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NBA FINALS: CAVALIERS v WARRIORS

June 9, 2016

Stephen Curry

Cleveland, Ohio: Practice Day

Q. Steph, number one, which side is more important tomorrow? Do you guys need to have a better effort or a change of strategy? That's question number one. Question number two, what do you do as an individual to get yourself going when things are not happening the way you want them to happen?
STEPHEN CURRY: It's all about our effort tomorrow, especially the starting five, how we start the game. Because you assume they're going to play with the same energy as they did in Game 3. For us, we have to just stop that force that they played with in Game 3 and come with more effort and more focus from the jump.

I just basically stick to my preparation and my kind of mental strategy of staying within myself to get myself out of a hole. One, not panicking and not overcomplicating things and not trying to psych myself out. There's a reason that I have confidence out there and it's about how I prepare for games and for series, and seasons and whatnot, so we've got to stick with that kind of thought process.

Q. Last year in The Finals it took you probably about two and a half games to sort of figure out what was going on, what they were doing against you. I know the first three games have been a bit of a struggle. Do you find any parallels between maybe it took you a while to get comfortable in The Finals last year to maybe where you are right now?
STEPHEN CURRY: I think it's a little different because Game 1 this year I just didn't make shots. It was kind of a different flow in that game. Game 2 is foul trouble. I wasn't out there for the same amount of minutes that I usually am, and obviously us as a team, we're clicking and there's a lineup out there that just was basically killing us, and I was able to kind of sit and watch and enjoy what they were doing. And last night was a struggle just, again, foul trouble and kind of dealing with that, but also not being as aggressive as I needed to be. I don't know what the reason was for that, and it won't be that in Game 4.

Q. You said, "be more aggressive", and you want to be more assertive especially early in the game. What does that entail? What's that mean, exactly? What kind of things does that do?
STEPHEN CURRY: Crisper passes, realizing where I am on the floor and how they're guarding me, whether I can get in the paint a lot more and make plays or look for my shot a little bit more and just run the offense better than I did last night as a point guard, and obviously not have defensive breakdowns as well, especially on the road. We need to have all five guys locked in on that end, so we give ourselves transition opportunities and give ourselves a chance to make runs. So basically that.

Q. Coach Kerr after the game called the team, he said you guys played soft. How was that received in the locker room? Why do you think he said that?
STEPHEN CURRY: Because we were. They were more physical. They were more purposeful about what they were doing, and it took us probably a quarter and a half to kind of respond. And by that time, it was too late. You're down 33-14 on the road in The Finals, you're not going to win many games with that kind of deficit and a team that has confidence like they did last night.

So the first six minutes of the game tomorrow is going to be important for us to, you know, let them know we're here.

Q. How long did it take you to get comfortable once you kind of reached this MVP, All-Star type status, with the scrutiny and the criticism that usually comes with that kind of spot in the game? Or are you comfortable with it? How do you manage it?
STEPHEN CURRY: I don't know if there's ever a point that you kind of break through, but it's all a pretty natural kind of process, I think. The more you go through games like last night or the Thunder series or lapses during the regular season where you're not playing up to other people's expectations regardless of what expectations you have for yourself, you understand the emotions that come with it, the questions you're asked and whatnot.

So I'm pretty comfortable where I am, and I know, like I said, for me, every night I have a certain expectation for myself that's first and foremost. If I don't reach that, then I'm pretty frustrated with myself and kind of know what's coming, and you just deal with it and move on.

Q. Do you use it as motivation anymore?
STEPHEN CURRY: No, I didn't get here off of motivation from other people. I know how hard I work and what I'm blessed with, so just got to stay true to who I am and allow that to carry you through the good times and the Game 3's.

Q. How would you rate your Finals so far?
STEPHEN CURRY: We're 2-1. We're 2-1. We're up 2-1 right now, and the story is still unfolding.

Q. If you had to pick one thing about your play individually in this series that has really frustrated you the most, what aspect would that be?
STEPHEN CURRY: Getting into foul trouble the last two games and not letting myself get a rhythm because of that. You're worried about staying on the floor and dealing with that, especially early in games, and the lack of aggressiveness. That doesn't necessarily mean more points and whatnot. Just I know what that means for me when I'm out there playing, and I haven't done it yet.

Q. How much is your success linked to Klay's do you think, in the sense that Richard Jefferson was saying that if you get going, that tends to open some space for Klay and maybe vice versa? Do you think your shooting success and struggles are linked much?
STEPHEN CURRY: I mean, it's a natural thing when I get going, I get more attention and get more bodies. Kind of like a magnet wherever I go on the floor. And there are open spots for other guys, including Klay in the same. When a guy gets hot, usually that opens up things for other players on the floor. You obviously love to see your teammate doing well and kind of like in the Thunder series where he went crazy in Game 6 and kept us in it, it got everybody going and everybody feeling good. So for us, that's an important part of what we do. I think for how we started the game yesterday, neither one of us got going and gave us anything to kind of feel good about, so we've got to correct that for Game 4.

Q. You and Klay specifically feel that burden that one of you needs to get going so everybody else will kind of catch that momentum or whatever the word is?
STEPHEN CURRY: We're usually a better team when that happens, yeah. So I think like Klay said last night, it's law of averages. You just stick with it. You've got to play like it matters and do something about it. But I like our chances of being able to figure it out.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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