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NBA FINALS: CAVALIERS v WARRIORSJune 3, 2016Harrison BarnesOakland, California: Practice Day Q. Golden State won Game 1, but there's room for improvement. What can you see to be improved in Game 2? HARRISON BARNES: Just do a better job of moving the basketball. There are still some openings that we can find. We're trying to cut down on turnovers. I thought we did a good job last game -- I think we only had nine. But when we have those games where we have 15, 20 turnovers, that just gives the other team so many more possessions. Q. How important was it to see others step up when Klay and Steph aren't playing well? HARRISON BARNES: It was huge. Our strength all year has been our depth, our bench. Seeing everything last night, 45 points from the bench. Shaun stepping up big, Andre playing big, Barbosa -- everybody who came in had an impact. On a night when Steph and Klay weren't making shots, it was good to see everybody else contribute. Q. What was the process like going from Game 7 to Game 1 of The Finals? The preparation that it takes? HARRISON BARNES: It was very different. Obviously, a Game 7 there is a lot more emotion that goes into that. But just the styles are different. OKC was a very big team that played traditional, always kept two bigs in the game. Last night we saw a lot of small ball by Cleveland -- a lot of LeBron at the four, (indiscernible) at the five. We had a lot of lineups out there to do a lot of switching. Q. Was there enough time to prepare for Cleveland after Game 7? HARRISON BARNES: Yeah, we knew that we were going to enjoy Game 7 that night, and the next day it was focus on The Finals. That's what our focus has been. Q. It seemed that last year they were trying to make you and Draymond playmakers and you had to take advantage of the room that was given. Is it basically the same this year? HARRISON BARNES: Yeah, we know they're going to make life tough for Steph and Klay. That's their focus. So everybody else has to be able to step up and be aggressive. Whether that means putting the ball in the basket, whether it's driving and kicking, whatever it may be, we know they're not going to just let those guys spot up and get wide-open threes. Q. Is that the reason you were so aggressive early in the game yesterday? HARRISON BARNES: Yeah, I knew they were going to stay on the shooters, so just being aggressive. Everybody else was doing as well, from Shaun to Andre to Draymond. Just being aggressive and getting to the rim. Q. What's it like to watch Andre and Shaun interact on the floor, just around the team, knowing that they're two guys that grew up and played against each other when they were 10, 11 years old, just that dynamic? What do you observe about their relationship that way? HARRISON BARNES: Their relationship, I think they have a lot of respect for each other just in terms of where they both started and how they got to this point. Shaun with his injury; Andre, the teams that he's been on. It's nice to see guys that have put in that much effort and hard work and adversity be at this moment right now in the NBA Finals, both playing well alongside each other. That's pretty special. Q. I'm sure you've heard the stories growing up and how long the odds are to make it to the NBA, like one in a million. To have two guys on a championship team who knew each other way back when, is that mind-blowing to you that their paths could reconnect that way? HARRISON BARNES: Yeah, it's crazy. Like I said, you think about not only the fact that they grew up together, but literally the journeys that they went on. Shaun having doctors tell him he'd never play basketball again. Andre, the years in Philly and coming to Denver and coming here. Being on such a great team and to be here in The Finals, it's like, man, this is crazy. For both those guys, they had terrific Game 1s, second year in The Finals back-to-back, that's almost never heard of. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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