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NBA FINALS: CAVALIERS v WARRIORS

June 3, 2016

Kevin Love

Oakland, California: Practice Day

Q. Both of these teams are obviously able to make big runs. When they put together a 21-4 run in the fourth quarter, what was happening on your end?
KEVIN LOVE: They were just playing their game. We got away from what we did. We felt like we could play with a better pace. Then as far as defensive schemes and matchups, we watched the film and we're hopefully able to pick apart things that we can get better at throughout the entire game, not only the fourth quarter.

Q. When the ball movement kind of sticks a little bit, how do you guys go about just finding that again and finding that energy and re-injecting that into the offense?
KEVIN LOVE: Yeah, I think yesterday we weren't necessarily playing the basketball that we wanted to play on the offensive end. A lot of times we were force-feeding the post and found ourselves standing around. Where we've been so effective and devastating is where our guards, and primarily LeBron and Kyrie, play downhill and we're able to find ourselves on the perimeter. We're able to get points around the basket. We missed a number of shots in the paint yesterday that we'd usually make, and [when we make them] we're able to spread the floor.

I think if we could find balance in getting out in transition and also playing in the half court, finding good shots, we're going to be better off.

Q. Why weren't you guys able to find guys for three, or was it just guys not making shots?
KEVIN LOVE: I think a little bit of both. I think we need to do a better job of being in attack mode, definitely driving close-outs, different things we can do on the offensive end. But in the half court we have to be better throughout. Especially in that fourth quarter when we got a little bit stagnant and they were able to go on that run. That's when they put it away. So lot of things we looked at on the film, lot of good things we did as well. We've got to be better in Game 2.

Q. You did a pretty good job on Thompson and Curry. That was part of the plan obviously. Do you think you can count on the role players not playing that well? Are you going to change the game dramatically, or did you feel you had a pretty good plan?
KEVIN LOVE: I think we've got to count on them to play Warrior basketball. They've played well all season long. Everybody knows how good they are and historically how good they've been this year. So we need to count on them coming out and playing a good game. We just need to play better.

Q. How much did you guys switch up what you did against the Eastern Conference?
KEVIN LOVE: I wouldn't say too much. I think more than anything we need to focus on playing our brand of basketball and not let them dictate what we do on either end of the floor. We need to stick to our game plan, which is something we've done throughout the entire playoffs and throughout the entire Eastern Conference.

We feel like if we do that, we can really give ourselves a chance to win every game.

Q. You lost the game, but your first Finals game, was it feeling any different? Did you have any kind of feelings going through your head of here it is finally kind of thing?
KEVIN LOVE: We started away from home, so I guess that was definitely different. It's the biggest stage. This is what you play for. This is what you dream about when you're a little kid.

I definitely felt like myself and the entire team could have played better. But there are little things we can clean up, including myself.

Q. Is there anything that you see from a positive standpoint on the film in terms of what you did, and applying it to what the team did last year to winning that big Game 2 to even up the series?
KEVIN LOVE: Yeah, we were down but not out last year. We were a very hungry team. We had guys that really stepped up, as I said the other day, the reason we are where we are today.

We need to find a way to really slow down their bench. Livingston, as LeBron mentioned last night, should have got the game ball. He had an extraordinary game. So if we can kind of manage that, slow that down. Also, we saw a lot of good things on the film, and if we can be more consistent throughout 48 minutes, we'll give ourselves a good chance.

Q. Is there a psychological hurdle for this team to overcome when you think about how these games are going against Golden State this year and even going back to last year when you were hurt in The Finals?
KEVIN LOVE: I think we're in a good place psychologically and mentally. We remain calm, but also know that this next game is huge for us. We remain having a sense of urgency and we're going to continue to fight for everything that we get.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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