for us straight ahead Barry barry Traml Tulsa World mark we talk about game seven pressure on players how much pressure is there on coaches in general you in particular to make the right scheme adjustments direct rotations those kinds of things i always feel a ton of pressure but the pressure is not external it’s not like a game circumstance it’s not a situation it’s the internal pressure of doing right by the players um serving the team putting the team in the best possible position to be successful especially this team you know it’s a group of guys that um I love I love coaching um and so I feel a great sense of responsibility to them a great sense of responsibility to the organization the city um you know in every circumstance though you know that’s that’s a a fire that’s keeps on burning regardless of circumstance chris on your right up front Mark Chris Mannic Sports Illustrated um there are a lot of statistics that explain the outcomes of the games in this series but to follow up on something Nick asked the the intangibles seem to have had an impact everyone the effort plays playing with force imposing your will is there any way that you can prepare your guys to win those types of battles you just have to hope that they come out with the the requisite energy i mean it’s it’s a contest of wills i think the reason it’s swung uh between the two teams is because these are two teams that um have leaned on that heavily to get to this point u it’s two teams where the hole is better than the sum of the parts it’s two teams that are highly competitive two teams that play together um and so two teams that kind of rely on the same stuff uh for their success that are squared off against each other and so um you know you’re not going to exist in the in the win column of that you know on a possession or even obviously in a series for either team and so um I agree with you that um those things have defined the games of the series um I think both teams understand that both teams are going to try to do that tomorrow and the better team will win jenny hey Mark jenny Carlson with the Oklahoma i know you’re acutely focused on what happens between the lines tomorrow but game sevens obviously have a a lore in sports and you long told us you’re sports history sports fan of many things kind of put us inside being involved in a game seven in a championship series just your appreciation for that it’s a privilege you know it’s a privilege for everybody that gets to participate um it’s an unbelievable thing and an unbelievable experience um and you know both teams have earned the opportunity to experience that um and so we’re going to enjoy it we’re going to um throw our best punch go out there and be who we are uh but it’s a privilege to play in a game seven of the NBA finals i mean no one no one’s skipping that in this whole thing but you know once the ball goes up in the air the game is still going to come down to the same things and we’ve got to be able to focus on that despite u the fact that we’re grateful for the opportunity tim on the right third row Tim Reynolds AP Mark for a team that obviously plays very physical on the defensive end you guys aren’t afraid to foul you don’t go over the line either that you’ve got almost no texts all year shay got one for waving a towel in support of a teammate making his first first basket and it was it was rescended and it was rescended for the record the is that is it an organizational tap route like we are just not going to get technical fouls or is that just the way these guys are that they’re that they’re just not privy to going over that line well first of all the you know we’re physical but I think we’ve done a great job there was a point in the season where our free throw differential was historically low not only the lowest in the league but lowest in the history the modern history of the NBA um and we really dug into that um and tried to make sure that we were putting ourselves in more positions to get fouled with the force that we were playing with on offense which I think has shown up in the playoffs dub specifically is a guy that’s made huge jumps there and then defensively understanding legal and illegal physicality we we don’t want to take illegal fouls you know like I want to be very clear on that um we want to play physically but we want to play legal and not put our you know opponents on the line or in the bonus um as far as the technicals we just try to it’s not a it’s not a thing we talk um openly about um first of all I respect the officials i think our team respects the officials we understand that that’s an imperfect job it’s not going to be perfect um they’re trying to get it right um and then we really try to just focus on what we can control you know not because of anything other than that’s the best pathway to play your best and that’s the best pathway to win and so um we have a hopefully a culture of focusing on what we can control and um blocking everything else out and you know Jenny mentioned game sevens and the lore of that um the outcome of the game and the the context of the game is outside of our control in between the lines is inside our control and the referees is in that category too you know like we can’t control how they call the game and what they put a whistle on and what they don’t we can control a lot of other things in the game and that’s what we need to focus on we have time for Michael and John Mark michael Grange from Sportsnet in Toronto um there’s not many guys on either side that have kind of played statistically to their season averages i think obviously just the quality of the defense being played but one guy is Pascal Seakum um are you okay with that and you know is there any reason why he’s been able to play to kind of his level and do you need to get him off that if you’re going to win Sunday um I think it’s it’s all play you know he’s had some quiet games in the series as all great players do uh in a playoff series because you’re playing against a great team um the deeper you go the better the competition tends to be um and then you’re playing against a great team over and over and over again which is an experience you just are not getting in the regular season and so um there’s no point in the regular season where you play a great team seven straight times and as a result of that um great players great teams they vacasillate in and out of um everything you know to Chris’s question with the intangibles it’s like it’s very hard to sustain the exact same level over and over and over again in a playoff series which is why I think you know