Aaron Gordon Previews Heat/Nuggets 2023 NBA Finals | May 30, 2023

Whether it's first round Anthony Edwards, second round KD, third round LeBron and AD, or this round Jimmy Butler, what does your process look like in studying these guys and preparing for them, knowing that you're going to have a war going up against them defensively? Well, we have player personnel sheets and booklets, essentially, that we can go through and study players' tendencies, where their strengths are, what they like to get to, how they're most effective, and I just kind of go through that, treat it like Bible for the next couple of days, and just stick to the script. You've gotten a lot of praise for your defense throughout the playoffs, and I don't know if you were regarded as the type of defender that you're regarded as now when you were in Orlando. Are you enjoying showing the world this side of your game, and have you always thought that you've had this kind of defensive level inside of you? Well, I came into the league as a defender. I tell all young guys coming into the league, find a niche. It's going to help you stay in the league, and my niche was defense, so it's been there. I've been able to develop it and kind of fine-tune it, but I'm most excited about just helping my team. I'm not really worried about showing the world anything. I do it for the guys that are in the locker room, and if I can take on that task of guarding the best player night in and night out and make it easier for the guys around me so that they can focus on their jobs, so be it. I'll do that every time. Hey, Aaron. A lot of your teammates praised you for kind of revamping your game, and you kind of meshed it with what works best with Nicole and Jamal. Can you take us through that process? How did you kind of overhaul your game to make sure it meshed more with what was on the floor? It's not really about overhauling as much. It's just reading the game. Those guys are such great players, such great players in this locker room and playing on the floor that you just have to make the right read. You've got to be in the right spot every time and do what the game is asking of you. I've gotten to playing the dunker a lot, which I love to do. A.G., how much respect is there for the Heat with all the undrafted players that have played for them in the playoffs? Spoelstra's a great coach, and sort of that Heat culture. How much respect do you guys have in the locker room for them? We've got the utmost respect for them. They fight, and they scrap, and they have no quit in them. They play through 48 minutes a game and more if necessary. They play fearless. They play disciplined. They're well coached and have some guys that have been there before and have some guys that have chips on their shoulder. We're not looking at the seating or the story around it. This is a very talented basketball team, a professional basketball team. All those guys over there got game, so we respect it. Aaron, is there anything from last year's series against Golden State that you've taken and applied to this postseason that's allowed you to have success? Oh, man, just how much I appreciate KCP and Bruce E.B. chasing around guards. I was trying to guard a lot in that Warriors series between Clay and chasing around Steph a little bit and then switching to Draymond. There's just a lot. We've got some defenders on this team, some two-way guys. It's nice to have those guys around and locked in on the defensive end. And then just the physicality of the game, understanding that there's going to be some fouls that don't necessarily get called, but that cannot deter you from attacking the rim and attacking the game every single time. Aaron, a lot's been made about Miami's three-point shooting for good reason. Above 43% against Miami and Boston. I think they're at 38% on above-the-break threes. What are you guys seeing from how they're getting to these three-point shots? A lot of driving kick. A lot of driving kick and a lot of slips. They worked the clock. They used all 24 seconds of it to find the best shot. They played good to great. And it's going to get you a higher percentage. They do that time and time. Every possession, they play good to great. How has the rest been maybe an advantage for you guys? We've been working. It's not like we've got our feet kicked back or our hands back and our feet kicked up. We've been working. We've been locked in in the gym. Working diligently. So we feel like we're in a good space. It's been a good balance of work to rest. Happy we have home court advantage. Aaron, Malone talked about trying to use altitude and make it show up in these finals. How do you use that to your advantage, especially knowing that Miami just got in last night and has basically two days to acclimate? The altitude actually is an advantage. It plays a difference. I remember when I was in Orlando and coming to play against Denver, it was difficult just to get your first and second win. But that team is full of fighters. That team is excuseless. They don't make excuses, and they will not use that as an excuse. Honestly, we're just going to play our game and try to run them and just play