(On the Cavs performance…)
“I thought the team showed great composure and great grit in one of the finest regular season basketball games. It was a high level game. Two very good teams going at it in a playoff manner with toughness and aggressiveness and great basketball on both sides of the ball. It was good, clean, hard fun.”
(On LeBron James taking on Kawhi Leonard…)
“I thought LeBron was really smart on how he approached the matchup with Kawhi tonight and how he handled the different moments of the game, considering that matchup. He took his time, didn’t overplay things and was very clever in how he distributed the ball. He took his opportunities when he was free to do so. Obviously he made big shots as well. LeBron’s maturity, composure and understanding of these types of games really helped. The other guys followed suit and they played a great game, which they had to do because we played a truly great team.”
(On Kyrie Irving’s performance…)
“Again, one of the great games that Kyrie has played. It was a phenomenal performance.”
(On the final play of regulation…)
“We drew up a play that all five guys executed well and he got the opportunity to catch and shoot. He caught it and made a quick adjustment to create some space between him and the player. The important thing was the clean catch above the three-point line that allowed him to lift and shoot right away or make the little juke that he did to create space. He made a terrific shot. In fact, he hit two of them in the last few seconds. It doesn’t happen if you don’t have a good cut and a good screen that freed him up.”
(On the games he and Kyrie Irving had going tonight…)
“First of all, he is special. We all know it, we all see it. For him to go out and put on a performance like he did tonight was incredible.”
(On the feeling when they were down 10 right after he picked up his technical foul…)
“You just try to regain your composure, including myself, which we did. We had to make some timely shots, we had to get some timely shots. We just kept fighting throughout the whole game.”
(On if Kyrie Irving’s performance gave him some time or room to figure out Kawhi Leonard…)
“For me, while Ky (Kyrie Irving) was going offensively, I wanted to do everything defensively. Take charges, get blocked shots, rebound, dive on the floor, whatever it took to try to get this win while he had it going offensively. I always stay engaged offensively as well. When they need me they can call on me. I was happy I was there to make a few plays.”
(On the zone he was in tonight…)
“Just couldn’t have done it without my teammates. Shots were going in, I was getting open. At the end of the game we never gave up, got stops and were fortunate enough that Kawhi [Leonard] missed those two free throws. The game could have been over, but he missed them and we were lucky enough to hit a shot. Great offensive execution, great screen setting and then in overtime LeBron [James] went into overdrive. I was open a few times and a few of those shots they just left my hands and I just kind of threw them up at the rim and I was just lucky enough and blessed enough that they went in.”
(On if they had any doubt when they were down 10 with just over three minutes left…)
“No, LeBron [James] told us in the fourth quarter the best teaching thing for us is experience. Win, lose or draw we were just going to leave it out there on the floor and live with the results. We did. The game has a way of balancing itself out sometimes, weird things happen. Just living with the results I’m glad we can leave San Antonio with the win.”
(On if he had any doubt that he was going to hit the shots…)
“You just try to shoot every shot the same. As long as my elbow is pointed at the rim I feel like it has a great chance to go in. I learned that from Kobe Bryant. If you get a good look at it and your elbow is pointed at the rim, then it has a great chance of going in. Mainly it was just from my teammates believing in me and continuing to give me the ball. You know a few shots in-and-out, got great looks. Our execution on both ends of the floor really helped us propel to this win.”
(On Cavaliers guard Kyrie Irving and the game…)
“I thought he was pretty decent. Kyrie Irving was unstoppable. I don’t know how to guard that. He did a hell of a job. We all know how talented he is, but he really went to a new level tonight. He had a hell of a night and that talent just got us. We had opportunities, up nine at one point, up three, up seven and just gave it back. We can’t afford to do that. We have to take advantage of the situations that we created for ourselves as a team. We got ourselves into three different situations in that game where we could have won and we didn’t do it. They kept plugging, to their credit, (Kyrie Irving) got hot, LeBron [James] made some shots and they won the game. I think we got better tonight, I think we’ve been playing well and we’ll continue to try to stay on this path. Disappointing loss, but it’s one game and we’ll bounce back from it.”
(On the Cavaliers having eight-straight three-point possessions…)
“I would say that usually doesn’t happen, but it did, so you lose and move on to the next one. A lot of people did a lot of great things. They’re playing well as a group and doing a good job.”
(On if he thought the Spurs did a good job contesting Kyrie Irving’s shots…)
“Yeah, I thought a lot of them were contested.”
(On if he thought he had a good contest on Kyrie Irving’s three to end regulation…)
“Yeah, but he was hot. He hit two big ones down the stretch and won the game.”
(When asked if he has ever seen a better shooting performance…)
“Not in person.”
(On what it’s like being on the floor trying to defend someone as hot as Kyrie Irving was tonight…)
“It’s really just about playing until the next play. We were just trying to stay in front of him, but he just got rolling.”
(On appreciating the game even though the Spurs lost…)
“I can appreciate that we played well. I really don’t care if it was a great game or not. I care if we got better and if we did well. I think for most of the game we played a solid game. We made a few mistakes here and there, but it’s impossible not to make mistakes in the game of basketball. (The Cavaliers) were just incredible.”
(On defending Cavaliers guard Kyrie Irving…)
“We tried to be aggressive, but he’s so quick. When he’s making step-back three-pointers like that, it makes defending him really hard. Then when he gets the ball, he makes three-pointers or gets to the rim. He made it really tough. He had 30-something points in the second half. He was outstanding every time we had an opportunity to beat them. He came up with crazy plays.”
(On his limited minutes during the game…)
“I wasn’t ready. I thought I was in better shape than I thought. I had a headache and my stomach was not right. I couldn’t do anything better than my teammates. I wasn’t ready to go out and compete at this high level.”