On turnovers contributing to tonight’s loss:
“It is a tough stat and that’s what they’ve done all year. They probably, other than Memphis, they have probably been the most surprising team in the league. They just have a way of hanging in games and closing them. They’ve got guys like (Danilo) Gallinari, Chris Paul, and (Dennis) Schröder, all of those guys have been in positions where they’ve closed games and that’s exactly what they did. They made plays down the stretch and we just didn’t make the plays down the stretch.”
On finishing better on the road than at home:
“I’m not real sure, I’m not real sure. I know to be a team of significance in this league you’ve got to have a home-court advantage and we have not created that. We’ve had great fans and I think the crowds have been really, really good. The energy in the building has been really, really good. We just need to do a better job of finishing.”
On what he’s found on the offensive end that has led to his increased scoring:
“My ability to get the free throw line. You know I’m just trying to keep going in there and just try to draw as much attention as I can, and when I do, I have open kick-outs. For me, it’s just trying to make the right play on the offensive end.”
On seeing his free throw percentage increase:
“I mean at the moment, it’s not so satisfying because if I would have made every free throw, the game would have had a different feel to it towards the end, but there has been improvement.”
GUARD LONZO BALL
On what happened down the stretch that cost them this game:
“I think just turnovers throughout the game, and obviously down the stretch they made shots and we didn’t.”
On if he felt that the turnovers were the most significant contributing factor to tonight’s loss:
“They don’t turn the ball over. They’ve been like that all year and that’s one of our weaknesses, and we fed into it tonight.”
GUARD JRUE HOLIDAY
On if he believes the turnovers cost them the game:
“Yeah. They’re not a team that turns it over, so I think to be able to control the ball and control the turnovers to give us good shots at the rim is probably best against a team like that, but…when it comes down to it, we were still in the game and that would have made a difference.”
On why he thinks the Thunder are such a tough team to beat this season:
“I think they have a really solid team across the board. At the end of the game you have three guys that can get into the paint and knock down a mid-range jumpshot. You’ve got Steven Adams up there hitting people on screens and you’ve got Gallo (Danilo Gallinari) picking and popping, rolling down to the post. So I think they do a good job of trying to get the match up that they want and take advantage of that. At the end of the day they don’t turn the ball over, so….even down the stretch.”