some teams wins games they lose games and some great players have really loud great nights and then they have quieter nights so um I think we’ve generally um done a pretty good job um in the series and so is Indiana and that’s why it’s 3-3 and now it just comes down to who plays better tomorrow john last one fourth row towards the middle coach um why do you think that the much bigger difference between your wins and losses in this series has been on your offensive end of the floor and not just shooting but also you know turnovers offensive rebounding free throws yeah I think I I mean I’m not pointing out anything that’s not obvious our defense has been more consistent in these playoffs especially um than our offense has i think um generally offense is harder in the playoffs for everybody you know the same is true for Indiana in this series they’re they’re um their offense is not where it was in the regular season or even earlier in the playoffs i think it’s just harder to score um when you play a team over and over and over again um we’ve got to continue to try to find solutions uh with what they’re doing we’ve done a good job of that um we were not great with that in game six um but we have another opportunity to do that tomorrow and that’s what we got to do if we want to win the game thanks coach jay I’ll be right up jay uh why do you think homecourt advantages mattered so much to you guys during these playoffs um the cloud the crowd is amazing um you’re ultimately like in your complete comfort zone like the float of the day doesn’t change um you’re in your own bed you have shoot around at your building you eat your pregame meal from your chef or your whoever um so it’s just like it’s it’s it’s very comfortable um the whole flow to the day and then um the crowds behind you they give you energy whether you’re up or down or whatever is going on in the night so it’s um yeah it’s an advantage it’s fun for sure joel on the right joel Lindseay with the Oklahoma Shay i I know this thing is sort of arbitrary but people’s definition of you know adversity or their barometer for it has been you know having to lose over and over in the playoffs i mean Boston is probably a prime example how often they went so close to the finals and lost i wonder how you view your team’s adversity and know comparatively why you think the adversity you’ve been through is maybe enough to get over the hump um yeah I try not to compare as much as I can um everybody’s going through something everybody go through a hurdle in life or in a career or in a season like whatever it looks like um and everybody re reacts and responds and feels different to them so I try my best not to compare but um I think this group has done a really good job of like learning the lessons through um its adversity and I think it’s why we’ve gotten here because we’ve taken them and gotten better from them and gotten better on the other side of them um and if we want to achieve our dream we’ll have to continue to do the same thing chris up front shay Chris Manx Sports Illustrated the there’s a lot of statistics that explain the outcomes of the games in this series but a lot of it has come down to the intangibles playing with force imposing your will um how do you make sure that your team wins those battles that you come out with the right kind of energy the right kind of effort in game seven um it has to be an emphasis has to be the top of our mind it has to be all we care about um and above all we just have to want to do it like we just have to have a sense of urgency in that in that part of the game jenny Shay Jenny Carlson with the Oklahoma you you clearly have a great perspective on history of basketball in the league and just things that you’ve said over time there’s not been many many game sevens in the NBA finals i’m wondering as you approach that what that means for you personally to find yourself in a game seven in the finals it’s a really good opportunity um like really exciting opportunity uh like a dream come true there’s I like above all I try to look at it as like a blessing and an opportunity um and then go out there and try to be the best version of myself um I think that’s what we need to do that’s what we have to do across the board um don’t try to do anything spectacular don’t try to do anything that you haven’t done before uh or be less than what you’ve been just just be who you are and what got you here second row on the right sh My Patton OKC Sports Radio um game seven everybody knows what for the NBA championship that’s what that moment’s about if you grew up watching basketball but you guys have also had this moment this still about the next game 000 how do you not let the moment overwhelm you but at the same time kind of having that neutral that you that you guys have talked about all season how do you how do you balance both of those yeah I think through our experiences throughout the whole season and the postseason um no matter no matter how big the moment or the game it always comes down to the same things when we go back and watch film or we go back and look at the numbers from the game it always goes back to the things that that that we know we can control every night um and when we do those things we look like a pretty good team and when we don’t do those things we look like a bad team um and I think learning that and understanding that throughout the season in the postseason um is going to help us tomorrow over here on the left Ganoni from ESPN Brazil coach Mark Dagnos said that the offense has been inconstantly uh I mean not moving the ball well the thing that the thing that uh you can you guys can improve to win the game seven uh yeah we have to um we have to improve on both ends of the floor if we want to win tomorrow but yeah we obviously have to get get better offensively um last game clearly was not good enough and not going to cut it and we know that um uh and yeah we watch film for those type of things um you have games like that now it sucks to have it at that stage obviously but yeah we know we have to be better for sure standing on the right Shay minor Castillo Desancha everybody knows what you going to do take a couple of dribbers create space and take the meeting why they can’t stop you the Indiana Pacers can’t stop you to do that uh I work really hard um I’ve I use all my games and all my experiences to get better throughout the season um and I’ve developed I guess a skill set that works for me and I try to go out there and do it every night vince on the right Shay Vince Goodwill Yahoo Sports there’s been a lot of emotional