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NBA FINALS: CAVALIERS v WARRIORSJune 9, 2015Steve KerrCLEVELAND, OHIO: Game Three Cavaliers – 96 Q. In the first three quarters they seemed like they were able to slow Steph Curry down. What were they doing against them to slow them down, and what was he able to do to get off in the fourth? COACH KERR: I didn't think there was a huge difference. He just got aggressive and he started making shots. They were doing the same thing in the fourth quarter as they were doing in the first three. They're going to blitz him. They're going to trap the high screen. That's what they're doing to him. That's what a lot of people do to him. But I think what helped him was David Lee playing so well as the role man and Steph was able to find David, and that softened them up a little bit. David was terrific. David helped us big time get back into that game, and then Steph just got hot. But the coverage was the same. Q. Like you just said, you guys did get hot in the fourth quarter. How important is that to kind of carry that over into Game 4, and can we expect to see more of David Lee? COACH KERR: Yeah, you'll see more of David Lee. He played really well. But, no, it was good. I mean, you want to show some fight. And I thought in the third quarter we were hanging our heads a little bit, and it was good to see us bring the fight to the game. And that's how we have to play the whole way through. It's not just making shots. Obviously, that helps, but it's fighting and it's competing, and we've got to do that for 48 minutes. Q. Notwithstanding the 36‑point fourth quarter and the 11‑point comeback at the end of Game 2, number one offense in the NBA has been ground to a halt. Why is that happening? COACH KERR: Well, they're doing a good job defensively. They're walking the ball up the floor. That's what they do. They isolate a lot with LeBron, so the game slows down a little bit. We did a better job rebounding tonight. But we never really were able to get out and run off of our rebounds. I thought the first half we were close. We were pushing the ball. We were moving it. We probably missed some shots that we would normally hit. But it's not going to be a series where we're going to get out and run and score 125 points. The Finals rarely are played that way. But we still feel like we can get out, push it, and force the tempo, and we've got to try to do a better job of that. Q. On a scale from 1 to 10, how much is the pressure for you guys right now? And are you pleased with the level of energy that you guys showed through the entire game? COACH KERR: The pressure is like a 5.13 (smiling). I don't know. We're in the NBA Finals. There's pressure for everybody. I was pleased with the way we responded when we got down, and I'm very confident that we'll play better in Game 4. Q. You've talked all series about how great of a player LeBron is. But it seems like he's eclipsing great almost. Just with the numbers alone, what are you seeing him do out there? Can you measure how he's impacting the series? COACH KERR: That's your job. That's your job. That's what you guys get to write about. He's a great player. We're trying to do a lot of different things with him. He's going to get his points. He's going to get his rebounds, his assists because he is who he is. But you get to write the superlatives, and we get to try to figure out how to slow them down. Q. When you mentioned fighting through some things, did Steph have to fight through some things, has he fought through some things and do you think figured something out mentally to get to where he was in that fourth quarter? COACH KERR: Yeah, obviously, he had a huge fourth. But I didn't like our energy. I didn't like our body language for much of that first three quarters. This is what we have to fight through. Things aren't going our way, it doesn't matter, you've got to fight through. You've got to bring energy. You've got to bring life. You've got to bring some emotion. Obviously, when the shots go in, it's easier to do that, but you've got to do that when the shots aren't going in as well, and that applies for all of us. We can't get our heads down. That's why I was pleased with the comeback, because we just looked more like ourselves. This is a tough series. It's The Finals. There is a lot at stake, so we've got to compete every second. Q. Have you seen Steph's confidence flag at all during that time? Also, did you get an explanation from the officials on‑‑ there was the big scrum with a loose ball and also the play with Klay out of bounds? COACH KERR: Yeah, that was the right call. We looked at the replay. Klay had his hand on the ball while he was out of bounds. So they got the call right. Q. Did Steph's confidence ever flag? COACH KERR: Steph never loses confidence. I just thought he lost a little energy and, I don't know, life. We just need life from everybody, we need emotion from everybody. He's not a really emotional player like Draymond is or somebody. But we've got to fight through the down periods with just that competitive life and energy. I thought we got around to that, but we've got to do it for 48. Q. You mentioned earlier the importance of David Lee being sort of a secondary playmaker for you tonight. That's a role that Draymond Green really was successful in throughout most of the season. What do you see in terms of the differences in the way David was able to perform tonight and some of the struggles that Draymond has had in that position earlier in the series? COACH KERR: I don't know that Draymond has had struggles with that. I think he's been good with that. He can catch that pass in the lane and make plays, and David can do that too. We can play them together like we did at times. But I think both players are very adept at making that play. Q. Harrison Barnes really struggled tonight, 0‑for‑8. What can you do to get him going, and are you considering perhaps a lineup change for Game 4? COACH KERR: Harrison's fine. He's had a great playoff run. He just missed some shots that he normally makes. He'll bounce back. I think he had a game like this against Houston maybe‑‑ maybe it was Memphis, I can't remember‑‑ then he came back and had a huge night the next night. So this is just kind of the nature of the game. Sometimes shots go in; sometimes they don't. So I'm not worried about Harrison. I don't anticipate making changes in the lineup, no. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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