Brett Brown, PHI
On execution in the last half of the fourth quarter…
Well, to be exact, there were three turnovers. And we missed some free throws and we missed some layups. You give Toronto credit. Their defense went up a new level. It was a closeout type of fourth period to go win a game and we went in there—I think it was 75-75 at the end of the third [quarter]—and we went into a drought. It was probably a six-minute—six-and-a-half minute — drought that was littered with missed layups, missed free throws, some open threes, sprinkled in with some turnovers and I give Toronto credit.
On if there’s any combination that he’s liked in guarding Kawhi Leonard…
I mean I think he’s just — he’s punishing, for sure. And when it was a one-point game with, I think, a minute — maybe it was a little more than a minute — you know, with maybe two seconds on the [shot] clock, he hits that back-breaker three. And I think it took it to 84-81 or something like that. You know, the stuff that he can get off, and we had two people out there, the stuff that he can do to create his own shot is Kobe-like, for me. He’s just so gifted in relation to doing that. To your question about who can guard him, funny enough, with our wings, I think we’ve done a decent job on him. Might we look to double team him a little bit more? Possibly. But we were able to create—I think he had seven turnovers — and just try to do our best to kind of show him a crowd. But at the end of the day, that’s a hell of a playoff game. 39 points and you really felt all of them.
On Jimmy Butler’s performance…
I mean he wills his way into putting his thumbprint on just the game. Like there’s a physicality that he plays with, he’s just a runaway train at times. And him coming up with some rebounds and loose balls, you see his just jaw-dropping athleticism. And then you just his toughness emerge. And, you know, we talk a lot about trying to play to mirror the spirit of the city—this is Philadelphia—and there is a toughness that he has that I think reflects the spirit of the city. And I think tonight, once again, you saw him do everything that he could to will us a win.
Jimmy Butler, PHI
On what the team needs to differently in Game 5…
I don’t know. I think we got to start the game off a little better, get back in transition, do what we were doing whenever we won. That’s all I got.
On what he said to Joel Embiid this game compared to Game 3…
Same thing. Tell him to be aggressive. I want him to shoot it when he’s open, pass it when he’s not. Like I said before, I think at times we made the game more difficult than it has to be. But we still ride with him, we don’t care how many shots you take, how many you miss. He’s our best player for a reason, and we are going to win with him and lose with him. We’re in it together.
On if he saw a difference with Embiid tonight with his sickness…
We just want him to be aggressive. I mean, hell, if you are going to go 2-for-7, go 2-for-20, I’m with it. Like I said, we’re rocking with Jo. That’s what we need out of him, to always be aggressive. Moving forward, we expect the same thing. Go show why you’re so dominant, night in and night out on both ends of the floor. He’s a little bit sick, banged up, so we got a day to get him right.
Ben Simmons, PHI
On the key factor for Toronto in the fourth quarter…
They executed. They got stops, took care of the ball, I think they just played together tonight. I think there were spurts that we did that, but at the end of the game you’re going to win games down the stretch playing together. I think we didn’t execute defensively our matchups, I don’t think we did as well as we did last game or what we needed to do and that’s the bottom line with that.
On his mentality…
You never let the highs get too high and the lows get too low. It’s on to the next game. Still have an amazing opportunity to go for the Eastern Conference championship and then get to the Finals, so we’re looking forward to it.
On Jimmy Butler…
He’s been phenomenal this whole series. He’s been a great defender; offensively, he’s been great scoring the ball and keeping everybody’s head high, so he’s been a great leader this series.
Kawhi Leonard, TOR
On how he controls his temperament…
Just really growing up, learning from players, watching great players, seeing how they either control the game or just playing at their own speed and not trying to be rushed by a defender. I was fortunate enough to be on some pretty good teams early [in my career], so I was able to see defenses going on deep playoff runs and try to establish that early. I feel like that probably helped me out to today, now that I’m 27.
On his tough shot late in the game…
I really just came off a pick-and-roll and tried to stay aggressive, they ended up switching, Embiid is a good defender, long. So at the time I just looked up at the shot clock and tried to get as much space as possible and just took a shot and believed that it was going to go in and it did.
On Ben Simmons guarding him…
I mean, he’s doing a great job. He’s being aggressive; he’s taking the challenge and like I said before, it’s not about just me and him on the floor. I’m trying to beat the whole Sixers team. I’m trying to get the team win. They’re doing a great job, they’re throwing bodies at me, turned over the ball a few times tonight, but that’s all I can say.
Kyle Lowry, TOR
On what it was like playing back and forth tonight…
It was like- it was a good game, it was fun. Their crowd is unbelievable. They got some ruthless fans. They cheer hard for their team, but it was good, it was cool. We got a win. It was a hard-fought game. We knew this would be a little bit more physical. We found a way to win the game and that is big for us. It was a big win for us.
On getting back to playing his game…
Just go out there and play. I know what my team needs sometimes, and I haven’t given it to them. In Game 3 I didn’t give it to them and tonight was a more assertive me. More of an effort to go out there and just try to go be more aggressive and even tonight, I thought I still passed up some shots that I could’ve took, but we got the win. Game 5 will be still the same way; coming out, being aggressive and not worrying about anything but just going hooping. Doing whatever it takes for my team to win. I think just the aggressiveness of me is what we need.
On how the team breaks away from watching Kawhi Leonard and contribute to the game…
Just go play. I said it after Game 3, we’ve got to help him a little bit more. Tonight, we all kind of stepped up more a little bit more. Pascal [Siakam] was being Pascal, playing, you know, hurt and toughing through. We knew everybody had to step up and Serge [Ibaka] played a good game and Marc [Gasol] had a good game. Danny [Green] made some big free throws, he didn’t shoot it well, but he played hard. But we took shots that were there and that’s the big thing. We’ve got to take the shots that are there. They’re a swarming team and when they swarm, we’ve got to make them pay and we made some big shots tonight.
Nick Nurse, TOR
On taking advantage of the 76ers’ weaknesses…
Well, we played a lot harder tonight than we did in the previous game. It was very similar to Game 2, I thought, a little bit more of a grind out affair and neither team was shooting the ball that well, especially in the first half. We played hard and tried to make it as tough as we could on them. And [we] made some plays there at the end.
On the performance of his starters outside of Kawhi Leonard…
Yeah, I think it was pretty obvious that we needed some punch around the roster a little bit. It looks like we got four other guys in double figures and another guy with nine [points], so that’s pretty good. I just thought it was a different mentality tonight than it was the other night. Guys were looking to shoot, taking the first shot that was there. When they’re putting two or three [players] on the ball, you’ve got to get off it. If you’re open, you’ve got to let it fly because there’s not anybody out there that we don’t want shooting the ball.
On the wiggle room if Kawhi Leonard doesn’t play as well as he’s been playing…
I think that, again, I’m hoping that we can get back to being a little bit more ourselves. I just think, again, our rhythm hasn’t been great, and you give them credit. This is a good team. They’re physical, they’re big, they’re up and guarding, they’re game planning. They’re watching the films and all that stuff, too. We’re not in great rhythm and I think we need to find a little more rhythm if something like that were to happen. And, as much as at least we stepped in and took shots tonight, I think I watched a whole bunch of ones that I’m going to keep taking and we’ve got to make more of them. I mean, there [were] a lot of naked threes out there that we didn’t hit and one of these days we just might.