Oklahoma City Thunder 120, Indiana Pacers 109
Q. Chet, in general what did you like about the offensive rhythm and flow that you had as a team tonight?
CHET HOLMGREN: I think we did a really good job of playing with pace, letting our defense start our offense, and then it really helped when Shai and Dub show up like they did. Really trust making the right play. They were huge for us tonight.
I don't think there's any other way to put it.
Q. With that on Dub that you just mentioned, you've walked alongside him on this path, on a personal level what is it like for you to see him have such a masterful performance in this setting?
CHET HOLMGREN: He's one of those guys that you want to see succeed, especially when you know him personally. You want to root for him. You want him to do good just because he shows up every single day, does the right things. He's a good guy off the court, treats everybody well. He's always respectful. He works really hard.
You want to see it pay off for him. We saw it tonight. Not only tonight. We don't get here without him playing as good as he's playing. So, we got to make sure he gets his credit, gets his flowers.
I'm sure he's not taking tonight and feeling accomplished. We still have a job to get done. We still have to focus on that. I'm sure that's where his mindset is.
Q. Last couple games you haven't played as well offensively as you'd like. Your rebounding has been big-time. What is going on there? Style of play? Intensity?
CHET HOLMGREN: I don't know if there's one single answer. I'd say a big part of it is they like to play with pace. They move around, fly around on both ends of the floor. So the paint is naturally more open to kind of crash.
Then I'm also just trying to make an emphasis of when the shots aren't falling, not letting that keep you from being an impactful player.
There's two sides to every game. You have to score more than the other team, so there's two ways to win the game. Score more points or hold them to less points. Rebounding is a big part of both. You have to get the rebound so you can play offense, you have to get the rebound so you get can get back on defense. Just trying to find ways I can to help us win.
Q. You talk about giving Jalen his flowers. Shai had a bit of the same sentiment. Seems like you guys are really excited when your teammates do great. How does that chemistry help you guys throughout the postseason, and tonight as well?
CHET HOLMGREN: I'd say the biggest thing is no matter what happens good or bad, we're going to do it together. Tonight, we saw a lot of good, especially from Dub. So we're all right there to cheer him on. We're not only excited for his individual success but we're excited about the team's success together. That's what it's all about at the end of the day.
But, you know, even when there's bad moments, we're going through that together. We have each other's back. It really kind of sets a tone that you can really trust each other no matter what's going on.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports