LIVE: Golden State Warriors 2022 #NBAFinals Presented by YouTube TV | Game 2 Media Availability

Steve, we only saw obviously a half hour of practice and everyone came out of Thursday night saying it was just one game, but it seemed very normal. It seemed guys were loose, guys were normal, guys weren't wallowing or anything like that. Steve, we only saw obviously a half hour of practice and everyone came out of Thursday night saying it was just one game, but it seemed very normal. It seemed guys were loose, guys were normal, guys weren't wallowing or anything like that. You always say it's just one game, but how important is it for the guys to buy in and have their normal approach going into tomorrow? Yeah, I mean, it's the value of experience, playoff experience, is you really do understand the ups and downs of a playoff series, and it's really important to turn the page one way or the other. If you win and you get happy and you let your guard down, then you're in trouble. And if you lose and you feel sorry for yourself then you're in trouble doing that too. So it's all about how you respond, and these guys are the best athletes, best competitors on earth, and a huge part of competition at the highest stage is your emotional and mental approach, and that has to be consistent. Is Gary's elbow to the point that you're, I know he was active the other night, but that you're comfortable putting him in the game? Yeah, the other night I would have put him in in special circumstances, maybe a late game stop. I didn't feel comfortable playing him significant minutes yet. I thought, and my training staff felt like he needed a little more time. I anticipate that he will be available for more than that tomorrow, because the last couple of days have gone pretty well, and he's feeling better. Rohan in the middle. Steve, Celtics played only one big for most of that fourth quarter in game one. Do you feel like that's something you guys need to adjust to, or when you kind of look back at the film of that fourth quarter, do you feel like it was more of an execution issue? Well, I think the game is always tied together offensively and defensively, but it even ties together from the first quarter to the fourth quarter, and I thought we got away from ourselves in the first quarter in terms of game plan. We let a few guys walk into some shots and get comfortable. We let Jalen Brown get a fast break dunk with nobody touching him in kind of a five-on-four situation. I think everything that happened in the first three quarters kind of helped the process in the fourth for them to get going the way they did, but obviously they played extremely well, and the lineup that they put out there has had a lot of success throughout the playoffs, too, so kind of a combination of all that. Steve, what's your reaction having watched the video with the team and going over things? And also, when you look at the way the fourth quarter unfolded, what do you think of the amount of defensive, I guess, force that you guys played with? Yeah, I mean, the film showed the good and the bad. We had some good stretches, and then, obviously, the fourth quarter was, as I said, it was like an avalanche, and I give Boston the credit that they deserve. They played a brilliant fourth quarter, but again, we let our guard down earlier in the game, and that allows guys to be more comfortable when they are taking shots, and when you get a couple early ones that you get a really good look at, it just makes every shot easier after that, so I think it was our coverage breakdowns, personnel breakdowns earlier in the game that sort of fed into that. Steve, a little bit off-topic. I would presume that being a role player in this league would enable you to help coach role players because it's a shared experience and stuff like that, but how did being a role player in the NBA as a player help you coach stars? Was there anything kind of knowing how to play off of a star that has helped inform the way you coach them? I think it's more my observation of watching Phil and Pop and how they collaborated with Michael, Scotty, you know, Tim, David, Manu. I mean, witnessing the relationship between the coach and the star has informed me much more than sort of being a role player and what the dynamic is as that role player, so yeah, I can't relate to anything Steph Curry is feeling on the court, but I can relate to the moments I saw my Hall of Fame coaches collaborate with those stars and I think that's been very helpful. Joe, back right. Hey, Steve. Hey, Joe. The other night was the first time in a long time that Jordan Poole wasn't highly effective. Looking back at the film, was there anything you saw that he could have done better or just that kind of knocked him out of his rhythm? I mean, it's a game where he didn't really get into rhythm. You give Boston the credit, again, that they deserve. They're the number one defense in the league. They did a good job on him, staying physical with him, and then you see the tape and you realize, okay, we could do this, we could do that, and you make some adjustments, but ultimately you trust that, you know, like any player who has made the impact that he has, you trust that there's gonna be some ups and downs, and I thought it was a tough night for him, but I have full confidence