POSTGAME REACTION: Miami HEAT at Oklahoma City Thunder 12/14/22
you just played one of your best games ever you went 40 minutes you scored 35 points to tie your career high you drilled nine triples to establish your career high and then you hit the big time shot with just under five seconds left I tell you a pretty good night for you and your ball Club yes sir anytime we can get a win on the road you know we’ll take it uh you know this is a huge week for us going out here on the road and uh obviously we’ve met we haven’t won two in
a row yet on the road so this is big for us and uh you know it was a team effort Vic played huge for us you know without without that second unit we’d be in trouble for this one so you know kudos to them and you know the Thunder played hard Tyler talk about the last uh play it did it go the way it was drawn up or did you have to break off to get to that isolation one-on-one no um it was it was drawn up just like that um you know Kyle and SPO
wanted to give me the ball at the top of the key get my get the matchup I wanted and they told me to make a play as late 8 o’clock
our doors but to see you rebound and play make the way you have this year and and being so coachable and adaptable talk about how you feel your role is when you’re in with the starters and and does that change at all when you come back in now these last two games with the second unit yeah you know coach Expo and CQ have really been on me about catching and shooting you know I’m obviously lethal or whatever when I’m coming off the dribble but they’ve been really emphasizing me just catching and shooting off the right
off the catch so that’s that’s the adjustment I’m making right now and um I haven’t really ever played that role as a straight catch and shoot and then in the second unit you know I’m more off the dribble playmaking and doing whatever I have to do for the team to win so you know it’s a it’s a evolution is continuing to grow but you know it’s just one day at a time continuing to get better me and the team as a as a whole just to follow up on that with the first you know with
the starting group versus the second unit you making that clear decision in your mind hey are you wearing that second you with when you’re with that second unit hey I gotta pick it up hey it’s my time to really be a little bit more focused on on scoring the basketball myself uh yeah but I mean I’m just trying to make the right play right with it whatever it is whether it’s me shooting or me attacking and making the right play just got to be aggressive my mindset’s got to be aggressive and you know that’s what
the team needs on me Tyler tonight it was about scoring it was more about winning congratulations what a pleasure to watch your game grow right before our very appreciate it thank you guys thank you thank you great win for Tyler hero and his Miami Heat they go to 14 and 15. they’ll take a two-game road winning streak just the absolute Poise you know uh down the stretch and uh well you know if he uh we got uh pick and roll uh we were able to get to spacing out of that and he just read the
defense you know at that point um you know each game is different each situation is different you know you can’t always just say hey you gotta attack and try to get to the rim or back the defender up it just depends you know he’s hit a game winner on a three he said a game winner now on a pull-up eventually he’s probably going to get a game winner on a layup I’ll probably get some kind of game winner on free throw time um you know this is just part of the evolution of a very skilled
offensive player but I you just really you know respect the Poise that he had he wants those situations uh and now he’s starting to stack up some experience you know and those moments he knew exactly what he wanted to get to and read the defense and was able to get to a spot and Elevate and he’s a great you know shooter particularly off the dribble situation is too narrative it’s the last two games that could have been written below 19 point lead a balloon 21 point lead but in each situation you found a way as
a coach do you look at it it shouldn’t have come down to that or do you look at it as maybe a matter of resilience as well well uh of course I look at it as a matter of mental toughness and Collective resilience and and grit you’re going to have to go through a lot of ups and downs in NBA games particularly on the road and uh you know if you have a 15 20 point lead in the first half those get evaporated so fast uh the games now can swing so quickly one way or
another uh I think the more important thing is to have a mindset to do tough things to defend uh and um show that type of grit throughout the course of the game where you don’t collapse over different kinds of runs and we were able to stay with it we got down seven in the fourth quarter and uh we just focused on you know the next possession winning that possession and getting getting a stop uh you know things of that nature that that good teams do um and hey if we have to win defensively and in
