Mike D’Antoni praises defense, regrets calling his players ‘soft’

Mike D’Antoni praised his team’s defense for an excellent performance in Game 4 of the Western Conference Finals on Tuesday against the Golden State Warriors.

D’Antoni’s Houston Rockets held the Warriors to just 12 points in the fourth quarter and came away with a 95-92 win to tie the series. The defense also played well in the second quarter to allow themselves to get back into the game.

“I thought this was the highest level we’ve ever played defensively, without a doubt. Because you’re talking about maybe the best offensive team ever,” D’Antoni said after the game.

D’Antoni also said he regretted calling his players “soft” after their Game 3 loss.

“I regret it. They’re not soft; we just didn’t play with the amount of force that you need,” D’Antoni said of his team. “They’re not soft. And they proved it. So I misspoke, and you guys mis-wrote it.”

This was an excellent performance by Houston, especially considering how poorly they started the game. The series now heads to Houston for Game 5 on Thursday.