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NBA WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: ROCKETS v WARRIORSMay 21, 2015Andrew BogutStephen CurryOAKLAND, CALIFORNIA: Game Two Warriors – 99 Q. Andrew, this is a team that got used to winning a lot of games by pretty easy margins in the regular season. That obviously has changed in the Playoffs. Have you seen this team take on a different personality? Have you seen them evolved in these last few weeks? ANDREW BOGUT: I think so. I think playoff series, it's never going to end with an 18‑point lead when you have it, I don't think. It rarely happens. I think it's good for us that Memphis series, I think was key. Even New Orleans to a point where we had some close games, had to scrap it out and claw and get stops and figure out what that feels like because as you said, in the regular season we didn't‑‑ a lot of times our starters were‑‑ had ice on their knees with six minutes left in the game. It's good the first two series has prepared us for a team like Houston. Q. Andrew, can you talk about the satisfaction that you're feeling after being named all‑defense yesterday, having a great game and then watching the game end on a solid defensive possession? ANDREW BOGUT: It feels good. I'm looking for some muscle cars already to purchase with the nice bonus, so appreciate all the people that voted for me. Yeah, it's been a bit of a distraction in a way, a lot of attention, but I think our team is starting to reap the rewards of what we deserve as a whole. As Steph said, it's great to get recognized, but we have a greater goal, and I think the greater goal we all know is to win a championship, and we have an opportunity to do that, so we're looking towards that. Q. How much better did you feel tonight than two nights ago, and what was it like for you to be more involved in the offense? ANDREW BOGUT: I feel okay. I mean, a little better. Hopefully it's a three‑ or four‑day thing, and it's not an excuse. Dwight is playing hurt, a lot of guys are playing hurt, so I've got to suck it up and move on. But I felt a little bit better. I had the IV a couple nights ago, so I feel like I had a little more energy to move around. Q. Andrew, you're in the game, but what is it to see Steph play at that level and Harden come back at him? As you're in the game are you noticing it's pretty spectacular basketball? ANDREW BOGUT: I did ESPN Radio after the game and they asked me the same question. And I said, sometimes I want to crack open a bear and get a courtside seat, because these two guys are the two best basketball players in the world. Steph knocks down a big shot come and then we come down and try to stop James and knocks down a big shot. Unfortunately for me, I'm trying to set screens for him but a lot of times I get caught watching him and just going crazy with the shots that he makes so it's an honor to be his teammate. Q. It was like watching a couple of heavyweights, you and Howard going at it and both you guys were hurting. What's it like going up against him when he's at the top of his game? ANDREW BOGUT: It's tough. He's a physical guy, he' strong, he's athletic, you just try to make life tough for him. You're not going to stop him completely. He's very athletic and strong like I said. He gets a lot of easy baskets and dunks, so my main role is just to keep a body on him at all times and make him finish over the top of me. It got a little chippy there and you aren't going to expect anything less in a playoff series and hopefully we'll bring that physicality next game, as well. Q. Steph, once you get back in the fourth quarter it looked like you were making every play or at least you had the ball in your hands for every play. Did you notice that James was doing the same thing, and did it feel like a duel at some point in this game? STEPH CURRY: A little bit, because they're obviously back and forth, nobody was getting a stop, and it was kind of high‑octane offense. He's been playing well, and we've been throwing a lot of things at him. He's just making some tough shots and staying aggressive. So we've just got to stick to the program and hopefully wear him down and wear on him. But in the middle of the game you notice it, but obviously we're trying to get a win, so you want to do whatever you can to make that happen. Q. Steph, for all the offensive numbers and you and Harden, that last play comes down to defense and a stop. From your perspective what happened on the last play? STEPH CURRY: We talked about it in the huddle whether we scored or not, there's going to be eight, nine seconds left on the clock, and whether they took a time‑out, I don't know if they had one or not, but to be ready for the attack because we kind of do that in a similar situation where if you get a stop you push it and you see what happens. Once HB went for the lay‑up and missed and Draymond tried to get the rebound it was kind of me and Klay and Andre on the other side retreating, and you saw James kind of put his head down, you knew he probably wasn't going to pass in that situation, so just to kind of stand him up before the three‑point line, Klay fronted him right to me, I was able to get a body on him. He threw it away to Dwight and threw it right back, so at that point, it's just don't let him get a shot off and try to be the hero, so we were able to get it done, and the key for us going into next game is to protect our lead down the stretch of the fourth quarter because we've built up seven, eight‑point leads in the last two games and made it a little too drama‑filled for us, so we want to figure that out as we go to Houston. Q. Andrew has not been feeling well, but you get 14, 8 and five blocks out of him tonight. How big was he tonight? STEPH CURRY: He's huge. He's giving us what he's got, and that's what Boges does. Putting his body on the line, going against Dwight for however many minutes, baling us out in certain drives to the basket and cleaning up the glass. He was finishing on the offensive end, as well. Huge impact on the game on both ends of the floor, and we're ready to see what a healthy Boges looks like in a couple days. Q. I was reading Lee Jenkins' article in Sports Illustrated today and he was talking about your moments as a player when you were growing up, hitting those shots, getting in the zone. Is that just something that happens automatically with you because it seems like it's almost like your impervious to anything that's going on around you? STEPH CURRY: You put a lot of hard work into your craft, and when you rely on that work, you kind of just are in the moment, and those shots, when you rise up to take them, it feels natural, it feels normal. I feel confident, and you just live with the results. Try not to let the moment get too big for you and just have fun out there, and that's what kind of keeps you going. Q. Most of the guys on this team have pretty extensive playoff experience, but is it different when you're playing as the No.1 seed in the conference, a team with everybody chasing you? Is there a different feel being the team everyone is trying to get at, and did you guys have to take a few games, maybe even a series, to learn that and to adjust to that? STEPH CURRY: I was going to say, I think that passed in the first round once we battled against New Orleans when they had huge leads early in games, even in that Game 3 where it's a 1‑8 match‑up, but every team in this Playoffs is capable of beating us if we're not on our A game. We got through those, and I think we grew up pretty quickly, and obviously Game 2 and Game 3 against Memphis was good for us to kind of bounce back and show some resiliency and some maturity. And I think this series is just about who wants it and getting a win. It's fun, obviously the back and forth is‑‑ it's a roller coaster ride, and you kind of want to just keep your composure at all costs to give yourself a good chance to win down the stretch. Q. Steph, Houston's trap at the end of the game seemed to be giving you guys some problems when they double‑teamed you. How do you want to counter that moving forward? STEPH CURRY: We've just got to have good spacing and get to our spots on the floor. If they trap, sort of‑‑ we've seen that before, it's just when they spring it on you in the middle of a run or down the stretch of games, you've just got to be patient. You have a tendency to want to make one pass, and there's going to be an open shot or a home run play, but if you just be patient, you have a 4‑on‑3 advantage, and usually good things happen for us. I mean, HB got a great look in the corner and he just missed. It was a great shot, and he got a great drive to the basket. Klay got an open three. Boges finished on the and‑one when I got around a double‑team, too, so we got some good looks out of it that I think we'll look at the film and see, but we've just got to be patient in that situation down the stretch. Q. How does it feel to not have the ball in your hands at the end of the game? STEPH CURRY: I've got 100‑percent confidence in my guys to make plays like we've been doing all season. That's what's going to continue. In the Playoffs hopefully I want to take big shots down the stretch, but for us we don't force things and we find the best shot on every possession, that's when we're at our best. Can't turn it over obviously, but be aggressive, read the defense, make the right play. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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