Steph Curry Reacts To Warriors GM4 vs Kings | April 23, 2023

Steph, can you just walk us through what happened there? I think 40 seconds left when you tried to call timeout, didn't have a timeout to call. I knew we challenged, but I didn't realize when we lost the challenge that we didn't have any timeouts left. I know coach mentioned he took the blame for it. I ain't gonna lie, I thought it was the smartest play in the world. When I got the ball, turned around, saw a trap, realized there was no real outlets instead of turning it over. It's kind of the heady play, but it turned out not to be. I looked over at the bench and everybody was shaking their head. So it was an unfortunate situation in that respect, but good learning lesson. Thankfully, we came away with the win, but good learning lesson on how important all those details are. We know it, but knowing timeouts, knowing the situation, it was just an unfortunate sequence right there. What did you think about the two, I guess, decisions that involved Draymond today, him coming off the bench and then in the second half, starting him off Fox? I mean, we talk about it a lot around here, around doing whatever it takes to win and everybody being able to be flexible on what their role is, what they're asked to do from the top all the way to the bottom. It's well-documented. Most of us have been in situations where that's become a decision. Last year in the playoffs with me, Leakes coming back in the beginning of this year's playoffs, Draymond from game two to game four. So it's just being ready to play no matter what the situation calls for, the versatility of our team and the fact that we know each other so well that he doesn't start in the first half, starts the second half, match-up change, and we kind of pick it right where we left off. So just a credit to him, obviously, accepting the role. It's a credit to just our one through 15 being able to keep the identity of how we play no matter who's starting or who's out there. Over your stuff, the last possession when you guys were on offense is about a four-second differential. You took the shot, I think, with about 12 left. Can you take us through that possession, please? It's always a balance of playing the clock and trying to find the best shot because, obviously, if I make the floater, we're up three with 10 seconds left and you like that kind of position to have one more stop. Obviously, I missed. It was a little fight for the rebound. They called timeout with 10 seconds left. I live with that decision, though, and D-Fox kind of went for a phantom steal. I had the whole lane kind of wide open. Made a decision. I live with it. Wish I would've made it, obviously, but we were able to get one last stop. So that's the nature of the playoffs where I analyze that possession, figure out what I could do different. Had they made the shot, it'd be a different context, but we played to the buzzer. Steph, can you describe the level of desperation you still need to have in a game five, a swing game, knowing that the winner has a chance to win the series on Friday? I think we understand how we bounced back in these last two games, the things that we've done differently and the physicality we've played with. Bottle that up, take it to Sacramento. The biggest thing that we've noticed is just the possession game is everything in this series because of the pace and because of the way that they play. If you give them turnovers, they had 18 points off turnovers tonight. Last game was a little bit better, night and day different than game one and two. So we have to maintain our composure on that front, turnovers and offensive rebounds. Game five, like you said, it's a great opportunity. We know we have to win one in that building to get out of this series. Might as well be game five. Steph, can you kind of take us through that final stop, getting Fox to give up the ball and the communication that you and Dre had to have together in that moment? I think it's just about being one step ahead. They already knew based on where I was, they were going to try to bring me into the pick and roll. And all you want to do is just try to keep a body in front of Fox. You know that down one, they're in the bonus, you can't foul and they're probably going to get a shot off. It's just, you want to make it as tough as possible. So he came off, was able to kind of make him change directions. He bobbed the ball a little bit. And then I felt Draymond on my right side and he was right there in the right position. And then right there was just a read of knowing he picked the ball up. Draymond's got him squared up. I'm not doing anything at that point. So go, you know, chase HB off the line. He got a clean look, but it was a late contest that I tried to get up there and bother it as much as possible, make or mislead. And you just want to just think as much as possible through that 10 seconds before the shot gets up. Cause we just needed one stop. Steph, Draymond said that after the game, game three, he came and talked to you and, you know, thank you for having his back. And as you noted, he just, by coming off the bench, it's kind of a part of a long Warriors history during this run of people going back to Iguodala, you know, being able to sacrifice their ego. Does, even though you obviously don't want him to be suspended, but did that whole thing kind of snap your culture? Like kind of, has it been a force of like reminding you guys who you are? Or maybe you don't need a reminder. The reminder was being down 0-2, but definitely up to Annie with, you know, without him in game three, understanding how important that game was. Cause we talked about it. You lose that game, the series is pretty much over. No, no teams come back from 0-3. So gave ourselves an opportunity to win a big game tonight. And he was a monster on defense, you know, just kind of plugging holes and being a disrupter that he is. And to your point, that's exactly how we need to play. Everybody just being ready to, you know, take advantage of their minutes and, you know, do what they're asked to do when they're called to do it. That's the only way we get out of this series and do anything special this year in the playoffs. Just the way that we're built and the way that we're constructed and the history of how we've done things over the years. Steph, you played 43 minutes tonight. Is this a case where you're telling Steve, hey, it's okay. Press the minutes, press the minutes. Is he communicating with you? Do you have to approach the timeouts differently? He mentioned, I think a couple of days that you're kind of closing your eyes and almost meditating through some of your rests. Is there any different thing that you're feeling when you know you might be playing 40, 41, 43 a night? I mean, it's the whole routine and process of how you get ready for games, how you take care of yourself from a recovery standpoint in between games. And, you know, in the game, when you come out, whether it's a timeout and you're going back out there or, you know, your break's coming, being really intentional about, you know, getting, maximizing the rest while you're over there. I know my rotation when I'm most likely coming out, you know, quarters one through three, and then based on how the game is, being prepared