OKC Thunder Full Media Availability | Post Game vs Toronto Raptors | February 4, 2024

OKC Thunder Full Media Availability | Post Game vs Toronto Raptors | February 4, 2024

Like that where you just had to outlast uh your opponent yeah I mean those type of games are um very fun to play in especially um you know when the crowd’s into it like they were tonight uh you know us players feed off that energy and

Um you know I thought to to come back from 23 points early in that third quarter um show resilience and uh you know toughness by our team and I thought it would have been easy to go into a shell at that point when we had to call

That first time out in the third but um I thought we stuck with it we we played the the same way I mean we didn’t make many shots in the first half I thought the second half guys were more aggressive decisive for what they were

Doing and um it led to good things so I thought once we figured that out and how to attack the blitzes they were putting on Shay I thought you know we look good out there yeah you guys kind of sorted out the mental side of things as the

Game were on but uh tell me about the feeling when some of those physical plays happen you’re and one lose and one kenri tapouts like what do those plays mean to the team in those moments I mean yeah you know they’re bigger than two or three points whatever it is um I think

The energy that the team gets from at the crow gets involved um it deflates the other team especially in an overtime period where um possessions are so limited um anytime you can make a big play like that um you know it’s exciting and I thought we made a lot of them uh I

Thought Lou was phenomenal you know started off tough couldn’t make a shot and you know from that fourth quarter into overtime uh he he was awesome he stuck with it um he never got phased by the misses and um he he came up huge on both sides of the ball for us in

Overtime so um guys made big plays uh you know we had to step up especially with how they were defending us and um I thought you know the guys did a good job with that tonight joshh you you just mentioned some of the decisiveness the the change as the game went on

Especially with you know how high they’re doubling shade trying to get the ball out of his hands I just wonder what specific developments you saw in terms of guys being decisive and him getting off it yeah I mean I thought uh in the first half well first off it’s it’s

Credit to him you know the way he got off the ball and put us in advantages you know four on three three on two uh was awesome and uh the first off I think we missed a lot of good looks um you know maybe you know myself included be

Make quicker decisions whether that’s you know passing the ball or shooting the ball um I thought we held on to it a little too long but um the start of the third quarter I thought we generated the same looks we didn’t make him early but

Um we stuck with it we trusted you know how we were attacking them and um I thought as the game went on uh we became more confident how to play out of it and uh we started you know making shots for one but uh started getting easier and

Better looks and I think um you know I don’t think we changed how we played strategically a whole lot I thought a lot of it was just decision- making and um decisiveness and once we found that uh we found good things and got good looks and in recent weeks as teams have

You know put their big on you or whatever the adjustments they’ve made that you maybe haven’t seen before there’s been times where maybe you look off a shot or you’re trying to be a hub or whatever um today it felt like you were just constantly in the right place

At the right time and and taking some of those looks you maybe pass up did you feel like today was a a step in the right direction in terms of your thought process and stuff like that definitely um I mean you know obviously it’s been a different year for me um obviously um

You know with with guys coming in um sacrific is needed for a team like this and the success we’ve had requires that and I think um you know guys have done a great job of of making the right play and we got so much so much talent on

This team it’s not going to be everyone’s night every night and um guys have done a great job being unselfish making the extra pass making the extra play and um that’s where I think we’ve had success so far but um you know I’m just trying to get back to me I thought

Tonight was a good step in the right direction in terms of um confidence and decision- making and um I think you know it’s it’s not going to be overnight uh this it takes time and you know progress is never linear with things like this and you know I’m 21 years old I’m going

To go through tough stretches as I’ve been through you know most of the season um but I’m trying not to let it phase me trying to stay confident I’ve got good people around me that are um giving that to me coaches being great um in stilling

Confidence in me so um you obviously it is tough at times when you go through these stretches and you’re in the middle of it and it’s hard to see the lot at the end of the tunnel but um you know you’ve got to think big picture and um