that tomorrow will be much better. Steve, over here on your right. What you spoke about in terms of handling the outcome of game one, do you or anyone on your staff, will they sort of monitor your opponent to gauge how they handle that, or do you just assume they're gonna handle it perfectly and any variation will exhibit itself? How they handle what? In this case. I'm sorry? The success of a victory early. Yeah. Well, we always discuss as a staff, you know, if you're Boston, what do you do? If you're our opponent and you look at that tape, you know, where would you make adjustments, you know? So we have some thoughts about what they might do differently going into game two, and then we've gotta be prepared for that and make adjustments as we go. Final question in the back middle here. Hey, Steve. After the game, Draymond and to a degree, staff, talk about the game as an anomaly. I wonder, are you at all concerned that it might not be the right mental attitude, even though there obviously are some element of truth in that, but are you concerned about that mental attitude to just dismiss the game as an anomaly? No, no, I mean, Draymond and staff have been in the finals six times now. They've seen it all. They've seen everything. They've won championships. They've lost championships. They've had their heart broken. They've had parades and this is all part of it. And so that's the right mental approach, and that's one that's born out of experience. I don't think anything was said with any sort of disrespect or whatever. It's nothing like that. We know how good Boston is, and we have great respect for the way they played. I think you gotta look at that fourth quarter and say, well, job well done. And then you look at the tape and you go, well, here's where we could do better. And as far as interviews and post-game coverage and that stuff, our guys have been doing this for a long time. Thanks, Coach. Thanks. All right, starting off with Clay with Tim. Clay, when you were looking at the tape of that game, what did you see maybe that you hadn't felt while you were playing it? I thought we got comfortable when we went up 15, including myself, our team, I mean, the fans. We've done it so many times, you probably expected we were just gonna win, but then I reminded myself the playoffs are about being uncomfortable until you complete the mission. So it was a harsh reminder, but it's something we all needed to go through, including myself. And it's about how we respond tomorrow, which I am very excited for. Next, Vermonti up front. Well, you said the other night that you expect to be better in game two. What do you think you need to do better? I need to make more shots. I need to take more shots. You need to get more stops. And I need to just be myself. And yeah, that'd be one of the greatest to ever shoot it. So I'll rely on that. Follow up is, what did you think of the way you guys, the force you guys played with on defense over the course of the game? I thought it was great initially. And then I thought it kind of withered as the game went on. So we played about 40 great minutes, which we'll not get it done at this point in the season. So we're gonna play with desperation tomorrow. And I think that's when we're at our best. Rohan in the middle. Clay, when you had a chance to go back and look at the film of that fourth quarter, obviously Boston's playing smaller. What stood out to you in terms of the issues you guys had offensively in that quarter? Just not being decisive with our passing, our cutting, our drives, our shots. We kind of were playing timid on our heels. So that's on us to readjust and play with force, not only defensively, but offensively. We must be aggressive, trust each other, make, hit the open man, and just play that brand of Warriors basketball we're all accustomed to. Tim on the right. What do you tell Jordan Poole after that game? Obviously he's had a lot of very good playoff games and great ones. That one wasn't it. What was the conversation like with Jordan? I just tell Jordan to relax and don't be too hard on yourself because he reminds me of my younger self. You know, you wanna be great every night, but the nature of the beast, it's not like that, unfortunately. There's gonna be lows, there's gonna be highs, and just to stay even keeled and realize that it's the war of attrition at this point in the year. So as long as you stick to your process, great things are gonna happen. And he's already proved how vital he is to our team. And I just remind Jordan, like, you know, we all have bad games. Even the greatest ever play have had bad games. Turn off your phone, don't watch television, sports media because it's very reactionary. And when you're at the center of the basketball universe, everyone has an opinion and that can wear you because there's just so much time between games. You don't wanna think about those things that might weigh on your mind. So it's about just staying locked in on what you can do to be better and not paying attention to the outside noise. Anything else for Clay? Robert Littell, BSO. Andre, just wanted to know how you're feeling after your first game back in a few weeks and as kind of one of the veteran leaders on the team, kind of how did you speak to them about handling the game one loss and bouncing