OKC Thunder Full Media Availability | Post Game at LA Lakers | March 4, 2024

OKC Thunder Full Media Availability | Post Game at LA Lakers | March 4, 2024

You know that team Le bra and AD having so much experience kind of playing that tug of war with the pace yeah um what did you think of of how that has you know gone down tonight and and how much of a challenge that is to try to get to

Your pace when they’re obviously trying to slow it yeah um it’s something you you kind of battle with every night every each team like tries to impose their will and impose their Style on the game um um now clearly tonight they did that and that’s why they they beat us

The way they did um we didn’t have enough energy and like urgency tonight to um kind of impose how we wanted to play on them and they took advantage of it sh just uh what did you feel from them defensively you mentioned them just kind of imposing themselves into the

Game what did you feel from them defensively that kind of kept you guys from finding a consistent Rhythm tonight um they kept us out of ch transition um they uh they made a lot of shots got a lot of good looks um I think they were just comfortable

Offensively and then they got to set their defense and they’re big and strong um and when you you let a big and strong defense get set for most of the night it’s hard to score over them and and score through them so uh yeah I guess them I think them being so comfortable

Offensively led to their defense being good obviously it’s like back to back and know some of that plays into how how you guys are able to entery you’re talking about but how much you are you able to step back from a game like this and say

Okay this is teams are going to want teams that are coming at us going to watch this game and see blueprints of like okay stop us in transition like are you able to step back and look at see like this might be how people play us

Try to scheme against us in future yeah absolutely um I think more more of it was just us not having enough tonight though um I think like I think we’ve ran We’ve ran into this like during the season um and we’ve been able to kind of get back on track throughout the game

And and course correct and come out with a win I just think we didn’t have enough to do so so it’s more so that than kind of like teams figuring us out anybody else for sh thank you for sh o we thanks guys you got it it’s got off

To a nice start and then seemed like Midway through that first uh they were able to kind of change the tone of it anything you noticed about um that period of time what they were going to do um some of it was them some of it was

Us uh I’m sure they made adjustments in their timeouts um and on the other end between missing shots and uh the floor getting kind of still uh things weren’t going our way and uh we weren’t able to kind of turn it around and course correct throughout the game and uh we

Weren’t able to come our way with the win yeah seemed like they really tried to bog the pace down a lot of this game what’s that like being a tug of war with on that level of the game not just individual possessions against Anthony Davis and LeBron James and these guys

That have been doing this for you know 15 20 years yeah uh like you said they’ve been playing a long time they’ve seen a lot of basketball in their time and uh when they slow the game down and are able to kind of script how it’s

Going to go based on uh how we’re playing them uh what they have out there on the floor uh you know especially when they get into their post-ups and understand what rotation are happening and how the floor is going um it really plays into their hands and

They know that uh slowing the slowing the game down uh you know trying to limit Us in transition Etc um you know they understand that and they got to that tonight and uh we have to figure out how to candid that uh if we play them

Again CH you guys were able to force uh 21 turnovers tonight but it seemed like especially in that second half they were able to catch a little bit of of RK Rhythm offensively just what what did you see out there from from them and kind of how they were able to to get

Looks out there um yeah uh credit to them they had some tough shots uh but uh you know we had some breakdowns uh some in the rotation some uh on the glass uh and you know we have to get back and be better in those areas uh you know we’re

We’re uh athletic team with quick feet and uh we really move and and uh you know that plays into our hands with forcing turnovers and speeding teams up and stuff but uh you know we we have to get better in all areas uh around that

Too what else we got here first I know I don’t want to make an excuse or anything say night of a back toback and so you play fast and Pace wise like how much just tired legs from last night play into any of this today

Um I’m sure uh everybody felt it one way or another we had a lot of shots fall short tonight especially from outside but um you know if we’re looking to really get better we can’t chop this up to something like a back to back or uh

Any reason outside of what we have to get better at um we just simply have to get better at at a lot of different things uh for when we play Portland next as you’re coming up in the leag how much is Shay’s career trajectory just been inspirational to you um

Uh in in a lot of different ways uh you know I I think it’s great coming into the league and being able to look uh not only at what somebody does uh in games on court every day but also see uh the way he structures his life how he

Handles everything uh the way he works um you know it’s it’s really good to be able to watch that from uh an early stage of my career and kind of pick things that that can help me to be better um because you know he’s uh obviously been around longer than I

Have and he’s tailored his life to uh be the best basketball player that he can be so um you know I feel like there’s a lot of great lessons to learn from him there if you had to play the Lakers again do you think some of the issues

You have with LA can be corrected one would be make a shot simple um I mean I’m not going to sit here and say like like no we can’t uh be better at at certain things yes of course we can be better at certain things um you know shooting can be volatile you

Can have great shooting nights you can have bad shooting nights but uh the things that are really going to complete you as a team or everything around that um you know if you’re a really good team you can still win a game on a bad shooting

Night so we don’t want to just rely on uh making shots to beat teams uh you know so we got to get better at at different areas and uh take away certain strengths of the Lakers if we play them again and um you know I feel like that’ll put us in a better