Everyone goes for this you know you never Alone um throughout slumps and tough stretches and um you know I’ve been good having people to lean on um teammates coaches you know external people um that have been awesome in helping me and dealing with that so um

As I said it’s been a tough tough season but um trying to get things back on track but more importantly the team’s been awesome uh the success we’ve had so far has been good but uh you know as I said there’s a lot of season left and uh

We’re heading in the right direction Josh you’re a more experienced player you know a lot more than you did two years ago but has this year been harder in that sense have you had a more challenging is this your most challenging Year from that standpoint I

Mean I’d say so I guess it’s a combination of being guided differently um different role different guys on the team there’s a lot of different things and and factors that contribute to that but um as I said you know these things take time to figure out and um I think

We’re doing that you know not just me but everybody on the team and um you know once we start to click on all cylinders with whatever lineups out there I think it’s going to make our team even more dangerous with you know the weapons that we do have so um yeah I

I would say for me it’s been the most difficult qu out of my three years but um that’s not a bad thing I think the these moments and these stretches uh what make or break players and um you know we’re heading in the right direction Mark was just talking about

You guys have been played a bunch of different ways the way they guarded Shady tonight was a little different than some other people have and you know your team that I you have big aspirations uh when games get big and important in the playoffs you’re going

To have to kind of figure some stuff out on the Fly how much does a game like this maybe help you in that regard I mean a lot as you said we’ve been gued a lot of different ways and um whether that’s crossmatching and blitzing or

Zone or whatever it is um we figured it out and I think that’s the most important thing and we’ve got you know Playmakers on this team and and and we know how to attack different defenses and the more we seiz things the more we’re going to watch film address it and

Learn how to you know go at it so um I think it’s a it’s also a sign of respect from other teams that we have so much talent that they’re you know trying to play defenses that they maybe never played um throughout their year whether that’s putting a big on me whether

That’s Blitz and Shay uh whatever it is so um we’re forcing teams to make tough decisions and um I think that’s a credit to guys and and coaching and the way we game plann for for different uh different defenses uh Josh you mentioned sacrifices in the previous answer with the rise of guys

Like dub and Shay growing their game cck gets added to the mix Cas and others you seemingly have had to take a step back on some things what’s been the challenge of that and what have you learned about yourself in the process yeah um it’s what it’s what’s required for a good

Team um there’s one ball out there and um you know it’s it’s going to with the talent we have and the the um type of basketball players that we have um the ball is going to find the right man and um and we’ve got so many guys that can

Do so many things that as I said earlier um it’s not going to be your night every night and part of being a winning team and a good team requires sacrifice and I think guys are willing to do that we got really you know unselfish group that are

Happy to see each other be successful and um that’s what makes a good team and um we’re lucky we’ve got that type of locker room and um that’s one through you know 18 uh whoever’s out on the floor guys are happy to see other guys

Do well and um I think that you know creates a good culture and um helps to win games Nick G OKC Thunder uh Shay on the the phys physical side of things tonight double OT and lose like a battering ram on that and one and um kenrich with the

Tapout uh offensive rebounds just what did you make of the physical plays that you guys made uh to will your way to this win yeah um it was a gutsy win for sure um what what we brought in the second half um was needed uh and things that we

Uh try to try to execute um and accomplish throughout obviously the whole whole season 82 games um and obviously with our back against the walls we wanted to to Really make an emphasis on it um and we did so and and we’re able to get a w because of it you

Guys did you know despite things not going your way for good you know two-thirds of the game you guys didn’t seem to get frustrated by just having to to dink the ball out and and move it around against the zone and everything uh where does the I guess the confidence

Come from to be that patient in a game and know that things are probably going to turn around for you um just trusting each other um and honestly um to win especially the way they were they were playing defense tonight um in order to win in a

Sustainable way it requires you to trust each other um and the group of guys that we have in the locker room trust each other um so because of that we were able to win so you getting doubled isn’t new but it felt like some of the things the

Raptors were trying to do in terms of you know how high they were pressing up on you um the aggressiveness and trying to get the ball out of your hands was maybe to a degree we haven’t seen this year I just wonder you know what changes you saw in terms of your decisiveness