momentum swings throughout the course of this series on both ends with game seven being the highest of the high how do you keep the team’s emotions from not spilling over from maybe those swings not being so you know vast uh we we do a really good job of like like plugging out of our emotions and and and viewing the game and the opportunity the right way um so like I honestly don’t feel like I have to do too much with this group they do a really good job of of putting the team first above their individual emotions or or goals or whatever it may be um and getting done what needs to get done i think that’s why we’ve gotten here so I don’t think I have to do anything special because of the stage we just have to be who we’ve been all year and then and use the muscles that we’ve trained all year tim on the right Tim Reynolds with the AP shay in your seven years there’s only like two guys that have played as many minutes with fewer texts than you’ve gotten drew and uh Harrison Barnes I think is the other have you always been that way like you just you just don’t go over the line have you always been that way or was that a lesson you had to learn to not go too far yeah I was hotheaded as a kid um and then as I’ve grown I’ve just like understood that like getting too high or getting too low um especially in competition doesn’t really help me for sure um so I try to be as even killed as possible and the way I see it like Texas points and I don’t ever want to give the team points because I can’t control my emotions so I just control them it’s that simple to me yep dustin last one here on the left shay Dustin Deak Indianapolis star i know you’ve been asked about this match up a few times in this series but just what has it been like going up against somebody that you know as well as you do in Andrew Nemhard and and what have you sort of learned about him as a defender uh over the course of this that you didn’t know already from all the times that you had played against him yeah it’s been really fun um I haven’t learned anything new i have known how good of a player he was in defender he was playing with him for all these years um and tomorrow should be even more fun for sure thank you sh right in the front on one third row hey Jaylen Michael Graange from Rogers Sportsnet in Toronto uh you’ve matched up a little bit with Pascal Seakum uh off and on through this series uh what makes him a tough cover uh what have you kind of come to appreciate that maybe you didn’t know from this kind of repeated exposure um I wouldn’t say I learned anything new except like when you don’t guard somebody all season like you kind of figure things out but he’s physical he’s skilled when you put those two things together it’s it’s hard to hard to deal with for sure um and he’s I think the biggest thing for me was he was taller than I thought coming into the NBA I guess like it’s not really like a shock now but just like that like when you’re tall physical and obviously like when you’ve been through this finals process a couple times just like the playoffs of your career like you get better and a lot of moments don’t really rattle you so um he’s been a tough cover but it’s been really fun to go up against him every game and you know kind of have that battle barry yeah Barry Traml toss the world uh coming in everybody often talked about lack of uh deep playoff experience by you guys but the biggest mismatch in experience is on the coaching bench with Carile versus Murk how do you feel like he’s held up what have you liked during this playoff run that you’ve seen from him and how much pressure is on him to coach well in a game seven i have very mixed thoughts about this question uh I don’t ever worry about Mark not being prepared for a moment the way he attacks basketball from a coaching standpoint is the same way I approach basketball which is why we have a lot of respect for each other so I’m not like too worried about the experience there obviously Rick is another great high hall of fame coach so I think Mark’s also getting better coaching against him like the same way we would as we get deeper into this run and I feel like just from like a a playoffs like lack of deep finals experience like we were probably about as deep into the finals as you can get like a game seven so I’m never worried about Mark and and what’s going on with him and in the end day Mark is not going to have to make shots on Sunday so it’s more about how we can carry out his game plan and do that jenny hey Jaylen Jenny Carlson with the Oklahoma you guys played a game seven a month ago against Denver and you told us afterwards you didn’t sleep very much the night before but I’m wondering what did you learn from that game seven experience so many of you don’t have game seven experiences i know this is a whole other level but what did you learn from that and what do you hope translates tomorrow try and go to bed a little earlier uh the other part too is just like um you can’t really the the swings of a game I feel like in a game seven feel so much louder than they do in any other game except maybe apart from like an elimination game i feel like tomorrow they they’ll feel a little different too just cuz obviously it’s the last game of the season this is for the championship so I think it’s just what game seven haven’t taught me for Denver is just like the swings like three feels like you’re down 10 you know what I mean one feels like you’re down five like that’s just like the swing of the game and what’s going on feels much larger so it’s just kind of about like honing in your emotion like understanding the state of the game is big for game seven fourth row on the right vince Jaylen Vince Goodwill Yahoo Sports i think the last time the NBA had a game seven in the finals you might have been 14 years old 15 years old in 2016 being in your third year I’m sure there’s so many more experiences you have yet to experience but can you appreciate like that this is going down in history that win or lose you’re a part of NBA Lord i think there’s only been five game sevens in the past 35 years yeah it sucks i probably can’t appreciate it until I get the outcome I want so uh it it’s cool though um somewhere down the line win or lose it’ll be it’ll be cool to have your name etched in history regardless of what’s going on so I think that’s cool but right now like it’s it’s very difficult to look into that but I’m also grateful for the opportunity that’s one thing I can say is like throughout the whole entire thing you always have to like remain grateful for where you are because there’s a lot