Here are some of the best comments from Doc Rivers and Scott Brooks’ pregame media conferences prior to Game 3 Friday at STAPLES Center:
CLIPPERS HEAD COACH DOC RIVERS
On Clippers’ interim CEO Richard Parsons
“We did talk a couple of times. This morning we talked, and it was really nice. I don’t know Dick very well, but from what I heard from everyone who knows him and from talking to him today, I think he’s a very good hire for us.”
On J.J. Redick
“He missed some wide open shots, really. There is another team, I swear, over there. After he makes four or five shots, they’ll call a timeout, and they’ll say, ‘I think we need to take J.J. out.’ And then, the other team goes to something else to try to take advantage of what they’re taking out, and that’s called basketball.
“We missed a lot of good shots, honestly; but, we didn’t play right in Game 2. We didn’t do a lot of things in Game 2. We didn’t catch the ball in the spots we needed to catch the ball. I thought the physicality was out of the game, and all that affects J.J. I think Chris [Paul] being out of the game affects J.J. immediately, because now, the guy that gets him the ball the most is in foul trouble, and he can’t give him the ball. You can almost look at…right when J.J. stopped shooting was when Chris Paul went off the floor.”
On Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant in Game 2
“The transition part of it really hurt us. I don’t know what the stats say; because I don’t even look at whatever the stat [is]… fast break points. I don’t know what that is; but, they killed us in transition. They attacked us early. We didn’t load at all. I thought [Russell] Westbrook attacked seams the entire game. So, we have to do a better job at stopping him. After that, then you have to guard him.”
THUNDER HEAD COACH SCOTT BROOKS
On containing J.J. Redick in Game 2
“He always seems to have good first quarters. They look for him early. I think that’s kind of been a little bit of their personality, but we did a better job throughout the game against him. I thought we did a much better job in that second half chasing him off of screens. They set great screens, and he runs off of screens as well as anybody in this league; and he can catch and shoot as quick as anybody in this league, but, we did a better job in the second half.”
On defending Blake Griffin
“Blake is obviously one of the best players in the league, so we have to always pay close attention to where he is on the floor. He’s as athletic as anybody at that spot. I think we’ve done a good job of really containing him in transition going into the series. We’re still concerned with him getting defensive rebounds and being able to bring the ball up the floor, and initiate offense for himself or his teammates. I don’t know how many opportunities he’s had doing that, but we need to cut that down.
“Half court, he’s playing with one of the best point guards that can find him for lobs and opportunities around the basket. We have to try to do a better job. Blake is a good player, and we have to obviously pay close attention throughout the game and not let him have a monster quarter.”
On DeAndre Jordan
“Well, we want to stay between him and the basket. If you mess up a split second, the guy might be arguably their best athlete. It seems like the ball is tennis ball in his hands. He has great hands around the basket, in the air, and in different directions; but, we have to be able to stop that, and I think we’ve done a pretty good job with that. We have to continue to do that. If you get him scoring around the basket, it makes it tough, because now you have to pay attention to him. We want him to catch the ball outside the key. If we can do that, I think we win that possession. If he catches it in the air, around the basket, we’re not going to be able to win that matchup.”