Your teammates decisiveness as the game went on and um just how much of this I know it’s a single game but how much of this can carry over in the long run maybe to postseason run yeah um yeah they were really aggressive with me multiple bodies um pretty much every possession

Uh in the first half I thought we got I mean it kind of maybe threw us off a little bit to start the game um we were still getting good looks in the first half didn’t make them um but I think in the second half I was moving out of it

Quicker um and my teammates were did an amazing job of like playing on the catch making Fast decisions um and being aggressive whether it was to shoot or to drive and make the next play um and it was their decisive decisiveness that W us the game tonight for sure and and

When you hear 63 three-point attempts and and eight free throws what do you think um good aggressiveness um and taking what the defense gives you uh I think at the end of the day that’s what it comes down to um especially on offensive end you just take what they give you and

Tonight they put two on the ball a lot they had a a lot of um loads and they were leaving Guys open and it required us to to shoot and make threes and we we shot and made them um at a high rate and one more for me I imagine because you

Were here since the beginning of the rebuild even before it was a a rebuild that you take some ownership and you know turning things around just kind of the changes that have happened over these past few years um and after this game it’s the team’s best 50 game start

Since the the last year KD and Russ just when you when you hear that what do you think uh we’re headed in the right direction we’re doing something right um last two seasons we’ve gone tremendously better really fast um so what whatever we’re doing is clearly working um just got to stay

Focused and not get complacent and do the same thing how good are you good to see you um couple of questions for you one I don’t know if you’re aware or not but I think you’re I think the only guy who’s had more 30o games through 50 games

Names as MJ back in 86 887 or something like that um and I’m just was asking Mark previously what what do you attribute your consistency especially when you know the level you’re trying to reach is so high MH um I um I’m very very strict on like uh consistency

In every aspect of life um and I think it helps with my basketball uh whether it be eating um my day-to-day schedule um how clean my house is uh what I do in my time whether it’s planned out or not I try to be very um very strict on uh on on

Discipline um being consistent I think it helps helps with basketball and then I mean I’m sure you’re not thinking about major individual awards at this stage but obviously your name’s out there and it’s been I think 20 years since Steve won his and when you hear

Some of that talk uh regarding an MVP how do you respond to it and where would it fit in your set of goals um it would for sure be up there um I think for every basketball player it is um it’s it’s obviously I’m not naive I can hear it

Um now I I I Channel it out and I try to focus on the day in um and day out um it’s what got me to this point um and I’d be stupid to do otherwise so I just I focus on the the dayto day for sure

And just one more people don’t mind the uh not yourself but I mean RJ you go through basically all the guys who were on that team this summer they’ve all had very good NBA Seasons to this point do you think there’s a correlation other than they’re all good players but do you

Think something about that experience kind of let them as unlock something absolutely um I’m a big advocate of of playing feea basketball allall um the style of play the um the pace that they play at the physicality um and at the end of the day you’re you’re playing real basketball

Games with real refs and real game management and real coaches in the summertime when most guys aren’t and it just it gets you more reps and more ready for the um NBA season and I the last two summers I played FIFA basketball and I felt more sharp coming

Into the season and it’s for sure no coincidence thanks good thank you shay over the course of your career you’ve had a lot of like really great vets in your life from Chris Paul Al Horford Steph Adams and others now you’re the vet on the team kenich the

Other day told us that you’ve really taken dub under your wing what exactly has that entailed in terms of working with him umh yeah um so it it dub is uh first and foremost he he wants to be great um so it makes it easy to to help

Him he’s going through a lot of things that I’ve gone through um young rising star in the NBA um different things throwing at him um and above all me and him are just really close friends and want to see each other do so well um

That it doesn’t feel like I’m his vet it just feels like me and my homie are are going through this NBA basketball life together and trying to figure it out um so the type of kid he is and who he wants to be makes it easy for me thank