of NBA players that’ll trade their spot with me right now so that that’s how I look at it but as far as like being in history like I want to be on the the good side of that for sure nick on the right d Mark talks a lot about trying to keep things straightforward and simple so that you’re not as a team you guys aren’t thinking out there you’re playing instinctually and and with great force can you maybe take me inside a little bit of about how you guys have gone about that over time uh and obviously you know need to have that again tomorrow yeah um over time we’ve had a good process about it we’ve had some slippage um you know you’re trying to get back to that but tomorrow it’s kind of like a do or die situation so I don’t doubt that we won’t have that but I think we’ve done a good job just building the muscle we’ve talked about that all year you know and those games that people don’t think matter when you’re playing late December you know on a Tuesday night and you’re not even on TV like those games the ones that where you can really build a habit there i think we’ve done a good job of that all year and we’ll have to do it one more time second row on the right hey Jaylen Rafal from Spain uh as Vincent said you were like 15 years old when the last game seven of the finals was played i was just wondering what do you remember from those games if you do and what you remember from those games gets you excited about playing tomorrow who was in the finals then cubs Warriors bro I don’t even remember that to be honest like 15 i was probably like a AU tournament or something playing i remember like the the biggest thing from the finals is like I remember a lot of the stuff surrounding it like I don’t remember the actual games when you’re 15 like I feel like you miss a lot of like what’s going on like you’re more worried about like your favorite player like Kobe wasn’t playing so I didn’t really care um but I just remember like the the buzz and just like everybody kind of choosing a side which is why I think it’s really cool that I’ve had this experience like Oklahoma where you’re driving down the city and there’s paintings of Thunder Up and like you know I’m walking to like Target and there’s people face painted and the game’s not even today and like you can see the bars are full every game and we’re packing out the stadium while we’re not here like that’s a lot of the stuff that I’ll I’ll really remember that’s a lot of the stuff I remember like during that run like during that finals time left side towards the center go ahead michael Martin let’s talk thunder dub I’d imagine that sort of the through the course of your career when you had that growth spurt you had to adjust your game to that then again in the NBA once you sort of put on all that muscle to your frame wanted to ask is this the best you felt in terms of like the balance of your actual basketball game and your physique that you’ve had my physique for sure my physique for sure um basketball-wise yeah um I think I just feel myself getting better throughout like the finals and just like throughout the year which is always like a a good feeling uh even when I like struggled like there’s been so like for me at least there’s been a lot of like positivity positivity behind like how I’ve been struggling and like when that was so I just think throughout the year I’ve just gotten way better but physically yeah I feel really good um just kind of lets me know like what I did last summer to get my body in shape for this and what I’ve been able to do to maintain it throughout the year has been a big one so I’ve been good at that tim last question here on the left deb you mentioned the face paint and fans and all that kind of stuff you’ve compared it to like a high school football powerhouse type of feel what What’s the feeling like when you know the like game seven starting the last time you had one here just the with the crowd and the atmosphere and what do you anticipate for tomorrow it makes like the hair on your arm stand up a little bit like it’s so like you’re like anxious going into it um it it’s honestly like it’s a little like indescribable cuz like I haven’t and it’s hard to give like a good answer cuz this game seven is going to be completely different from the last one we played in but from like a fan perspective I can’t imagine it won’t be anything short of like incredibly loud obviously they’re going to be anxious too like we’re very close to you know finishing the job but very close doesn’t get you far unless you finish it but I am excited just to see like how much the city shows out and like I don’t know i just PayCom will obviously have a very different energy than it’s probably ever had so I’m excited for that thanks Jaylen cool take first question over here on the right side hey Tyrese what’s up um last game seven in the finals Caps against Warriors LeBron James against Stephen Curry you always said that you are a LeBron James fan what do you remember from that game uh you remember watching it how was that day for you uh the day I don’t necessarily remember but uh yeah I remember where I was um you know I remember what the the game was like the energy of the game being with my friends and watching it all together and you know there’s a mixture of there’s a mixture of Cavs fans a mixture of Warriors fans but I think that that’s probably one of the greatest games I’ve ever been able to watch as a basketball fan and that’s what makes game seven so you know so fun and I think that especially for people around my age that is the the peak game seven you know so uh yeah I’m excited to add to uh you know the storied history of game sevens and um you know add to you know just the history of our game over here on the left now that you’ve they’ve obviously been really good at home all throughout the playoffs you guys have now played a couple games in this building um just how would you describe it sort of trying to win a game here and and sort of how do you overcome the kind of homec court advantage they’ve been having so far yeah I I think um like I’ve like we’ve said over and over I think the controllables are the most important thing here you know taking care of the ball rebounding you know playing with the right energy i think something that’s a underrated aspect of the game of basketball is momentum and you know when you’re on your home floor um and a you know you make a tough shot or have a you know an alleyoop dunk or make a highlight play of some sort it gets the crowd involved that’s momentum that goes your way you know and um you know I feel like we have