back? Yeah, well, I mean, we've just been playing a good game for a pretty long period of time and I got a lot of experience with those guys. So it just feels like, you know, you didn't walk for a week, but you know how to walk. So, you know, they make the game easier for me, you know, with Steph, Draymond, Clay out there. So just knowing my skill set and how to be valuable and a weapon to the team and, you know, just gotta continue to keep being a threat and being in a position of being a threat to the defense and then making sure that you're being sharp on the defensive end with a lot of the weapons that they have. And, you know, I think that's where experience kicks in, where it's not the shock coming back from a little bit of a layoff. On the left side, first row. Looking back at the film, how important was that and what do you hope to, how do you hope to mitigate that? Yeah, well, I mean, he's, you know, becoming the face of the league and, you know, become a young talent and we know how much pressure we try to put on those guys to, you know, kind of take the mantle of who's gonna be at the forefront of the next generation. And, you know, his name's there as well-deserved and it should be. And he didn't shoot the ball well, but he made sure that he was effective in other ways. And that just shows kind of the, you know, the ultra maturity of a, what is he, 23? That's, he's 24. Even that, he's very young. So understanding, you know, you're gonna have some off nights in the finals and just the way you adjust it, you know, you gotta tip your hat, especially to a guy like him, with all that's coming with, you know, what's in the fold for his career. In the middle here, second row. Andre, I think you said on your podcast if the things you were dealing with physically were in the regular season, you wouldn't be playing, but now that it's the post-season, you wanna play. Am I characterizing that correctly? For sure. When, just in your own words, why is the prize of a championship so great that you'll put your body on the line? That's a good question. So, you know, it's really for the guys that are playing with, you know, different reasons. You know, some guys may not understand the magnitude of it all and it's not their fault. It's just, you know, this is your first time and you're trying to process, you know, everything that comes with being in the final and then it's for, you know, there's other guys as they understand, you know, this doesn't happen so often and I think what's happened with our group or with the group, you named it, spoke about it before game one, you know, I don't think the overall sentiment for those three guys after we won the first one was that they were gonna continue to be this dominant this long and I think we take it for granted because we're so close to our athletes now. You know, we're so close to them in social media, we start to forget and take for granted how we should appreciate them a lot more. You know, it's a really long run to go to the finals. This group, six out of eight or nine years, whatever it is, it doesn't happen every day. Only the greats, the real greats do it. You know, LeBron's the only one around our era that's been able to have the same effect in terms of winning and getting this far and we've made it look normal to where people have taken it for granted or can take certain shots at us, whereas, you know, in previous generations, throughout sports in general, people understood how tough it really was and now it's just so much access, we think it's just kind of like a walk in the park, like, hey, let's just go down here and play basketball in the finals again, where it's just a really tough road. So understanding the importance, each chance you get, you gotta try to maximize it because you don't wanna look back and think, you know, you let one get away. So, you know, that's the sacrifice of playing through certain things. Third row on the left. Josue Provence, LMS Media. Andre, looking back at that fourth quarter in game one, what went wrong for you guys and how do you, moving forward, prevent that from happening again? What sort of adjustments do you think you'll need to make? It's a lot of chess playing. You know, they did a good job with their adjustments and they did a really good job with, you know, doing what the game says. And, you know, so much goes into a highlight play that we forget about, you know, the small nuances, the gamesmanship, the, you know, everything's, Isaiah Thomas said it in my podcast, is we play in tenths of seconds, not in seconds or minutes. And, you know, you just define minute things, you know, even the way you close out or the way you attack the defense or your setup of personnel within a play and making sure that everyone's a weapon. And they did a really good job of getting their guys in possession to be threats. And when, you know, the ball swings to them, you do what you do. If the game says shoot, you shoot. If the game says pass, you pass. If the game says cut, you cut. So they did a really good job with that. Well-oiled machine, well-coached. And, you know, I'm enjoying this finals already because it's two high-level teams that are playing the game the right way. And it's playing with a high-level skillset as well. So you got the athleticism, you got the high