the way that we know how to play. Aaron, you talk about the altitude and the home court advantage. Was this Eastern Conference Series result what you were hoping for? Were you rooting for Miami to win it so that you guys would be able to stay here and kind of catch them tired at altitude and get to home court? You always want to keep home court. So first and foremost, it's what we worked for all season long, to have that home court advantage. But I've been telling my guys all year, we don't want the easy route. We don't want anything easy. We want to be great. Miami is the best team out of the East, and that's what we want. Aaron, the series is going to come down to more than just you guarding Jimmy, but you've probably seen him on the court more than any player you've gone against in the playoffs. So I guess how is that an advantage if it is? And Coach Mullen talked about he's really good at getting to his spot. So how do you make that difficult for him? Well, Jimmy's a difficult cover for different reasons than the guys I've guarded in the past, like KD and LeBron, Cat. Jimmy does everything. He does all the intangible things. He gets out in transition. He gets cuts. He gets offensive rebounds. He gets back doors. He gets spin outs. He does a lot of the game within the game as well as being really skilled. So he's a difficult cover. Just make it tough for him. Play without fouling to the best of my ability and just compete. That's really what it comes down to. Aaron, as a defender in the league, obviously there's a lot of guarding pick and roll, guarding two-man game that's part of the diet of a defender. But what is unique about the way, from your perspective, that Jamal and Nikola do that dance that's different than other players in the league? The way that they play the two-man game. Oh, the way that they play the pick and roll? Yeah. I just think it's lethal just because of their ability to score from all three levels. It's rare. You know, it's really rare that you can have a guard and a big that can bullshoot the three, both scoring the midrange with the floater and attack the rim. It's very rare. You don't see it often at all. Go ahead, Mike. Okay. Aaron, do you have any recollection when you were younger of watching finals when you were growing up? And ultimately, what does it mean to you to be on this stage playing as opposed to watching it if you did watch it? Well, of course I watched the finals. It's just an awesome feeling. You know, it's amazing. I'm doing it for everybody that's ever helped me in my life. I'm doing it for the people around me. And just proving us right, you know. It's hard to put into words how amazing this experience is. Playing basketball at the highest level is a blessing, and I'm doing everything in my power to continue to receive those blessings for myself, my family, and my team. Aaron, Miami plays more zone than anybody in the NBA. The Nuggets, you guys have been really good at attacking the zone. What is the key for an offense when going up against a zone, and why do you think the team has been so good against it? The key to going up against a zone is, well, good shooting. That always helps. If you've got some lethal shooters out there, you can just shoot people out of the zone. Ball movement, patience, attacking the zone, the middle of the zone, and really the middle of the zone. That's what unlocks it all. If you can get it in the middle of the zone, everything else kind of unlocks. Oh, yeah, and offensive rebounding against the zone as well. All right, we'll go to Jim Conlin, RTB Radio Ireland. Hi, Aaron. Aaron, in terms of Miami Heat, when they've been successful so far in the playoffs, Jimmy Buckler has averaged 27 points or more. In terms of having a target, in terms of limiting Jimmy, do you think maybe if you can keep him under 22 points and just set targets for elite players, would you set some at them? Yeah, I mean, he's been going crazy. I don't really set targets for points. I just want to make it as difficult as I possibly can for him all night long through 48. During the entire series, just make him everything that he gets tough, make him work for everything. And it's not like a one-on-one. You know, basketball is a five-on-five game, and it's going to be a five-man defense out there. So just make him work, and like I said, just make it tough. Not necessarily worry about the points. If he gets to his 27 mark, but he takes however many shots, it's a win. All right, we'll take one more. We'll end with Christos Saltas, Bordeaux, Greece. Hello, Aaron. Hope you're doing well. How important is the Game 1 of that series? Because both you and the Miami Heat have won all the Game 1s during this postseason. How important is that Game 1, and what do you need to do to set the tone in this series? Just do what we've been doing all year. You know, take care of our home floor. We've been great on our home floor all year long, and we don't expect that to change. We want to be disciplined through 48, have energy, play hard, and play smart through 48 minutes, and I believe we'll come out of here with a dub. Cool, thank you, Aaron. We'll get Jeffrey in here real quick.