that with our home court advantage as well in Indie they have that here as well so uh you got to be able to weather the storm with with those momentum swinging plays try to create you know momentum stopping plays when you’re on the road that’s important as well uh but I think just controlling what we can is the most important thing dustin Tyrese just how did you come out of game seven physically basically what have you had to have had to do over the last you know two three days since to kind of maintain uh the conditioning with the calf yeah I’m pretty pretty much in the same standpoint I was uh before game six you know still a little stiff you know a little sore rather um you know good thing I only had to play like 23 minutes so been able to get even even more treatment and do more things so uh just trying to take care of it the best I can um but I’ll be ready to go for game seven max roll back uh Tyrese you’ve been here for the last seven games asking you a bunch of questions uh but during the games we do the playbyplay for ESPN in Portuguese and after you hit the game uh the game winner in game one I said there’s something special about those pacers uh I’m trying to figure out what is so special about those pacers when you look back to the playoff run the game winners the epic game the clutch times what is so special about those pacers yeah I I think as a group uh we’ve just been very resilient throughout the playoffs um you know we’re a group of guys that get along really well and are trying to do something special you know and I think uh the expectations for this group from you know an external viewpoint coming into the year weren’t very high they weren’t very high coming into the playoffs they weren’t very high going into the second round of the playoffs they weren’t very high going to third round they aren’t very high now you know so um I think we just have done a great job of just staying together and uh yeah there’s not not a group of guys I’d rather go to war with i’m really excited to compete with these guys in a in a game seven and it’s going to be a lot of fun makes back on the left tyrese Chris Hagen Fox 59 Indianapolis a lot of naysayers coming into this series about what to expect from the outside looking in how would you rate this series obviously one more big chapter to write but great games thoroughly entertaining and ultra competitive yeah I uh I won’t be able to give you a real rating until it’s till it’s over u but I I I think that uh you know this has been a joy to compete against these guys and play in this environment i’m having a lot of fun with with what I’m doing and what we’re doing as a group um you know so as a basketball player and being a part of it it’s been a lot of fun and uh I would assume from a basketball fans perspective it’s been a joy to watch so um you know I think that’s the good part about this series alvaro in the middle alder Martino of Ridmo uh last year your defense was seventh worst in the league in terms of efficiency this year went up to 19th in the last month of the season you were the ninth best but then when you see your efficiency in the series it’s better than Oklahoma City’s as a defense and when you look at the your games against the top 10 teams in the league in the regular season the number one defense was Indiana’s oklahoma’s was third how do you explain that for the bigger games your defense all of a sudden turns up 15 notches yeah I think we just do a great job of sticking with our system uh not trying to move it from from game to game um you know I think uh Jim and Jenny who run our defense have done a great job of just establishing you know kind of our blueprint in into what we do um and we’re competitive guys we want to compete against the best and uh I think the buyin from our group has been you know amazing obviously Drew Aaron and Miles kind of set the tone for what we do defensively pascal has been on elite defensive teams before um I feel like I’ve really taken a big step on the defensive end myself personally and we just had a lot of different guys who uh who want to compete on that end and I think you know last year we could score the ball really well but we couldn’t stop a running no could stop anybody you know so I feel like uh we’ve done a good job of buying in on that end and uh that’s that’s called for more success but uh there’s still a lot to go joe here in the front hey Ty uh two follow-ups from the the question that was about just the crazy run the comebacks that you’ve been involved with how have they become part of your team identity and then also when you are a team that maybe outside of Indianapolis like you have surprised the league again but you guys never talk about lack of respect or anything like that you just seem to sort of go about it so I guess the the identity question and then also maybe why you you guys aren’t outwardly talking about you know we deserve respect yeah I think from our group uh as far as like comebacks and stuff I think we just have done a really good job of staying at games for 48 minutes um not giving up understanding that no lead is really safe in the NBA and uh just continuing to to fight through the course of games i think that’s become part of our identity as far as like outward calls for respect like respect isn’t something that we can just like talk about and then receive you know it’s like a it’s a earned thing you know so um you know I still think no matter what happens it’s still probably not going to be where you know necessarily it it should be or what we think it should be it doesn’t really matter though you know I think from our standpoint when we compete and you know teams we compete against they respect us and I think that’s the most important thing as far as what the media has to say about our group you know it it is what it is you know we are in a great a great point right now in our organization’s history and for our our team specifically uh you know you got to be really excited about the chance to compete one game to win a championship so just looking forward to that man i think all the outside narratives and all those things uh they come with winning and they come with uh success so you know we uh we got the ultimate test coming up and I’m really excited about it last one standing on the right Teres hi how are you good how you doing good uh for the pass of uh three game sevens in the uh finals you know LeBron went twice Kobe won once right so knowing those names Kobe Bryant LeBron James that is was the winner of the game seven and do you feel like let’s say if you guys win this