talent, and you got a great skillset. So just a great matchup. And I think we're gonna come out with a very deserved winner of the finals this year. We'll take two more questions. Last row on the right. Hey, Jordan. You can see you and Jordan practice together a lot. Kind of, I guess, he was just referring to you as his vet. What's the main message with him right now and where have you seen him grow most mentally throughout the season? Yeah, well, it's just, you know, we're here now and everyone wants to play well. Everyone wants to play at a high level. And, you know, they're making adjustments, we're making adjustments. So we're just making sure we're on the same page. You know, part of being a great player is not just how you play, but how you help others play to their best ability. So we were just talking about, you know, certain situations and how we can, you know, mitigate some things that may be thrown at us and how we can adjust to different looks they may throw at us. And then same thing on the other end defensively as well. So, you know, I think that just shows a guy who really wants to excel, wants to play well. And he's watching a lot of film and he's trying to learn as much as he can. So, you know, you love to see that from a young guy. Last question, second row. Andre, Matt Votor, MassLive. For your team, does the collective intelligence that you guys have as a group, basketball intelligence and otherwise, kind of set you guys up well for that chess game? For, or you see what they do and figure out how to adjust to it both between games and in a game to kind of balance out the things that they're trying to throw at you? Yeah, well, you know, when we first started making the finals first few runs, it was, you know, we were the young team seeing if we can adjust, seeing how we in-game adjust as well as between games. And, you know, you pair some sentiments with them now is that they're a younger team, you know, how do they adjust within the game and, you know, with the background of the coaching staff and, you know, with the Spurs having a great understanding and making runs, you know, I think they're doing a good job of buying into everything that Coach Emay is saying to them. So, but we've had a lot of experience as well. So you've, you've seen our experience put us in a good position game one. And then you've seen, you've seen how they're young and they're hungry and they made adjustments to do what they needed to do to take the game, game one. So it's going to be a really good chess match. And like I said, I'm looking forward to it. Thanks a lot, Andre. We have a question for Andrew. Second row here in the middle. Hey, we just talked to Andre and he shared a little bit about why, even though he's physically banged up and has been for the season, he wants to play in the playoffs. What does it mean to have, one, a veteran like that, a mentor like that pushing through for the ultimate prize, a chance to win the championship? It means a lot. You know, he's willing to put his body on the line, even though he's, you know, he's banged up. He's older, but he's willing to be out there and fight, you know, fight with us. So it means a lot. It's motivating. You know, he's got to go out there and play and hoop. Second row, first seat on the left. Andrew, when we looked at the film, how were you guys able to slow down Jason Tatum from scoring? I mean, I know he got 13 assists, but how were you guys able to kind of contain him? I mean, he's a great player. You know, he can score at all three levels. He's got to continue to make it hard. You know, he's going to make some tough shots. He's going to make some good plays, you know, but we just got to keep sticking to the game plan and make it hard for him. Fourth row on the right. You've seen the Celtics defense so far into this season. You have an understanding for how they're going to operate and how they're going to try to adjust. What do you think they did throughout the game that caught you guys off guard and how do you need to handle that differently for game two? I feel like they just stay consistent. They stay consistently good on defense, you know, and we messed up a little bit, you know, turned off the ball a little bit, some rough shots, and they hit shots. You know, that's what it came down to. They were playing good defense and they hit shots at the right time. All right, we'll get started with Jeff. Do we have a first question? Are you not ready? I wasn't. Unbelievable. I wasn't. I'm so, I'm not used to you getting here this fast. Thank you. You're right. It's still fun. When you see Draymond, when you see Draymond like have a rough game or a game that he says wasn't up to his par, how much have you grown to come to expect him to bounce back from that? That is the expectation. There's no other way, no other scenario where I see it playing out any different than him coming out with the right energy, focus, just making his impact felt on the court. I know he takes all that stuff personally in terms of his standard and what he knows he can do out there on the floor. So when he doesn't meet that, he's usually pretty honest and accountable to himself, first and foremost, to the team, and then you go out and hoot. So we all go through that at some point. And you don't win championships and