	products recent interviews FastScripts archive about ASAP Sports

Our Clients:

Browse by Sport

Find us on

Subscribe to RSS

Click to go to
Asaptext.com

View our
e-Brochure

NBA WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: THUNDER v WARRIORS

May 21, 2016

Stephen Curry

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma: Practice Day

Q. I know you've been asked this the last couple days about how you're feeling. Physically are you ready to go?
STEPHEN CURRY: Yeah, I'll be fine. I've got stuff to deal with, but so does everybody else, so I'll be fine.

Q. I remember you said in a practice the knee hasn't gotten better, but it also hasn't gotten worse. Is that the same kind of thing now?
STEPHEN CURRY: Yeah, there is no time really in between games -- or not a lot of time to gain a lot of ground when it comes to rehab and recovery and all that. And when you play in playoff intensity, ever since I've been back, there's the grind of it.

So, when I'm out there, I'm not thinking about it. I do feel it the next day after every game. But like I said, you could poll most guys in the league or in these final four teams and most have things that they've got to deal with, so I'm in that boat.

Q. Just curious, do you swell at all the next day?
STEPHEN CURRY: Not a lot. Not anything to worry about.

Q. We all have aches and pains too.
STEPHEN CURRY: Exactly, put it all in perspective.

Q. You guys outrebounded them in the last game for the first time in forever. What is the message that you guys have been getting about going to the glass? Even the guards like you and Klay [Thompson]?
STEPHEN CURRY: That's been a message and coach [Ron] Adams always talks about it. He wants me and Klay to try to get 12 to 14 rebounds a game between the two of us. If we can do that, we can help our bigs, because they have to battle the big guys and keep them out of the paint and create -- or keep their position. If we can get the long rebounds and either get some tip-outs or things like that, we can get in transition a lot faster, obviously gain more possessions and keep them out of second-chance points. So that's what we have to do.

Q. When you're more engaged in rebounding, do you have to give up something else?
STEPHEN CURRY: No, it's just an effort thing and an IQ thing. There's a certain -- I used to watch Dennis Rodman. I'm not acting like a crazy rebounder, but hearing him talk about how he saw the angle of the shot and kind of would know where to go to be in the right spots, he obviously had an extreme motor and length and all that stuff.

But for guards, like you see the ball go up and if somebody's crashing the glass, you try to get a body on them. If not, read the angle of the shot. If it's going to be short, long, left, right, and try to beat whoever it is to the punch.

Q. Any special memories or thoughts coming into this arena? Obviously one of the more memorable regular-season games you guys played this year.
STEPHEN CURRY: Honestly I walked off the bus and didn't even think about it once. I got out here, and obviously know where the shot was and all that kind of stuff, but it doesn't mean anything when it comes to rollover effect to tomorrow.

Q. You didn't reach out and touch [the spot]?
STEPHEN CURRY: Take a Sharpie and write my name or something? No. But that's basically it. I walked over to the spot and didn't even shoot it again.

Q. You didn't try another shot from there?
STEPHEN CURRY: No, I haven't.

Q. How are you guys able to force so many turnovers out of Durant? He's had some really good scoring moments, but he's also coughed it up a lot.
STEPHEN CURRY: You just play big. By that, just use your hands, play passing lanes and try to just keep a body on him. Andre [Iguodala] and Draymond [Green] and Klay and Harrison [Barnes], the rotation guys that have been on him, they've closed the space.

Obviously, he's going to make shots. Like I said, he's going to make tough shots and he's going to score. But try to make him uncomfortable and get underneath him a little bit and make him make decisions in uncomfortable spots on the floor. So it's not an easy thing to do. He's such a great player that you can play great defense and he's backpedaling down the court after he makes a tough jumper. But those guys have done a good job of just trying to make it tough on him.

Q. [No Microphone] Playing on the road where it's really loud.
STEPHEN CURRY: Back in the Bay we know what it's like to play in a pretty raucous environment. Here it's crazy, Toronto it's crazy, Cleveland it's crazy.

So the playoffs bring the best out of every fan base. It's a fun experience to be playing for something special. Obviously, we're in hostile territory tomorrow, so we're excited for the challenge. None of us have played, I don't think, in a playoff game here, so it should be fun.

Q. Given that you gave up one at home or lost one at home, what is the mindset? Is there a certain pressure that comes with kind of wanting to steal here?
STEPHEN CURRY: We have to win here at some point to advance since we did give up Game 1. But the only thing we can really focus on is winning Game 3. So you've got to have tunnel vision in the playoffs. Every game is different. If you think about anything beyond that, you kind of lose your way a little bit. So stay looking through that keyhole and focusing on these next 48 minutes, which are going to be extremely tough to get a win.

Q. Serge [Ibaka] said he thought you guys were tougher and more aggressive than they were in Game 2. Was that out of something like you guys had to win that game, or did you sense that too?
STEPHEN CURRY: No, we just played like ourselves. I wouldn't throw any adjectives out there, but we played like ourselves. We have to play our pace and our intensity and defensively play with a confidence and IQ. So toughness and physicality and all that comes into play. But we really did a great job of just being ourselves.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297