What Thunder, Pacers are saying about pressure of playing in NBA Finals Game 7
Order takeout. Or fire up the grill. Grab your favorite beverage.
And settle in for Game 7 of the NBA Finals between the Oklahoma City Thunder and Indiana Pacers on Sunday, June 22 (8 p.m. ET, ABC) with legacies at stake.
It is the 20th Game 7 in NBA Finals history and the first since the Cleveland Cavaliers came back from a 3-1 deficit and defeated the Golden State Warriors in Game 7 in 2016. The home team is 15-4 in Game 7 of the Finals.
"It's a contest of wills," Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said. "I think the reason it swung between the two teams is because these are two teams that have leaned on that heavily to get to this point. It's two teams where the whole is better than the sum of the parts. It's two teams that are highly competitive. Two teams that play together. Two teams that kind of rely on the same stuff for their success that are squaring off against each other."
Here's what Pacers, Thunder are saying about Game 7:
Notable quotes on Game 7 of the NBA Finals
"I always feel a ton of pressure, but the pressure is not external. It's not like a game circumstance. It's not a situation. It's the internal situation of doing right by the players, serving the team, putting the team in the best possible position to be successful. Especially this team. It's a group of guys that I love coaching.
"I feel a great sense of responsibility to them, a great sense of responsibility to the organization, the city. In every circumstance, though. That's a fire that keeps on burning regardless of circumstance."
"I love pressure. As you go on in your competitive life in sport, what you learn is that these moments are rare, and trying to duplicate this kind of situation is something that you look to do in everyday life. It's not easy to do that. It's not easy to do that.
"So I'm very much looking forward to Game 7. The last time we've had one of these in the Finals, I think was '16. I've seen some things about that. These are special moments certainly for both teams but for our league, for the game, for the worldwide interest in the game. It's a time to celebrate."
"You want to be prepared. You certainly want to learn the lessons, get the game plan into the game, but not at the expense of aggressiveness, confidence, instincts. I think that has been a strength of ours this season. We certainly have to lean on that. We have to understand the work is done and we have to trust the work. The muscle is built. We have to flex that muscle. That's what (Sunday) will come down to for us."
"Just really focused on Game 7 and trying to take it just a moment at a time. Really enjoying what we're doing. Understanding this is going to be one of the biggest, if not the biggest game most of us ever play in in our lives, and for our organization from a historical standpoint, as well. That's something that you don't take for granted and you enjoy as a competitor. So I'm really looking forward to it."
"Through our experiences throughout the whole season and the postseason, no matter how big the moment or the game, it always comes down to the same things. When we go back and watch film or we go back and look at the numbers from the game, it always goes back to the things that we know we can control every night.
"When we do those things, we look like a pretty good team. When we don't do those things, we look like a bad team. I think learning that and understanding that throughout the season and in the postseason is going to help us (Sunday)."
"You never know how it's going to go. I'd be lying if I said this has gone exactly as I expected because each playoff series, each game is a different thing. Each game takes on a different personality, has different characteristics. Different guys step up. Different situations happen, etc.
"The truth is that nothing else previous to this matters at all now. We're just down to one game and one opportunity. We're really looking forward to it."
"I probably can't appreciate it until I get the outcome I want. It's cool, though. Somewhere down the line, win or lose, it will be cool to have your name etched in history regardless what's going on. That's cool. But right now, it's very difficult to look into that.
"But I'm also grateful for the opportunity. That's one thing I can say is throughout the whole entire thing, you always have to remain grateful for where you are because there's a lot of NBA players that will trade their spot with me right now. That's how I look at it. But as far as history, I want to be on the good side of that, for sure."
"Not taking anything for granted and also just knowing how hard it is to get here. I think for me just the fact that I can appreciate that makes me just go out there, not get too down on myself when things are going wrong and not getting too excited when things are going well. Just understanding that this is the game of basketball and it's life. Sometimes you have good games and sometimes you have bad games.
"I think that whole understanding for me just makes me relaxed and just go out there and do my job, because at the end of the day, that's what it is. We're playing basketball. Obviously all the other things make it look bigger than what it is. But it's just ball."
"Honestly, not trying to think about it too much. You guys have all heard me say this a thousand times, I'm just trying to go out there and do my job and that's really it. I'm not going out there listening to the external noise. I'm just doing whatever it takes to help our team win."
"I don't think location matters for pressure's sake. I think the pressure of the moment is that everything you've put into this year to grow through the regular season, training camp, postseason, the pressure might be just like not wanting to waste that.
"But at the end of the day, like I said, you're either going to win or lose. Like that's the reality of the situation. So go out there and you play your best and you play as hard as you can and you let the chips fall where they may."
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