the mud uh you know the rest of this road trip I’m totally fine with that yeah yeah pretty much um you know there’s not a hard set line of his minutes so we would like to keep it you know less than it is was tonight but uh you know I communicated with him and and the training staff and he said okay let it roll and he felt great he’s been putting in a lot of work um and this is you know something that I think he’s been able to uh really take the last two and
a half months at a healthy rate to build himself up to be able to handle you know minutes but I thought his 12 point uh three steal game was as impactful as any could be you know with that kind of stat line he was he turned the game defensively whether we’re in the zone or the man uh he he just seemed like he was all over the place uh he really was uh our best guy containing the ball one on one um and keeping the ball out of the paint and then he has that X
Factor the ability with his hands and his anticipation he can he can get in passing lanes and he can steal the ball and um you know turn turn Eric passes uh into turnovers going the other way as well as anybody he’s very much like Jimmy in that regard I think pregame one of the clueless beat Riders asked about the three-pointers turning and finally coming around when you saw that first half um was that to you oh I remember this or did you honestly when you mentioned pregame was that just the floodgates that just had to
happen at some point and the overall franchise record tonight yeah I think there was you know the last couple games there’s more actually for a little bit of time there’s been a little bit more intent of of getting to our actions and finding the open guy without missing the moment there are a lot of one more passes good to Great uh and then our Shooters weren’t passing up open shots that might not necessarily mean 56 three-point attempts a lot of that had to do with Jimmy being out uh and we had to do whatever is
necessary but we’re finding our open Shooters in those open windows that close very quickly in this league and earlier in the season we were missing those moments or delivering the ball not on time not on target uh and our Shooters weren’t able to get those Rhythm looks when when we get our Shooters uh inflow in Rhythm open looks uh they’re great Shooters this is not something that we’re just trying to drive a narrative they’re great Shooters we all know it we just need to do a better job moving the ball and finding them when they’re
open uh you had a rope shift the rotation a little bit Jimmy out that made minions for both Haywood and for Duncan yeah talk about coming out especially with Duncan out of the Deep Freeze and giving the Boost that he provided that was really good uh of Duncan um you know he’s it’s never easy uh you know the rotations are are fluid and when they shift but he always keep himself ready and uh you know we knew at the start of this trip that everybody was going to play a part that’s still going to happen
in these next two games uh and Duncan and H were prepared and ready they both gave us really good minutes H was really good defensively particularly in the zone in the first half allowed us to have another guy to to handle their drivers and attackers and then like I said we found Duncan in his rhythm on time on target so he was able to see a couple go through that are in his wheelhouse and then you know once once our Shooters hit a couple then they’re ignitable um but you’re happy uh you know for Duncan
to be able to uh to really impact the game and help help the win was that just a matter of how this offense operates in shade or is there trouble containable on internet well I thought we did and for the most part I thought we did a pretty good job you know this is the number one attacking team in the league uh you know I’ve seen them do it against everybody where they’re just living at the rim and in the paint and drawing fouls attacking and cutting and offensive rebounding uh I think for the most
part uh once we got out of that first quarter we were able to handle it you know as well as you can expect at least enough to give ourselves a chance to legitimately win this game but that is unique you know how aggressive and assertive they are attacking team win but when you do it with your performance it’s got to feel extra special career high scoring tied and a career high high 9-3s uh yeah it feels good but you know most importantly feels good to get the win um we’re trying to win our first two
consecutive games on the road this this year and we got that done so um was was able to get the win we were excited about it but you know we got another one tomorrow we gotta Focus focusing for that before we get to that uh that first half it went really well for you all what was it with that second group in the second quarter that really exploded for you no just the pressure that Vic and H were applying at the top of the zone and deflections Vic was getting getting out in transition pushing the
ball and getting easy buckets on the other side I think that sparked the run for us um but once the second unit came in they turned turned the whole game around for us and then that right Baseline jumper uh that you got to seal it as much as you could before you guys had to get the stop obviously uh just walk us through how you got to the spot you wanted to um I just I got to my spot you know coaching and Kyle wanted me to get the ball at the top they wanted me
