See what the Brooklyn Nets had to say after their 114-108 win over the Milwaukee Bucks.
STEVE NASH
On Durant in second half:
"I didn't necessarily see a different demeanor from Kevin. He was locked-in from the start. It’s just we were trying to figure out how to play with James back in the lineup, but him not feeling himself and trying to feel his way back into the game and our guys trying to feel their way. And so, it took us a period of time I think to find some freedom out there as a group. And you’ve got to feel some freedom. I mean, I know it's the playoffs and it's pressure and the stakes are heightened and all that, but you’ve got to enjoy it and you’ve got to feel free and you’ve got to play together. And I think it took us a while to get there. But I don't think Kevin's demeanor changed. He just got we got there. And we started to make some plays and find some space, and when he got to his spots obviously he is what he is: He's one of the all-time greats. And so tonight and got it took a while before we can really get him some momentum. But he took it.”
On second half offense:
"They were doing more of the things we've been preaching, and it took a while to get there. But I think it was difficult for everyone just to feel out the new dynamic: Without Ky, with James, James not being the James we know but wanting to help his teammates and soldier through it. I think it took us a moment…longer than a moment. But it took us a while before we could find a cohesion. So, just another thing that's been thrown at us in the game tonight, and we've we were fortunate enough to have the toughness to stick with it. And we kept telling stick with it. And they found a little bit of cohesion at the right time.”"
On Jeff Green:
"Jeff Green was unbelievable. Incredible performance. Kept us in the game for long stretches of it where it could've got away from us and we weren't playing well. I mean, he didn't miss for a long, long time and kept us in it. And so, for a guy who is coming off an injury, who has been a big part of our team this year — to step up and show that maturity, that veteran presence, that winning mentality tonight was unbelievable. So, Kevin's performance tonight was historic, but Jeff's the one that kept us in the game for a long, long time.”
KEVIN DURANT
On playing 48 minutes to get the win:
“I didn’t even think about nothing but just each possession. I was trying to win each possession, and I didn’t think of how many points I had or shot attempts, rebounds, assists. It was more so like, just let me do what I need to do each possession. That’s the approach I always take. I was able to play every minute, so that helped with my point total. But for the most part, I just tried to stay engaged on the defensive side of the ball the whole game.”
On getting teammates involved early:
"It did look that way, but I didn’t plan on doing that. I always try to be aggressive to get to my spots to score and settle my teammates down. But this team does a lot of helping and a lot of swarming in the paint. In previous games, I may have forced a couple shots over two people where I threw out for a hockey assist tonight. So keep watching film, keep reading where the defense is coming from. At the end of the day, I’ve got to be aggressive."
On locker room after game:
"We all encourage each other all the time so as the game was going on we always tell Jeff keep being aggressive, keep shooting. James, we’re checking on him every timeout to see how he’s feeling especially with handling the ball and Jrue Holiday pressuring him full court but after the game guys were just happy that James was out there playing again but also want him to take care of himself these next 48, 24 hours so he can get ready. For Jeff we were just excited that he came out there especially after being out for a couple weeks as well he came out an impacted the game pretty nicely. Like I said early, we’re not celebrating too much but we were excited for guys coming into the locker room and we know that we’ve got to put this behind us and get ready for Game 6.”
JAMES HARDEN
On a memorable game:
"It's not about me it's the Brooklyn Nets and us as a team as a whole. I think individually we all have to do something and bring something to the table to win and we did that tonight. So it's not about me, obviously KD had an unbelievable game but I think it's about everybody else as well. Like I said Jeff made some big shots, guys fought, Landry made some big shots down the stretch. It's a total team effort. Like we always preach it's going to be different guys every single game but as long as we have that right mindset and we're all for each other, good things are going to happen for us. And tonight, they did.”
On Kevin Durant's playmaking:
"Once he got to his spots, and the second defender came over and helped he made the right decision the majority of the time, if not every time. That’s an improvement in his game right there. He’s not just a scorer. He’s gonna make plays and let the game come to him. He’s one of a kind.”
On the win:
"I feel great. We won. So that's all that matters. At this point it's, by any means necessary. As long as there's a W in that column and we keep racking up wins that all that matters. So obviously KD had an unbelievable game and carried us but Jeff made some shots. It's a great team win for us. We haven't really been together the entire year we've dealt with so many injuries or what not that we haven't had an opportunity or been through adversity. So we know that there was gonna be times in the postseason where we hit adversity where things feel like they're up against us and they can't be done. In reality they can be done. We just gotta find ways to get them done. We showed a little bit of that in the Boston series and then even in this series it's the same thing. Like it feels like just when things are going well something hits us. My approach to the guys is keep fighting. It's going to be great on the other side and we did that tonight. So, proud of the guys."