time do you feel like you can just being in that name list it just such an honor or how do you feel about it being the name on that name list i just think as a group I think the important part about winning a championship is you know you at your at your name in history as a group you know I think that’s the most important thing but um as far as like thinking about anything like that I I mean I don’t really think about what’s to come after the game you know success or not uh just fully focused on game seven and u trying to take it just a moment at a time really enjoying what we’re doing and understanding like this is uh you know going to be one of the biggest if not the biggest game most of us ever play in our lives and for our organization is from a historical standpoint as well and that’s something that you don’t take for granted and you enjoy as a competitor so I’m really looking forward to it thank you Tyrese i appreciate second row coach uh game seven and I want to ask you about a lot of people in social media and platforms are comparing the TJ McConnell role with the JJ Barrera role back in the 2011 championship run with the Mets what do you think about that and how important is TJ McConnell for you guys very important and I do see similarities steve up in the front on the right side hi Rick steve Ashman or NBA.com a couple games ago Mark was asked about you know have have you run out of adjustments yet and he said no i’m wondering now on the on the brink of a game seven um have both teams seen pretty much everything the other team has and it’s all on the table now for execution or do you think there’s still things up your sleeve oh there are more adjustments that can be made for sure um so we’ll see barry straight ahead yeah Barry Traml Tulsa World we talk a lot a lot about the game seven pressure on the players do you feel any pressure as a coach to coach any different or make better decisions or how do how do you how do you approach and and what kind of an advantage is your experience over Dagnel in a game seven i love pressure i mean I you know as as you as you go on in your competitive life in in sport what you what you learn is that these moments um are rare and trying to duplicate this kind of situation is something that you look to do in in in everyday life and um um it’s not easy to do that it’s not easy to do that um so um I I’m very much looking forward to game seven um you know these are the last time we’ve had one of these in the finals I think was 16 i’ve seen I’ve seen some things about that and uh these are these are special moments for uh certainly for both teams but for our league uh for the game um you know for the worldwide interest in the game and so um you know it’s a it’s a time to celebrate fourth throw on the left over here Rick over here uh before the series you talked about how you expected a very exciting series and here we are three games a piece a differential of just seven points uh has it gone the way you expected as far as that excitement level and uh is it something that you saw that a lot of others perhaps didn’t see in this series i mean you never know um how it’s going to go i had I I I’d be lying if I said this has gone exactly as I expected i you know because each playoff series you know each game is a different thing and um each game takes on a different personality has different characteristics um different guys step up different situations happen etc so um the truth is that nothing else previous to this matters at all now and we’re just down to one one game and one opportunity and so uh you know we’re really we’re really looking forward to it standing on the right side obviously coach besides you uh how similar is this group and this play of run to the one you had with the Mavericks back in 2011 and how much do you use it as a motivation for your group nowadays well there are some similarities um certainly the the character level of the players on the team um is a there’s they’re great similarities there i mean both both of those these groups the 11 Mavericks and the 25 Pacers just have great people i I I see Oklahoma as having a similar type team um you know the Mavericks team was was more veteran than we are we have veterans but uh we had a lot we had more guys in their 30s who had been in a lot of playoff runs and stuff like that there’s a there’s a little there’s a difference there but um yeah I mean but you know when it comes down to it you know it’s 48 minutes it’s 48 minutes and um once again I you know we’re just we’re very grateful for our fans we’re very grateful for our organization um our staff is very grateful for you know the the guys we have on our team and and the collaborative spirit that we’ve had all year and and now it’s now it’s one game aurelia down here on the left hi Rick over here um there’s a lot of talking at the moment how how Obi Topphen developed as a player especially when it comes to the defense side when he was with the Knicks we saw him as a great dunker but never really playing that great defense but now he became such an important role also not just dunking also having this impact on a defense side so what can you share about what approach did you have to actually bring so much more out of a player not just scoring also being on the defense side well when we uh when we acquired him two years ago um in the trade with New York um the first thing we talked to him about were was the fact that we were thrilled to have him uh we saw a lot of special qualities in him um as a young player that still had develop a lot of development to do um we talked to him about defense and rebounding that those are two areas where you know he he still has significant upside and that we were going to we were going to commit to um helping him develop in those two areas um what we’ve learned about Obie is that he’s a great teammate he’s a great worker um he wants to be a part of something that isn’t just about him and so he’s worked extremely hard and he’s improved in both of those areas and so um you know at at certain points of the year he he’s been one of our better defensive rebounding rebounders and that’s been that had been one of his weaknesses so um look I’m I’m proud of all of our guys um but him in particular he’s he’s really come a long way back right yeah uh Cliff Brunt Associated Press uh Chad Homegrren’s been somewhat limited in this series uh from an offensive and scoring standpoint what’s worked and how critical of a piece has that been in getting you guys to the point that you are he’s a great young player and he’s he’s had a lot of stretches where we have not dealt with him well um and so you know like all their other guys I mean they’ve got a lot of great great players on this team um we’ve just we’ve got to do everything we can to make it as difficult as possible joe right here I know that this is a a tough time for reflection with one more big one to go but you go so far back in the state of Indiana and Indianapolis this your third stint here obviously what What has this run up to now meant to you just to be a part of it and the head of it just given your your long history in the state yeah I you know haven’t been doing a lot of reminiscing about that um you know when you when you are are part of a playoff run that gets going and you can keep it going you know um there’s there’s a part of you and I I I’m speaking myself personally you you want to avoid thinking thinking about warm fuzzy things you’ve got to really you’ve got to really concentrate on process um you got to keep trying to think of little tiny things that that you know you can do as a coach to help enhance your players um abilities to play their best and and things like that but um I will say that you know the three games of this series at Gamebridge Fieldhouse have been have been the loudest that I’ve ever heard that place and you know my first stint in Indiana in the ‘9s with Larry you know we were in we were in Market Square for two years and that was very loud too um and then we were we were in it was Conco at the time um in the inaugural year and made a an unexpected run to the finals that year and u you know that was that was extremely loud too i remember particularly game three you know after we had dropped the first two games to the Lakers um my second stint as a head coach you know we we got to the conference finals um that first year and and um the place was rocking you know um and but I you know I I have never heard it as loud as I’ve heard it this year so I I know that that means it’s meant an awful lot to our fan base um you know the story of this franchise is uh is interesting because um the franchise was almost lost at one point it was a there was a teleathon to bring it back to life um and they had to raise a certain amount of money and sell certain number of of tickets to so the bank would foreclose on the on the on the franchise and so um you know Nancy and Slick Leonard had a lot to do with that and then the Simons came in and and purchased the team and then from there it’s been 40 40 40 41 maybe it’s going on 42 years now i don’t know so but it’s it’s it’s a it’s it’s a long um storied journey and um I know all this right now means a lot to our fans and so um you know we’ve just got to focus on one game last qu question in the middle martine Ritmo few years ago you installed an offense that relied heavily on passing heavy passing and that whether it’s causal or not ended up with you not having a single or two single sources of scoring scoring was spread out as well um to to what extent was that a decision made philosophically by you given the material you had the players you had or to what extent did you think it’s going to be very hard for the best defense in basketball to cover all these guys um yeah i mean I’m not exactly sure what time frame you’re talking about or what year or whatever but um I just you know our our roster is built in a way where we need balance um when we traded for Tyrese it was pretty clear that we needed to play with tempo and so Kevin Pritchard and Chad Buchanan have have built the roster with um guys that can run and defend around him um and so but I you know in today’s game you know roster construction is seems to be changing and um a lot of the a lot of the the the best rosters now are built on balance and that’s that’s certainly what we’re trying to do i think that’s what Oklahoma’s doing too thank you coach Pascal will be up hey Pascal um statistically the diff the bigger difference between your wins and your losses in this series has been on their end of the floor i’m wondering if like and how efficiently the Thunder have scored i’m wondering do you feel like the level at which you guys have defended has fluctuated from game to game do you think that’s just random like what do you think that is i mean I think it’s it’s a long series um and you know sometimes you’re going to get people with best shots and you know sometimes shots going to go in sometimes they’re not you know I mean I think our process is the same but um it’s happened in basketball you happen to lose games so that’s just that’s what it is michael here on the left Pascal Michael Graange Rogers Sportsnet Toronto um couple of questions one you had a front row seat for Kawhi Leonard winning a finals MVP just that performance um do you find yourself drawing on on any of those lessons you maybe absorbed unconsciously or not and two um your comfort level just talking to your teammates there’s been moments in this series in this playoffs where you’ve really asserted yourself offensively others where you’ve stepped back let other guys do what they need to do and just maybe those two things just that experience watching Kawhai and then just your comfort going yeah um I mean I think well Kawhai obviously incredible player um I think for me um if if it’s one thing that I learned from like him and even that team is just um being even killed like I I think I think Kawhai no matter what happened he always was the same like um that’s something that I try to like um have it you know for me it’s like no matter good or bad make shots miss shots like it doesn’t really matter like just be yourself um at all times and and and um and that’s something I learned from that and and and I think for our team it’s just um we we it’s it’s all about team like that’s that’s who we are um and and anything that I can do to help my team win like that’s what I’m going to do um and like there’s not no real thinking about like myself and like oh what I need to like at that moment it’s just about how we can what we can do as a team to win and sometimes is it’s defending sometime is getting a rebound sometime it’s getting a steal sometimes it’s scoring so whatever I need to do to help my team win that’s what I’m going to do straight ahead Barry Barry Traml Tulsa world you’re playing for a coach that’s won over a thousand games won a ton of playoff games been won an NBA championship what has his experience done for you guys especially in these finals Yeah he’s been a definitely a calming presence um again like um his communication and and and like you said he has the experience um he does a good job of