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NBA PLAYOFFS ROUND TWO: TRAIL BLAZERS vs WARRIORS

May 11, 2016

Steve Kerr

Oakland, California: Game Five

Warriors - 125, Trail Blazers - 121

STEVE KERR: First of all, I just want to say congrats to the Blazers for a fantastic season. That's a terrific basketball team, extremely well-coached, and they play together. They've got great leadership. It's not often that you play against a team in the playoffs and admire them at the same time, but I admire what they do, and Terry just did a phenomenal job. When you think about they lost four starters in the off-season, nobody expected them to do what they did.

Just a fantastic series. We had to fight and scrap and claw and do everything possible, and that's a tough team to guard and tough team to play against. Again, much respect.

Q. You lose Bogut in the first half, you lose Draymond for several minutes there. What was that like on the sideline? Did you know, what is Andrew's status, I guess, and was it just a survival test?
STEVE KERR: Yeah, it felt like we were running on fumes a little bit at the end, between Draymond's ankle and Bogut's not playing at all in the second half. But we talk about our depth all the time. We rely on it. I thought Anderson gave us great minutes. Mo Speights had a good second half. A lot of people played really well and made big plays.

Klay's shooting was incredible tonight. Then the way Steph finished the game, that step back shot to put it to a five-point lead was probably a shot only he can make. So I thought a gutty effort from a lot of guys. It wasn't our best stuff, but we got it done.

Q. We saw how you started and saw how you finished. We know you weren't happy with how you started, but assess how you started, the way you defended the three-point shot, and also the way you finished?
STEVE KERR: Well in the first half I thought what killed us was the three-point line and the free-throw line. If I'm not mistaken, they were shooting 40% at halftime, which is obviously a great number for us to hold the team to. But they had nine threes and I think they had been to the line 21 times if I'm not mistaken. So too many fouls and some long rebounds hurt us, but that's going to happen against this team the way they played.

I thought we responded well. We fought hard. We made some mistakes that kept us from ever extending our lead from turnovers in transition which really hurt because they ended up being lay-ups at the other end. But finished the game. It wasn't perfect, but we got it done. Steph made his free throws and we got a couple of stops when we needed them.

Q. Obviously a sweep would be better perhaps and you're done quicker. But how great of a series is this in preparing you for the next round? It was fairly short, just five games. But you battled and you had to battle every night. Got tested by the Blazers.
STEVE KERR: Every series is different. You face different challenges different offenses, different challenges. This was a pretty unique series just given the way Portland plays. There are not a lot of teams who play like they do. They put a lot of pressure on your perimeter defense, and they space the floor beautifully. They've got a couple of good bigs with Plumlee and Davis that take up space and good rebounds and do a nice job. So they were tough to guard.

Anytime you win a series, you're just relieved and then you move on and at that point you have a brand-new set of challenges.

So this was a great series, and I'm happy we pulled through. Now we'll get a little rest and see what happens on the other side of the bracket.

Q. Progressing it out beyond this season, how impressed were you with Portland in this series, and also, do you see this being a rivalry for the future between you guys and them?
STEVE KERR: Well, we're no longer division rivals like we used to be. But it's a natural rivalry given how good Damian and Steph are and the fact that they're very similar. But, yeah, I mean, who knows. They've got a lot of good young players. I know they're well-stocked in terms of not only their current talent, but cap room. So they have the potential to get even better.

I'll be honest I played in Portland a year and I loved the franchise when I played there. I loved the fan base. Reminds me a lot of the Warriors fan base. So I'm really happy to see the team doing well and the progress they've made and where they're heading. Doesn't mean I'm looking forward to playing them. They're tough.

Q. In those final moments would you say it was more Steph get the ball or get the ball to Steph?
STEVE KERR: Exactly (laughing). We didn't really execute that well down the stretch. It was mostly just Steph making a play. We called a timeout and ran a play and we turned it over. We didn't get much. Draymond was kind of hobbled. I thought he had dunked on one sequence late in the game, but I don't think he could move well enough so he kicked it back out to the perimeter and missed the shot.

I mean, Steph is Steph, and I think our fans are used to it. I'm used to it. Our staff is. He makes these incredibly difficult shots, and he's quite a weapon to have.

Q. I know you don't want too long of a break in playoffs, but considering Bogut, Green, and Steph working his way back, and Klay maybe getting a little bit of a blow after kind of a tough series, is this a good time for an extended break?
STEVE KERR: Yeah, we definitely need a few days. Steph has been back two games now, but he's not a hundred percent. So I think this will be good for him to at least get a couple days to get off the knee and then to do some treatment and we'll see how Bogut and Draymond do. Yeah, we could use a little rest.

Q. Have you seen Curry score over Bogut like he did when he saved that ball and actually shot over him on the baseline there in the first quarter?
STEVE KERR: Yeah, that was kind of a crazy play. I think it started with Barbosa's pass and Steph saved it. Is that the one you're talking about? Yeah. That was, I think, Steph's first three that he made in the game. He made a great play just to save it, and Bogut was smart to be where he was and get the ball right back to Steph. So he think our fans like that one a lot.

Q. Did Draymond almost inadvertently break Ken Mauer's hand or thumb there? What happened?
STEVE KERR: I don't know, I didn't see how it happened. Draymond was called for a foul on the play, he tried to block a shot and I think their hands collided. They were both bleeding and getting helped by our training staff at the same time. But I didn't see exactly what happened.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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