to play the whole fourth, you know, like I did at night and would have done had the game been closer in game three. So, you know, I feel fine and there's never, hasn't been any conversations of I need to come out or I'm playing too much because, you know, you understand how important this moment is. Hey, Steph, they, over here, in the fourth quarter, they erased your 10-point lead and ended up taking the lead. After that, you scored seven in the next eight points for your team. Is that an active decision to start looking for your own shot a little bit more? It might not look like it, but I'm always looking for my shot just because there's always going to be a double team or a trap or a lot of attention. So me not shooting does not mean I'm being passive. It just means you're reading the defense to make the right plays and get the ball moving, welcome the attention or the double teams and finding open shots for other guys. But the more you do that over the course of 48, the harder it is to defend and more likely I'll find some openings and then you always got to be ready and confident as you can knock those shots down. So, you know, Clay had some timely ones in the third quarter. He had a big one in the fourth. I was able to hit a couple. It doesn't really matter when it comes, it's just always staying aggressive, even though it might not be, you know, always with me ending up with a shot. Steph, the Kings made 11 of 27 shots in three point territory in that first half. And it looked like they was ready to roll because you know, they haven't been shooting particularly well in that area. But in that third quarter, they only made, they only had one attempt and they made that. Keegan Murray made that. What were you, what were the Warriors doing to prevent them, you know, from getting off like that? Because one attempt, that's remarkable. I mean, they, regular season, they play a certain style that, you know, De'Aaron Fox can drive lanes and kick out the guys. He's obviously super fast, super talented. He had 38. He was pretty efficient all night. Keegan got off first time all series and we need to figure out how to slow that down because, you know, he changes the dynamic of how they play when he's a threat from three. But for the most part, we've done a really good job of just trying to make them work for those types of looks, you know, sticking to our game plan. So I think obviously the way that they shot the ball, you know, kept them in it, kept the momentum or they gained momentum at certain points of the game because, you know, they got hot from three. And we know in their building, if that happens, their crowd gets into it. So we have to, you know, try to figure out what that third quarter really looked like and try to do it for all four in game five. Do I get all three or what? Steph, for so much of this championship era, you're the team that's making the plays on the stretch and closing. What's it feel like when things feel like they're not going your way, which has happened a lot this year, but what's it like? Is it just about surviving it and that's what makes you champions or is it just weird to be in a position where you're up and the game is pretty much over and then things go wrong? I mean, every game is just a different challenge. You know, the regular season playoffs, you know, teams are coming at you, you know, especially like this year, this whole year as defending champs, who's getting everybody's best shot and, you know, whether it was self-inflicted wounds or whether it was teams just getting hot or whatever it was, there were games that we let go for a lot of different reasons. We've learned from that in the sense of being able to stay, you know, maintain our composure and not get too rattled by those runs that happen because they're, you know, Sacramento's a really good team and, you know, the way that they started the fourth quarter early in the year might've wrecked us a little bit because we didn't really respond well. So, you know, trying to learn our lessons and stay composed, understand it's a long game. And the biggest thing for us is when we settle down and don't turn the ball over, you know, usually good things happen. I think that's the one thing that was our Achilles heel, not just the turnovers that we always have, but the untimely ones that, you know, allow the game to kind of get out of hand. So we've done a better job of that in these last two games. And I think that's a big difference. Stephanie, you guys were down at the half, come out of the third quarter and you dominate the third quarter, defense better, deep rebounding better. What was behind the energy that came out in that third quarter? I mean, just a focus of executing on both ends and understand like the pace of this series is crazy. But when you get stops, you can run. And when you keep them off the free throw line, they can't set their defense and we can kind of play to our strengths a little bit better. And a lot of that was Clay. Clay played amazing that third quarter, he's hitting some big shots for us. So, and the way that we finished the quarter was huge, which has been another part of our struggles in terms of, you know, a six point lead turning into two or a two point lead turning into a four point lead for them or, you know, certain things like that. We went from, you know, to close it out the way we did that last possession, you know, allowed us to have a little bit of breathing room even though they made that run to start the fourth. So all those details matter. Steph, so Andrew Wiggins got a four blocks including blocked Fox shot. What do you think about his defense? Playoff wigs, two way wigs, all the different nicknames that he's established since he's been here. Huge part of, you know, our success and the way that he can influence games, not just scoring the basketball. So, you know, it's easy to forget this is only his fourth game back and, you know, since whatever, February and starting to find his legs and find his confidence, his endurance to play 38 minutes and, you know, chase D Fox around all game. So you love to see it. Thanks, Raymond. Thanks, Steph. With Clay driving and dishing out the last, you know, half of game three and then again today, Steph, how much has that opened up the floor? It seemed like you guys were making so many snappy quick passes. It just led to good things. They turned up the pressure on us to start this game. It seemed like everybody was getting pressured out to almost half court. It felt like they were just trying to disrupt our patterns. So the lane was relatively wide open, but it doesn't mean you can always get all the way to the basket. So, you know, being able to see, you know, those lanes drive, like you said, find the open guy on the weak side, that domino effect that happens. We love to play that way because usually the ball is going to find the right guy for an open shot and the easy shot. And so Clay, knowing he's such a threat to shoot the ball from the perimeter, when he's decisive, when he gets into the lane, you know, it's just another way for us to create good offense. And usually that means we're getting good shots up instead of, you know, rushing or turning it over or settling. So just got to, you know, we trust him with the ball in his hands to keep doing it.