Stephen Curry Reacts To Warriors GM2 vs Lakes | May 4, 2023

Ready? Steph, it was kind of a peak point guard on ball, Steph, tonight. Was that something you guys knew you wanted to do going in, or was it kind of just going with the ebbs and flows of the game early? There's a point of emphasis on trying to get the ball in my hands a little bit more to start, but the rest of it's just kind of read and react, taking what's there. They obviously had a game plan and we tried to make adjustments, and I'm sure that'll continue throughout the rest of the series. And that's the beauty of what we can do is play in a lot of different ways, trying to create good offense, a lot of different ways, using gravity. But that was connected with our defense and the emphasis on not fouling, trying to make them earn everything they got on that end of the floor. Obviously, Bron came out hot, hit some tough jumpers early, but we stuck with the game plan and it played to our favor. You mentioned using gravity. Just what does going small, having that extra floor spacing do for you guys, especially against a team with the Lakers' size? You got to give up something. It's hard to be everywhere. Although, what's that movie or show that... Yeah, I think it's part of, again, how we're using our strengths to our advantage. Pick and roll, again, you got to give up something. So as long as we're decisive and the floor is spaced properly, you usually can find a good shot and then you just got to knock them down. So Jermichael was huge coming in, being aggressive, being in the right spots. Obviously, Klay got going early. We found him in transition. And in the half court, Draymond was amazing in the pocket. The Sacramento series, we found some success there. Then they tried to respond to that and we figured that out. So I assume that'll happen with LA. Same kind of vibe, but we'll have an answer for all of it. Steph, obviously the last playoff one you guys had, you scored 50 and it was a big deal. But does the TCC in you like these type of wins where it's up and down the lineup, you know, all these people contributing, you only take 12 shots. Do you get a special satisfaction out of that? I do, but I like to shoot too. So just, again, just finding ways to be impactful and be aggressive and whatever's working, sticking with that until you have to do something different. So we're capable of playing a lot of different ways. I'm capable of playing a lot of different ways. You know, as long as we're just creating open shots, no matter who's taking them. And obviously tonight I didn't have a lot of open ones for a reason and make the right decision. Ball finds the right person and good things happen. Steph, Draymond mentioned that Klay was particularly pissed off after last game. Did you see that? Did you get a feeling what that might mean? And do you, I know all playoff series are big, but do you, obviously it's Lakers, it's a team he's not, you know, even none of you guys have played the playoffs for and he specifically hasn't played his childhood team. Do you sense some sort of added significance for him because it's the Lakers? Yeah, he talked about it before the series and how excited he was. I don't know whether he's pissed off, you know, shots or the loss of both or all of it. He's a competitor and he takes that stuff personally in terms of his performance and how he plays. And he's been that way his whole career. So whatever added fuel to the fire you need for him, whether that's, you know, the matchup itself or the personal history of, you know, fandom that he had and now it's, you know, a guy that's trying to chase his fifth championship, like all that stuff matters. We got to find motivation to keep the fuel going. So whatever motivates him, I love it. Jermichael mentioned the speech you gave before game seven helped kind of get him out of his feelings a little bit. Have, I mean, was that in some ways kind of the purpose of it? And just, what did you think of what he's done in this series? We talk about it a lot in the sense of it's really difficult at times for a lot of guys to keep confidence in themselves, just to trust that the work that you're putting in on a day-to-day basis to keep yourself ready and in shape and your skillset sharp, that it'll pay off because you don't know when it's going to be. And historically with our team around our core, we talked about it. There's guys that always find a way to step up at the right times. And, you know, whether you need that reminder or just that message that it's going to happen. I'm glad it worked and I'm glad that he took it to heart. And it's a big part of who we are as a team and our identity and our culture. And like I said, it's just not, I know it's not easy. So credit to him to, you know, staying ready, staying, you know, sharp mentally, confident in himself to knock down those shots and take what the defense has given him. And, you know, that's him being a professional and taking advantage of the opportunity. Steph, with the 12 assists tonight, should we be calling you Magic Curry now? No. Do you take an extra pride in doing things in a traditional way, even if you're not a quote unquote traditional point guard? I mean, the labels and all that stuff, I don't ever get into it just because, you know, labels usually demean or kind of try to bottle up greatness in the sense of what we try to do on a night-to-night