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NBA WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: ROCKETS v WARRIORSMay 21, 2015Steve KerrOAKLAND, CALIFORNIA: Game Two Warriors – 99 Q. Steve, you guys had gotten so used to winning games by large margins during the regular season. What has it been like in the Playoffs as you guys try to learn how to win this way through three series now having to grind out a lot of fourth quarters? STEVE KERR: This is how the Playoffs go. You're playing great teams. You're playing teams that are generally a lot more in tune with game planning and preparation, and generally speaking healthier. Houston is healthier than what we saw in the regular season. They've got everybody going and playing well. I've never seen any team go through the Playoffs just with ease. It's hard. Playoff games are hard. We're right where we need to be, won the two at home, and now we head to Houston. But every game is probably going to be like this. Q. Steve, how do you evaluate the job Klay is doing on Harden, and what else can you do against Harden? STEVE KERR: Well, that's the thing. I mean, you look at the box score and you don't think we did a very good job, but he's hitting tough shots. We gave up a couple easy ones late. We were guarding the three‑point line. He got into the teeth of our defense and dunked it once. We sent him to the line a few more times tonight than we did in Game 1, but all in all, he's hitting a lot of tough shots. He's a great player, just like Steph is a great player, and both those guys are playing at a very high level. Q. It seemed like the last six minutes or so, it was Curry making a play, Harden making a play. I know you're coaching the game but at some point can you understand the level they were at and how much control of the game they both had, going at each other, not certainly on defense, but playing each other? STEVE KERR: No. Q. You didn't enjoy that? STEVE KERR: No. I'll look at that on tape, and maybe in a few months I'll look back and enjoy the duel, but right now it's just possession by possession, trying to get it done. We faltered at the end, but we were able to hang on with a great defensive stand on that last play. We made our share of mistakes in the last minute or so, but you know, we ultimately made the play we needed to make to deny that last shot. Q. How much of the offense at the end was just Steph, go do something? STEVE KERR: Well, see, they're trapping Steph, so what we're trying to do is get the ball out of his hands on the trap and spread the floor and then move it. We got a great look from Harrison in the corner, which was the ideal play to make. If they're going to trap Steph, you just move it and you trust that you're going to get an open look because it's four on three on the backside. We didn't make the shot, but that's okay, that's how we have to play. And of course down the stretch, you're protecting the lead, and you want the ball in Steph's hands, and he made some great plays. Obviously Houston did a good job of‑‑ they forced one turnover, which led to a hoop, and then a couple free throws. But all in all, you know, you just want to win. You just win and you move on to the next game. Q. It's been two games of huge runs, and in terms of this game, the script kind of flipped where they started differently than you guys, were able to kind of get it going again. Is it as tight on the sideline and coaching and watching this thing in person as it's looking from afar? STEVE KERR: Oh, sure, sure. It's great competition. I mean, it's two teams that really want to win, get to The Finals, and I thought we played at too much of a pace early. We were turning the ball over. We were competing but we weren't executing, and then we hit that great stretch in the second quarter. Our bench came in and was phenomenal, and they played the way we need to play, just move the ball and make the simple pass, and it'll come out in the wash. You'll get good shots. Second half, once they made their run, a lot of which came off our turnovers, then it just became the typical playoff street fight and great competition. Q. You shot 53 percent, dished out 31 assists. Usually that's a pretty good formula for blowout wins during the regular season. Why was this game so close do you think? STEVE KERR: I think because they have great players, and as I said, it's the Western Conference Finals and it's two great teams going head to head. It's pretty rare at this level, this deep in the Playoffs, that you're going to have blowout games. It doesn't happen very often anyway. Some of it was giving up that lead, some of that was our doing, but a lot of it was just their great play, and that's all part of it. Q. Can you talk about the battle underneath because that was so much fun to watch, Dwight Howard playing so heroically tonight with that knee and then Bogut getting in foul trouble but still managing to have some pretty impactful moments. That just had to be something that the fan really appreciated even though they were watching Curry and Harden going after it. STEVE KERR: Yeah, it was a total reversal from Game 1 when the game went small. This was more of a street fight, more of a traditional game involving big guys protecting the rim and hard fouls and blocked shots. I thought Bogut was terrific, had a fantastic game and scored for us, attacked the rim, but his rim protection, I think he had about five blocks. That was really critical for us tonight. Q. I'm sure you were probably dying with every turnover. What do you think contributed to the carelessness that you guys got away from during the regular season? STEVE KERR: I think sometimes our group competes so hard that the distinction between making the simple play and playing as hard as you can gets blurred. You have to be able to separate those two things. You've got to compete like crazy and then you have to take a breath and just make the simple play. I thought we were so anxious to play well and to compete that we just got a little out of sorts and started throwing some careless passes. But you know, we righted the ship there at the beginning of the second quarter, late first quarter, early second, and we really had a nice flow going. Andre Iguodala had a fantastic game, Barbosa gave us good minutes, and it was really fun to see that second group come in and play the way we needed to play and just move the ball and just make the simple play. Q. You started to talk about LB there. I don't think he even played 15 minutes but what kind of impact did he have on the game tonight? STEVE KERR: LB was great. He always brings great energy to the game every time he comes in. Didn't play him as much in the Memphis series, but this is his kind of series. It's a fast game. He's become, I think, an excellent defender this year, much better than when I remember him when I was in Phoenix. He's taken that task and really ran with it, and he's very proud of his defense. I thought he did a good job tonight at both ends just moving the ball and really competing defensively. Q. When Harden gets into the teeth of your defense, as a coach, what are you thinking, and what does it look like to you as he penetrates and does the things that he does? STEVE KERR: Well, you know, he gets a head of steam going towards the rim, and it's tough to stop. Obviously he can shoot that pull‑up shot, and he can get all the way to the rim, and he's a great passer. I mean, there's a reason he was just named first‑time All‑NBA and second in the MVP voting. He's a great player. We try to do what we can to slow him down, make him take tough shots, and sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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