You Mark uh Mark was saying that that early stages of the third quarter you guys were playing the right way sticking with it uh didn’t get the results that you wanted to what was that like for for your group uh having experienced what you’ve experienced to

This point to not kind of give into that and to continue to put your head down and keep playing the right way uh yeah I mean we just we was just trying to get the r shot every time and wish we did a lot and we just couldn’t couldn’t make

It but you know there’s a lot of ups and downs in the game and we just know we got to fight till the end so credit to the whole team we still fought to to find those those those type of shots and and we ended up making them so it was

Good oh Lou just Mark was in here talking about um you know the first half defense uh not being um you know what we’ve come to expect and then down the stretch you know um obviously you guys put together some stops to come back from down 23 and second overtime you you

Hold him for to 3 for1 I just wonder what specific plays stood out to you what sequences stood out to you in terms of you know getting back to the way you guys want to play defensively uh I mean we just had a Stacks stops honestly I

Mean we did we didn’t really start the game well you know they was really comfortable really more physical than us so you know we just had to step up half time we just had our um conversation watch a little bit of film and and and

See what we can do to to to get better in the second half which which we did so we just we we just had a fight till the end what at at halftime because Mark you know mentioned that being the the Turning Point what were some of the

Things you guys you know discussed in terms of changing things just be more physical I mean you you could tell that they was they was fighting harder than us and it was going harder than us so we just had to step up and and man up and

And go out there and really get some stops yeah and obviously two overtimes you guys shoot 633s eight free throws um did this game as it’s going on feel as weird does it ended up being um I mean team’s going to throw a lot of stuff at

Us you know sh has been playing really well the whole season so he’s going to see a lot of different coverages so tonight was a new one obviously um it made we would it happened that we had a lot of guys open and he was making the

Right um read so a lot of credit to him Lou I I just want to ask you a little bit pregame Mark was saying that he thought that yourself and Shay and you see the way RJ a lot of the guys from the national team have played this

Season kind of maybe lit a few a little bit do do you did anything about your experience in the summer has it carried over into your own your game personally and maybe the aggression or confidence you’re playing with oh yeah definitely I mean just those those type of games is a

Is a wi to go home and then you know when we have a goal and we want to win a medal and and do some be part of history for our country is is amazing so um I mean it helps definitely in those type of games where

The game is so close and uh you know you got to make the right play to win the game so I mean it definitely helps uh Lou over the last couple years it’s been a transition into finding different ways to win games and be a competitive team now that you were

Winning at this rate what is it like with a bunch of younger guys who haven’t played in the playoffs like you and Shay have of showing them like this isn’t going to cut it in the playoffs as we’re playing the regular season and kind of climbing that next mountain of next step

In progress um I mean it’s good that we’ seen those type of games in the season right now is that this could be a definitely could be a playoff atmosphere and then the way they that it’s not easy to win a to win a game so I mean it’s

Good I mean they learning and obviously we watch a lot of film and and and um you want to teach them how to be ready for those type of games so it’s hard when they haven’t been in this position yet but at the same time you know

They’re just learning and you know we got a pretty good shot so so they’ll get better at that feel safe to assume that many in Canada got to watch this game and it was pretty memorable do you have a game that sticks out from from back whenever

You’re watching games as a kid that kind of stands out to you honestly I actually I don’t well in Canada no I don’t I mean I grew up playing soccer so I started watch watching basketball really late so honestly I do not have a game that I can’t remember really Nick G casy

Thunder uh Mark seemed like your guys displayed a lot of restraint tonight and patience um where does that come from within this group to be able to outlast a team like this yeah I thought was a great game for us um the way they played us discredit them you know with their

Game plan uh they made us uncomfortable in the first half um you never know how a team’s going to play you so it took us uh obviously a little bit to calibrate that um and I thought we came out in the second half um you know double team and

Shay all over the place um I I was really impressed by his ability to get it out of there and then the rest of the guys ability to play on the catch shoot when they were open uh drive and make decisions uh and I thought that really opened things up for us