Position thank you chck yeah for coach Mark you all got off to a really nice start uh Midway through that second quarter what seemed to change either from a energy standpoint or a tactical standpoint that you saw um you know I thought you know obviously the start was good offensively

But um you know our overall sharpness just wasn’t there you know even during that stretch I thought we tried to drum that up a couple different times uh but weren’t obviously able to do it offensively defensively we turned him over a bunch of times that kind of kept

Us in it uh and kept the game within Striking Distance in the first half but uh certainly not our fast ball tonight Mark obviously you guys have been one of the more fluid team in leading half Corporation they seen to you know from jump kind of set the tone

In ter of perimeter defense ad at The Rim just what did you see um from the start of the game that maybe threw you guys off in terms of Creation in the half court um you know I thought combination of things but I just didn’t think we were as sharp uh offensively as

We needed to be you know a team like that that’s got size and physicality uh that’s like a requirement to get good shots against them and I just didn’t think we met that requirement on enough possessions you know we did on on some for sure but um on enough to string

Together a good offensive night yeah and now this is the only team so far this year that that’s won a regular season series against you guys what what is it about I know every game is different but what is it about what they’ve done um that’s maybe had had them you know they

They’ve had your number almost um I mean every game’s different you know so uh we’re really not focused on like regular season series we’re trying to play the game in front of us uh and stack those up over the course of the season and wherever that lands us that lands

Us coach it seemed like they had a pretty good Rhythm offensively throughout the night they did have several turnovers but shooting the ball above 50 above 40% from three just what did you see in terms of their their shot making um you know I thought you know we

Got ourselves off to a good start defensively um with the disruption you know turn him over you know I thought we made him earn some stuff um I thought their shot making showed up in the second half you know it was uh one of those nights where I thought when we had

A a opportunity to grab a strangle on the game we didn’t take advantage of it um and then they caught some confidence and caught a rhythm in the second half and then we had a hard time turning them off I mean some of those shots were

Really really tough uh but there was a lot of controllable stuff prior to that that I you know I wish we took care of and then um just wanted to ask you about Mike getting his first opportunity first minutes here and since signing with thund yeah it was good to get him out

There you know games like that it’s it’s good for even down the stretch there getting him uh a little bit of Rhythm you know guys that don’t touch the floor a ton getting them a little bit of rhythm uh but he did what he always does you

Know he’s reliable um he’s a ball mover you he’s floor spacer shoots the right shots keeps it moving uh side to side uh so it’s good to have him out there you always talk about just continuing to be aggressive with the different uh lineups that you’re putting out the the

Different um combinations that you have we saw some bmac we saw some Mike as you think about you still having 19 games left are are kns like this going up against a team that’s that’s big uh valuable for you guys to continue to evaluate different combinations yeah it’s evaluation it’s also just getting

Uh the roster ready you know like it’s I think it’s my responsibility to make sure that um everybody’s ready for a situation if their number gets called or if it’s most appropriate to use them uh Jay Will’s out right now and so that opens up front Court minutes which we

Used some of those last night to go small with K Rich at the five we used Biz last night used him again tonight used Mike a little bit tonight you know so trying to get those guys sharpened up um you know get them in a bit of a

Situational role uh and that goes for everybody you know like we don’t know what we’re going to need and when uh and so keeping everybody in Rhythm sharp uh and ready for those opportunities is important and I think a responsibility that we have Davis is difficult for all

The teams out there to defend third quarter though he seemed like he he was a big problem in the paint for you guys yeah for sure I thought they got to the bonus early in that quarter which was tough uh because then I mean really how

That run happened that run um you know I think we got it to like three and then it was probably like a 10 12 O run or something like that and it wasn’t like a wave you know it was just like a slow drip at the free throw line and a lot of

Those were just bonus files you know so um a lot of those were him you know on the glass and and finishing plays but he’s a load he’s obviously a very good player it just for us to neutralize him or do a good job on him we got to have

High high energy uh and intensity and I didn’t think we had that enough tonight I think by now we can say that you know say’s 20 points on 13 shots compared to the season he’s had is maybe below his usual standard I know on the on the last

La trip I think he had 19 in a couple of those games the the the season opener home opener he had seven against Denver when when when you see performances like this for him like what what do you see as maybe some of the common denominators

And and teams limited him in the rare moments they do um I mean I don’t really have a common denominar you can ask him but you know I think he’s spoiled everybody with 30 you know twoo performances you know and his consistency with that is uh made a 20po

Game uh loud which is a credit to him you know like 20 points on 13 shots for a lot of players is a great night um and so you know I I think um we got to be careful you know not to um hold him too high to the standard that he’s

Established you know like that’s uh certainly not a knight that he’s capable of but um you know he’s not going to score 30 every single night you know and and part these games are part of it anyone else coach thank

Hear from Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Chet Holmgren, and Head Coach Mark Daigneault following the Thunder’s 104 – 116 loss to the Lakers.

0:00 Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
2:22 Chet Holmgren
7:14 Coach Daigneault

Follow Our Social Media!

Website: https://www.nba.com/thunder/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/okcthunder/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/okcthunder
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/okcthunder/
Snapchat: https://www.snapchat.com/add/okcthunder
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@okcthunder
Threads: https://www.threads.net/@okcthunder

#NBA #OKCThunder