to shoot as late as I could and you know I tried to try to get it the shot clock down and was able to get to my spot raise up and knock it down was that just a case of eyes on the basket I got this I mean it it looked like it the whole time it was just getting to your spot eyes on rim setting up your dribble was it sort of that kind of confidence that I got this fellas um yeah I mean the play was drawn up for me to shoot it so
I was gonna be aggressive and try to make a play if I could get to my spot and uh knock it down you know if they send a second Defender I would make a play for somebody else but you know it was one-on-one so I felt I had an advantage even before the play was called considering band was out Jimmy wasn’t playing as you walk back to the Huddle for that time out was it in your head sort of I got this that you know this has to sort of be on me also with Jimmy
out with bam not in the game at the time um I mean I was hoping I would get the ball Abby I was just ready for whatever coach called you know and you know Kyle was like get him the ball and once he told I heard that you know obviously I knew the ball was coming to me big like 31 minutes tonight what you’re saying that Julie changed the game with his defense just this two-way impact tonight how nice was it to see him do that vix electric you know everyone knows how good of a
player Vic is and he’s working his way back um and he’s he’s a hell of a Defender you know he we’ve seen that last year in the playoffs and you know tonight he showed it once he checked in you know he was a he was tough on the top of the Zone he was able to get the Flash and get Steals and get out in transition this three-point shooting night as a team just after the struggles yeah um I mean I didn’t even think it was I think I shot 17 threes I didn’t even think
I could do that like it’s a lot of threes and uh yeah I mean we shot the ball well we just got to continue to keep it going down to nip and tuck you got to get a defensive stop just walk us through those last two attempts you guys have to dig in against um you know just got to keep them in front man I think that was the biggest key um make it tough for them and I think we just did a good job collectively um just talking to each other making sure like I
said we were in front of guys and then you know just finishing it out you know as best as we could and we we got out with a win Tyler hit a big shot obviously but everybody you know it contributed you know in some sort of fashion so it was a great team win Tyler know that you were electric out there particularly defensively did it feel that way I mean you seemed really disruptive um yeah I think so um I’m just getting better and better stronger and stronger every game um you know it’s it’s different
you know obviously right now we we kind of in the thick of things to you know find my rhythm but I could do other things while I find my rhythm you know what I’m saying so just go out there and just play as hard as I can for as long as I can uh man just continue to stay confident I think he would he would have let me play a little longer I just got a little tired in the second quarter but I’m not wasn’t surprised could you play it back to back or is that
too much to ask right now um yeah I don’t know I don’t know and I’m saying um I gotta listen to my body obviously see how I respond after the 30 minutes you gotta listen to Bam too um see what he thinks but um no all seriousness uh you know it’s just a day-to-day thing so I gotta see but I’m sure eventually I’ll be able to soon um what Tyler did that’s sort of the next Ascension you know for go-to guys obviously you’ve been a go-to guy in your career also what’s it like to have
that confidence that when when Kyle says in in the Huddle we’re going we’re going to you and to be able to take that burden on your shoulder and say hey I’m here for that I mean it’s it’s it’s a confidence that comes from the work I mean Tyler put in work you know y’all might not see it obviously y’all see the scoring y’all see you know the the stuff that he does on the court when it’s game time but very rarely do y’all get opportunity to see the work I get to see the work so
it’s no surprise you know I’m saying that’s where the confidence comes from is the fact that I’m sure he’s worked on that shot a thousand and one times so um you know if anybody’s more proud of him it’s me so it was a great shot uh Big Time shot for us and then we got a stop so that was huge too next to Tyler since you’re returning you’ve been playing a lot of minutes next to Tyler since your return how much more comfortable do you feel kind of with that with him by your side and
kind of sharing about it um I feel comfortable I feel comfortable uh you know obviously you know if you look if you look at the grand scheme of things I really haven’t had a lot of minutes with pretty much everybody so I’m just you know at the end of the day like these are great Reps for us you know what I’m saying and I’m trying to get used to playing with everybody and just playing in general and finding my rhythm finding my stride as I do that