Uh in the start of the half we missed a couple shots and we went down by 23 and the game kind of tested us as to whether or not we were going to kind of stay with that even though we weren’t getting the direct results and to the team’s

Credit uh we stayed on it you know and let the game turn um and it was an impressive show of confidence uh by our team to just kind of you know confidence in each other and then con confidence in themselves um to go out there and get

That one that was kind of the the mental side of things there’s also sort of a physical sheer force of will from guys like Lou and kenrich and and many others as well what did you see in that regard yeah they were great you know obviously

That’s high minutes uh in a game double overtime um you know they just great grit great will got competitive guys you know that that rise to the level of the game win or lose I thought that was on display tonight Mark the defense down the stretch second half especially that

Second overtime felt wildly different from what we watched for for most of that first half just what did you see Chang and I guess what what stood out to you maybe certain plays anything like that down a stretch yeah credit uh Toronto with the way they started the

Game I thought they were just on the gas they played with way more Force than we did on both ends of the floor um and had us on our heels for much of the first half uh we got that corrected uh at halftime and um I actually thought in

The first overtime we kind of had a we we regressed a little bit there on the defensive end and then the second overtime our defense was tight and um the guys did a great job of adjusting in game problem solving together on both ends of the floor the defensive you know

Physicality uh was one example and then the attacks of the offense was another yeah and you you shoot 63 threes in this game you shoot only eight free throws um obviously double did this game feel as weird as it was happening as it ended up being well the eight free throws you

Know come on you know I was not happy with that and voice that but uh you know the threes it’s like great if they’re going to be open you know I was impressed with uh our guys confidence stepping into those shots if a team’s going to uh you know volunteer to the

Ball like that uh and give us you know open driving lanes and let good decision makers play out of advantages and then good confident Shooters shoot open shots then um we’re happy with that so um you know let’s keep it coming you know if they’re open like that what did you

Think just just all that Josh did um and the way he played off the ball and and when he had the ball and just his game in general yeah I thought he played with great intensity tonight you know especially on the defensive end of the

Floor and on the glass um I thought he did a great job um from a physical standpoint he had different matchups throughout the night and did a nice job on that end and then offensively I thought played with great decisiveness you know in his shooting and also his

Driving uh his movement off the ball I thought he had a great balance tonight and when you talk about the way obviously the way they played Shay it’s harder to do a dub on the floor and they they could do you talked about wondering how teams were going to approach that

But you talk about the other guys playing off but what does it tell you about him and the way he played to to take that defense and figure it out uh I thought he figured out as the game went on and so did we you know I thought we

Were a little you know he was a little he held it a little long in the first half and then when it came out the other guys I thought were a little indecisive on a couple plays and then coming out of halftime he was decisive off it they

Were decisive it didn’t work right away and you know to the credit of the team we stuck with it um and if teams are going to play us like that then we’re going to take what they give us the other thing it does for you is we offensive rebounded tonight because if

They’re scrambling around like that you get free runs to the glass you’re shooting a lot of Threes those are long rebounds those were huge plays for us so um like I said we’re going to get played a lot of different ways uh this season you know we don’t know what opponent’s

Going to do coming into the game it took us a minute to figure that out tonight but we got better as the game went on uh and took a step forward you know in our season too we’re going to see this again at some point and just one more thing

With regard to that you’re going to you would hope play meaning games down the stretch of the Season play meaningful games in the playoffs what does it do for a team to just sort of have to calculate to to figure some stuff out that can serve them down the road yeah I

Mean no I mean we’re getting uh I I don’t know the numbers on this but as I said before I said it in December and I would double down on it now we’re not getting like base coverages very often you know we’re getting some version of

Uh a plan B by our opponents you know whether it’s the crossmatching The Zone what we saw tonight um you know we’re seeing something different every every night and at the end of the day you know if you have a good offense and potent players like we do that’s going to

Happen and these games are allowing us to learn these attacks and get comfortable with the discomfort of alternate defenses and thought tonight was a great example of that because it was uncomfortable early the guys stayed together they problem solved together and we got better as the game went on

