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NBA PLAYOFFS ROUND ONE: PELICANS v WARRIORSApril 18, 2015Stephen CurryOAKLAND, CALIFORNIA Warriors – 106 Q. Steph, first quarter of the game you guys came out on fire defensively, offensively. How much of that was just wanting to make a statement early and just finally getting to the playoffs and wanting to do your thing? STEPHEN CURRY: We're excited. We've been looking forward to this day for a long time. Obviously, if the guys that have been in the playoff game in Oracle before understand the atmosphere and the vibe and the adrenaline rush was great. When we got out there on the court for warm‑ups, just the energy was amazing. I think we fed off of that and started off the game well. We really wanted to make an impression those first six minutes, get the wheels going, and we were able to do that. Obviously building a huge lead was important. We've just got to finish the game better, but we're not going to panic over there. They're obviously a talented team that's going to make a couple runs here and there, but nothing is going to be easy this series. Q. It looked like they were trying to run you off the three‑point line a little bit most of the game. What was your mindset when you see them doing that? STEPHEN CURRY: Make a play. I think I got some pretty good looks. They like to switch and try to close the gap with their bigs. Obviously, AD is pretty lengthy with how much space he can cover, and the other bigs just try to run us off the line and make us. Make our extra plays. I think that's why the ball was moving so well. If we ever get into penetration and kickout, and somebody's going to find an open shot. That's going to be important for us the whole series, how fast of pace we run our offense as well. Q. Can you talk about when you were coming out? It seemed like the Pelicans would chop down leads, and when you came back in you would make a shot to kind of get everything back in order for the Warriors. Did you feel like you had on each of those occasions to do something when you came back in the game the way things were going? STEPHEN CURRY: I was locked in and focused the whole night. I think in those situations you obviously want to get the crowd back into it and there is a weird kind of tension. Especially in the second half is when they made a couple runs. But in the playoffs, you've got to expect anything. Whenever you're on the floor, just try to make an impact. Obviously, if an opening comes or a shot is there and available, they'll be able to take it. And we knocked down a couple and get us going, and got our crowd back into it, and we fed off that energy. Q. Does this team feel a lot of pressure? As a guy who is the leader of this team do you feel like you have to help calm that down with the expectations? STEPHEN CURRY: No, my feeling I guess going into the locker room is we were pretty loose and pretty relaxed with where we are. We know it's going to be a long journey. We're doing a lot of great things this season, but the expectation we had in October is the same we had right now. Obviously, nobody thought we'd win six, seven games in the regular season. But when you get to the playoffs, everything resets and you have to just not forget who you are and how you got there, but just enjoy the moment. Probably we're obviously the favorite in this series, but every game is important. We want to take advantage of every opportunity we have. In the locker room, nobody's looking down the road or feeling extra pressure in the situation, which is healthy for us as we have to fight in this series. Q. With it being Anthony Davis's first playoff game, did you sense any anxiety in him early, any nerves? Then obviously the player he was down the stretch is what he's been all season long. What did you see from AD? STEPHEN CURRY: He got comfortable. We want to obviously make a couple of adjustments with how aggressive he was in the second half. But everybody goes through those first half nerves and jitters in the playoffs. I remember my first game in Denver two years ago. It was kind of a similar situation, antsy, and anxious, ready to get out there and get a feel for what it's like, and then you kind of settle in. I know there are guys on our team that went through that same experience. Obviously, AD changed the game in the fourth quarter with the way he played, and we're going to have to deal with that all series. That's why it's going to be tough. To win four games, we're going to have to focus and lock in. Q. What did you think of the high‑arcing, left‑handed reverse against AD? STEPHEN CURRY: I knew he was change chasing me down once I got past half court, and I just wanted to try to draw some contact. In that situation, if you try to go up softer and expose the ball, he's probably going to get a hand on it. So I got contact, and I was able to get the ball to my left‑hand. At that point, it's not so much luck, but just try to get it on the backboards any way you can, and hopefully it falls in. I turned around and it went in. So it was a fun little play, and I'm glad I executed it. Q. You seemed to, a few times on the court, to be frustrated that maybe you weren't getting a couple calls that you thought you should have gotten. Is that the way you felt? STEPHEN CURRY: Yeah, everybody probably thinks there is a foul on every play. So you're going to react a certain way, as long as it doesn't distract from what you're trying to do. There were a couple possessions where I thought it was pretty obvious, but they saw it differently. To have a reaction move on, that's kind of how it goes. I don't think the refs will determine win/loss in this series. It's just a matter of how we play. You can have a reaction, but you have to stay focused on what you're doing. Q. They're really good at defending the three‑point line. Can you guys win this series if you don't make the three since people are saying you're a jump shooting team? STEPHEN CURRY: We've got to create‑‑ we've got to find a way to create good three‑point opportunities by moving the ball and setting screens for each other. We did that well in the first half. The key for us and takeaway I got from my individual game is there are possessions where you think you have an advantage, maybe it's an iso or mismatch or something like that where they're taught to really try to close that space. To settle for jump shots in that situation might not be beneficial for us. We want to be able to attack the paint and move it on to the next guy and find open three or open shot wherever it is on the court. So off the top of my head, I'll look at the film, but those are situations where we got in trouble a little bit where they press up on the line and we can still get around to the paint and find a way to get to the basket, make it to the foul line a little more and make some more baskets than we did tonight. Q. You mentioned how you're locked in and focused pretty much the whole game. Is that an easier state to get to and stay in now that you've had the experience? STEPHEN CURRY: Yeah, every experience you have helps, that you can rely on. Really felt comfortable out there from the jump ball. This is our third go around for most of the guys in the locker room, you know what to expect. You know how important every possession is. Just find a way to get a win. That's the key as you go through the playoffs. No matter how pretty it is or ugly it is, a win is a win. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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