be the team that we are if you don't have that in your DNA at some point. So we got to go out and prove it, Draymond included. Question on the left. Tomer Zardar from Clutch Point. Steph, it's kind of a two-parter. Where have you made the biggest growth since you guys' last championship, you think? And after a loss, do you even get to a point where you're down about it or are you at a point where you're able to just move on and you know there's so much left going on? I mean, if you're not down about it and you're not in your feelings, then that's a problem because it doesn't matter. You have to feel it. How much it lingers, that's the test of, to Margaret's question, just how do you bounce back? You go home after the game, you're probably thinking about every play that happened, what you could have done differently. Was it defensive rotation, a shot that would have went in, a decision you make, whatever it is, those things kind of circle in your head and you probably lose a little bit of sleep that first night. Then you come back the next day and realize you have an opportunity to protect your home court again on Sunday. And just keep things moving, get yourselves back into the series. So the locker room after the game one was rough. We all know the opportunity we let slip in terms of that fourth quarter, but it doesn't kill your confidence that you can't come out Sunday and win that game. And that's what we're gonna do. So not much has changed from the last, from 18 or any of those finals appearances and really in terms of me personally, you know, with how I've evolved, it's just continue to try to play at a high level, understand the game, understand the things that can happen in a playoff series and in the finals and adjust accordingly as you go through it. Monty in the middle. Going through the video of the game, what are the things you saw and what's your reaction to what you saw? And do you guys, do you think you play with enough defensive, I guess, force over the course of the game? There were spurts, not over the whole course of the game. Some of the, they're a great team. They have a lot of different weapons, a lot of threats. Guys had some amazing nights shooting the basketball. So you understand some of the mistakes we made, they took advantage of it. We could have made the same mistakes. They could have missed some shots and we might be having a different conversation, but the way it played out, like, you know, I think early in the game, there were some defensive breakdowns and some lack of physicality that gave, you know, some of that guy some confidence and then that carried over through the rest of the game. In the fourth quarter, you could just feel the momentum, just, you know, shifting dramatically and the avalanche started. So we have to come out with a sense of desperation, you know, first quarter and really cement ourselves in terms of what we're trying to do. Play with the same joy, the same aggressiveness that we always do, but have to sustain it over 48. And that's, it's crazy saying that, that's what it should be like in the finals, you know, with two great teams going at it. Tim Reynolds, Associated Press. Steph, you guys have had that crazy streak, I think it's like 26 consecutive series with a road win. Boston is eight and two on the road in these playoffs. I mean, obviously you gotta be really, really good to get to the finals, but how does really, really good become really, really great on the road? Like what's the defining characteristic that a team has to have to consistently win on the road at this level? The ability to win games a lot of different ways, even, you know, if shots aren't falling, you can buckle down and get stops. If shots are falling, you capitalize on that momentum kind of like Boston did in the fourth. And there's really no panic. I think our experience, you know, we've been down big on the road and come back. We've won some ugly games on the road, you know, low scoring games. We've won some shootouts. Like it's a lot of different scenarios that you find yourself in and you have to be prepared and have the personnel and the resiliency to kind of be able to live in those moments. And there's just a lot of chemistry and toughness that shows up in the biggest of moments. So like you said, it's two great teams that have demonstrated the ability to go outside of their home and get wins. We're obviously gonna have to do that one time to win this series, but obviously for us it starts protecting our home court on Sunday. Mark. Hey Steph, what's been your message to Jordan on what it'll take to bounce back in game two? Be yourself. I guess feel what you, you know, remember what it felt like, you know, in terms of your adrenaline and your emotions coming out, you know, in the game, try to get yourself, you know, asserted, maybe slow down just a little bit to kind of see the pictures a little bit better, but you didn't have to change anything about, you know, the way he plays or the way he attacks or where, you know, he feels the most confident in terms of making an impact on the game. You just have to be able to bottle up those, those emotions and the adrenaline, because it is different. It's a different experience being, you know, you know, when it's the finals and you go through that in your first