Wiggin was well he didn’t mind stepping in and making those shots I it’s one thing to get him but he kind of LED that surge coming back from 23 yeah he was huge I mean he and Chad are two guys that you know we’ve encouraged to shoot

More open threes because of how well they shoot it and what it does for our offense and uh wigs is done a great job of uh turning that up lately without like hunting you know and shooting bad ones he’s still he’s just finding more good ones like tonight uh and chett did

A great job of stepping into him as well and so those guys um they made big ones Wiggins to to cut into that lead and then Chad obviously down the stretch had some huge huge shots and when things aren’t going well what what’s the mood of the team I mean are they still

Pushing it do you have to kind of push them to keep going because a lot of shots are just in and out and the league goow to 23 I mean how you but there’s a lot of time left yeah some teams are to are are kind of together and happy uh

When things are good and then they detach uh when there’s adversity and we’ve got a group of guys the the chemistry of the team is real uh because as the games get harder they tend to connect more and problem solved together and I thought tonight was a great

Example of that you know the game was not going our way on either end uh easy to pack it in point fingers try to do it ourselves and we did quite the opposite you know coming out of halftime um they showed confidence in each other show confidence in themselves uh problem

Solved together and like I said the best part of that the sneaky thing about that is we started that way out of the half and it didn’t work you know and Toronto extended the lead to 23 and yet we were persistent with it together and I thought that was really impressive by

The team in the first half it seemed like they were doubling Shay a little higher than teams normally do um me when he would kick it out led to a lot of threes and it seemed like just we’re missing it second half that seemed to change and you mentioned how they were

Being more decisive was it was it just ball falling in the second half or was I thought he helped us create a little more rhythm in the second half like I thought he got off it earlier um and he was more decisive moving it out of there um and then I

Thought that in turn uh made everybody else a little more decisive it gave us more time to attack against a scrambling defense uh and gave us time to get it back to him on some plays and give him kind of a second crack at it when the defense is

Already jumbled up so um like I said I it wasn’t the first half the defensive end wasn’t good enough but the offensive end you know we were just kind of figuring it out and um half time everybody got on the same page we came out of halftime together looking to

Problem solve it didn’t work right away we stuck with it and and got better and better as the game went on then you started Shay start the fourth quarter it wasn’t for much time but what’ that do for you you guys you just have the ball

And you know certain Knights um I just think it’s a good idea you know try to get him uh use his gravity in some way and then get him a quick sub and that was what I was thinking if you told me that we’re were going to go into double

Overtime I would not have done that 40 assists tonight for you guys I mean uh obviously first half the ball wasn’t the shot wasn’t falling but the second half it just seemed like the fall but what did you like about the the ball movement when even cuz I mean when you

Get when you get down it’s easy to just throw up a lot of shots and not continue to move the ball but I’m sorry same thing I mean 40 assists a big number uh and that’s on a night where we didn’t shoot it well in the first half uh we

Really trusted the pass trusted each other uh and you know we can’t control how the defense is going to play us and if they’re going to play us like that and we’re going to get open threes um we need to move it out of there and and

Generate those and uh the guys did a great job of that tonight obviously Mark you mentioned with wigs that you’re encouraging him to take more shots with him he’s an all around player he does a lot of different things for you guys if you had to boil it down to

Just one thing is his best skill what would it be everything you know he’s just he’s a he’s a very complete player you know that’s the his best skill is the fact that he’s he’s good at everything you know and um especially with the system

You know so his skills aren’t in like a vacuum you know his skills are additive to the system and the way we want to play on both ends of the floor so um he enhances the whole you know and and so it’s not like um the skills are in a

Vacuum the skills are contagious and and help uh enhance everybody else

Hear from Josh Giddey, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Lu Dort, and Head Coach Mark Daigneault following the Thunder’s 135-127 win over the Raptors.

0:00 Josh Giddey
7:03 Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
14:30 Lu Dort
18:41 Head Coach Mark Daigneault

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