preparing us for games not only just like in terms of game plan but but um mentally and like you know he’s um he’s definitely one one of those coaches that again like talking to him and and he can just like give you a good perspective on certain things and and maybe make me look at things a little differently than I I look at or or whatever but um I think he’s he’s been so great with us um in that just preparing us for games and also um putting us in a mindset like ready to just go out there and and be ourselves dustin here on the left hey Pascal i know you uh reacted to this on social media already but uh what the uh the picture of you from uh the uh the huddle dustin you going to be the one asking that bro yeah why not all right um what what was your thoughts of what happened and uh what did you you know yeah well I didn’t see it until Well they showed me in the locker room i haven’t been on social media so I I don’t I don’t really know um but and yeah my teammates showed me so um yeah we’re in a like we’re praying and I try to close my eyes i have this problem where like I can’t really close my eyes like sometime I be thinking that I’m closing my eyes but they’re not really closed um and even even just like having conversations sometime I would like look up and it’s like it feels like you know I’m thinking and I my eyes just go up but um but yeah it’s it’s definitely just some natural usually I try to do this so I could make sure I close my eyes um but that time I didn’t and it got caught on camera but um I mean I’m glad people are enjoying it and having fun with it or whatever but um but yeah it’s just literally I was praying and I was trying to close my eyes and I’m thinking in my head my eyes are closed but clearly they weren’t closed so um and um yeah that’s it’s just all it is really i got to again like my agent told me one time in the in the doing the national anthem that like he saw that and I was like “Oh man like I got to make sure I close my eyes like cuz I always this those are the moments where I usually pray.” So it’s like when I do that I’m thinking I’m closing my eyes but I’m not so yeah I got to I got to do better i I got to start doing this like I’ll put my head down like y’all can look at me no more and the camera all these the NBA with all these cameras too like it’s too it’s too much man get the cameras away from us man couple of rows back towards the center pascal um Milan from Waybo China um it’s a long three you it’s a long series and you play against a great team for seven consecutive games and you you won the championship before and then you are an all-star and at this level it seems like your maturity has come to another level how would you describe your personal growth like throughout the series in the playoffs um like how to describe what sorry just huh sorry maturity okay um I mean I think I just um from experience from being in these situations before um I I think just trying to um pull from all the the the the experiences in my life and knowing that this is an amazing opportunity and like we we are the the biggest stage um taking not taking it for granted and also just like knowing like how hard it is to get here and and I think for me just the fact that I can appreciate that makes me um just go out there um not get too down on myself when things are going wrong and not getting too excited when things are going well um just understanding that um it’s you know this is this is the game it’s basketball but it’s also life and and you know sometime you have good games sometime you have bad games and I think just that whole understanding for me like just makes me um relax and and um and go out there and just do my job cuz at the end of the day that’s what it is um we playing basketball and um obviously all the other things make it like look bigger than what it is but it’s just ball last question aurelia on left hi Pascal how are you right um we love talking about especially LeBron also loves to talk about you know he brought the first championship to um the Cavs and you obviously was someone who brought the first championship to Toronto and now maybe the second time to the Pacers and we don’t really give them much appreciation we like we just heard the question before it’s sometimes it’s Kawaii now it’s also Hallebert and of course you’re a team but how much we should give you more flowers and talk about what you actually do to a team that you are someone who’s maybe now the two-time guy bringing a championship to teams who never had a championship before well first I appreciate that um thank you but um I think for me like again I’m I I I really don’t look at it that way um I I just feel like um I’m I’m in a position where I am today man like from someone like from where I’m from like to get here um it’s it’s pretty crazy like so for me like I feel like I’ve already achieved like everything you know what I mean like just because of like I’m here now and like nobody could really see this path for me and and except you know God and and like I’m I’m here now and and and to me it’s just like about going out there every single day um putting the work in and and just trusting God and just giving everything that I have on the floor for my team um for myself for my family um like my dad watching me like and and just hoping that he’s proud of me and everything that I accomplish and um and having you know his name like everywhere you know like that to me like that’s that’s what’s more important like and all the other things like when I’m done like I look at it and be like oh man like this is I did this and it was great but like for me right now it’s just like about the journey um and going out there continue to do do my job and and doing everything that I can and and and I’ll say that like I’m not supposed to be here like kid like from where I’m from not supposed to be here so I’m just so blessed and and um and again it’s it’s it might be cliche but like I I just don’t really care about all that i just care about going out there and do my job and and maybe one day you know I’ll get the recognition and and it would be great then but right now I’m still writing that story so like I’m just focused on that thank you Pascal thanks everybody

Series Tied 3-3

Source: NBA/National Basketball Association

#pressconference
#nba
#nbafinals
#oklahomacitythunder
#indianapacers

Timestamps:
0:00 Mark Daigneault
9:04 Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
17:20 Jalen Williams
26:15 Tyrese Haliburton
34:53 Rick Carlisle
46:34 Pascal Siakam

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