experience, it's a little different. So don't want to over communicate to him on that front and clog his mind with anything other than just going out and having fun and playing basketball. Melissa on the right. Hey Steph, I know you're probably not on Twitter after game one, checking what people are saying, but I'm sure some of that noise still probably seeps through. I'm curious just how much of it does seep through and how much does that affect you guys at this point? I think as much as you want it to. However much attention you want to put on, whether you're reading it, hearing it, whatever it is, it comes with experience of knowing narratives change really quickly and everybody's trying to guess what's going to happen in the series and, you know, overreacting or properly reacting to everything. So never really gets to me as much in terms of it changing anything other than the expectations I have for myself out there on the court or, you know, again, the standard that I set for myself in terms of how I'm supposed to play. At the end of the day, it is just about winning the basketball game. So if we go out there and do that on Sunday, sure, whatever the noise is will be a little bit more favorable for us. But right now, you know, we allow game one to get away from us and we gotta respond. Say what? You use it as motivation? Yes and no. Like, it's just kind of a through line of your entire career and every year that you play in this league and every experience you go through. It's not just, oh, now we're in the finals. I need some more motivation to get the job done at all. CJ in the middle. What's up, Steph? Were you surprised that Gary wasn't in the game one rotation and when he was able to get back on the court, what does he bring to a series like this? Well, he's just a defensive menace in terms of being able to guard a lot of different positions. He gets into the ball, makes people uncomfortable. He can disrupt a lot of different actions and different situations out there. He even has a knack on the offensive end of just being in the right place at the right time and gives us great energy. So the fact that he's available is big just because of what he's been through these last three, four weeks. I don't know if I was surprised he wasn't in because I don't know too much about how he really feels and what the conversations is with the coach and the training staff and all that. But the fact that he's available, I know he has to be ready because his number can be called at any moment and he has to go be the GP that we know him to be. He can affect this series that same way. Guarding Jalen, guarding Jason, Marcus, whoever he's asked to guard and giving us a huge boost of energy because that's what he does. Last couple of questions, Rohan in the middle. Steph, obviously you've seen every defense over the course of the playoffs, the finals. Boston in particular, I think switched more than any team this season. What would you say in general are keys for a Warriors offense to beat teams that are switching? Over the years, what have you guys found success doing when you're trying to beat teams that are switching? Yeah, take care of the basketball because the way we move bodies and move the ball, switching is designed to keep everything on the perimeter, keep bodies in between man and the basket, try to force you into tough shots. But it also allows some confusion at times if you run your sets hard. One, if you get stops and you can run in transition because it's hard to match up and know where you're switching and all that type of stuff. And like I said, we've seen it before with Houston Series, even OKC a little bit back in the day. And they have the personnel to be able to do it. So it's their bread and butter. It's what worked for them to be a number one defense in the league, but there are ways to attack it. And like I said, we scored 108 points game one. That should be plenty to win a game. We have to get stops ourselves on the other end to allow our offense to do what it does. Last question, Oma on the right. Steph Oma, Young with CBS Pan. The other day you said that you felt that this group is resilient. This is the first time though that this particular team has been down 0-1. What other moments in this postseason gives you that confidence of why they're resilient? And what did you see and feel from the team the last 48 hours or even this morning? I think look at like how we responded game five to game six in Memphis series, game four to five in Dallas series, even moments throughout the regular season where things were starting to get away from us a little bit at times and kind of have like your come to Jesus moment like how we need to play right. Like how are we gonna flip the script and get things back on the right track. And we usually responded pretty well. And it's a collective effort of, a focus on the defensive end first and foremost, and just an understanding of how we all work together to create good shots on the offensive end. It says the first time this, we've been down 0-1. It's first time for a lot of things with this particular group. And we're here in the finals for a reason because we figured it out along the way. If we wanna get back in the series, we gotta figure it out again. Come to Jesus moment? Absolutely. Thanks Steph.