basis. So, like I said, we do it a lot of different ways. I try to do it a lot of different ways. How you want to describe it or label it doesn't matter to me. It's just, when you watch us play, you know how we do things and how I try to impact games. Again, whether it's shooting 38 times or shooting 12 and trying to find, again, what the defense is giving you. So I'm going to continue to do that and try to figure out the... She sends me some amazing stuff from game to game and she talks about just, you know, you're always trying to solve the Rubik's Cube every game and it starts in a different place every time. So you're just trying to figure it out and that's the beauty of basketball and the way that you see it. So I love that part of the game and I have the ability to do a lot of different things in a lot of different ways. Steph, today, eight years ago, you won your first MVP and Draymond was up here with his kids and a lot has happened in eight years. How much do you enjoy this portion of your career and being able to play in front of your children that are a little older and can understand what's going on now? Gives you perspective. Me and Draymond talk about that all the time. They're like kind of the time stamp on a lot of things that you've experienced and it's a beautiful thing to know you're still playing at a high level and you get to enjoy it a little differently than we did back in the day. He was talking to Ron about it. He's got an almost college student. Like it's crazy just to think about all the things that we've been through and your family and the way that we get to enjoy the on-court, off-court experience and what that is is truly special. So I'm grateful for that for sure. Steph, do you sometimes think back to a certain sequence like right before halftime, there's the offensive foul called on Wiggins. You guys win the challenge. It's instead of block on LeBron. Three free throws, there's a technical there. You guys, then Clay hits a big three and you guys are rolling. I mean, 40, back-to-back 40 point quarters. And I mean, do you ever kind of reflect on little moments like that? Yeah. I mean, every game is different. Coach McKillop Davidson always talked about Big Mo. That was one of his things and how you finish halves in college but how you finish quarters. It matters because that can carry over to the next 12 minutes. And especially in the playoffs that you keep your crowd into it. You have just a good feeling leaving the court and all that type of stuff. So the specifics of this game went in our favor. And usually we're pretty mindful about that. We talk about on the bench at times in timeouts like three minutes left, let's finish this quarter strong because it can carry over to the next quarter or whatever it is. And it all matters for sure. Can you believe back-to-back 40 point quarters there? I mean, it just, you guys were rolling there. You took off. We needed this one. So yeah. We had a great motivation to try to figure out how to win this game at all costs. And everybody played amazing basketball and focused basketball. And then you allow your crowd to get into it and home court advantage shows up. That's tough. Did you feel that this Laker team is tired? No, I think most teams at this stage usually shrink your rotation. You're only playing eight guys and then the styles of each team, whichever one wins usually within that game, put yourself in a position to be successful. So I don't sense that there's fatigue at all. They're going home for game three. They're probably gonna be energized and rejuvenated there. So we have to show up with the same mentality we had tonight and not expect that fatigue is gonna be a factor at all in the series. So Steph, so what do you think about Draymond's defense on the 80? He just got 11 points. You know, Draymond played very physical in the pressure ball. I know he was excited about the matchup and trying to find different ways to make him uncomfortable. 80's an amazing talent and Draymond would speak on it. Like you can have the best defense in the world. He can still score, but you can't let that stop you from showing up every possession. Draymond was amazing tonight. And that's the back and forth of a playoff series, you know, the adjustments that you make. And I got a lot of faith in Draymond being able to show up the way he did tonight and the rest of the series, whether he's on 80, you know, majority of the minutes or whatever he's asked to do. He's a champ and he's proven his ability to do that over and over and over again. So a lot of confidence in him to do that. Steph, you mentioned how badly you needed this. How much of a sense of relief is there? You don't have to go down 0-2 for the second consecutive series. I mean, it's big, just especially the difference being going down 0-2 after playing two home games like that would have been a horrible situation to be in. So it was, I don't know, every playoff game is a must win because it feels like, you know, there's an importance of trying to get to four as fast as possible. You know, when you have a bounce back game like we had tonight and to win as decisively as we did, knowing that it's going to be a whole lot tougher, you know, game three in LA, like it's a big morale boost to give ourselves life and belief that, you know, our game can carry on the road. So excited about the opportunity and the challenge ahead.