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NBA WESTERN CONFERENCE SEMIFINALS: JAZZ vs WARRIORS

May 4, 2017

Stephen Curry

Oakland, California: Game Two

Jazz - 104, Warriors - 115

Q. Steph, is this what you're expecting out of the Jazz? It seems like you're about to put them away and then they just won't go away. They just kind of hang. Is that what you expect out of this team?
STEPHEN CURRY: They're a great team. You have to expect certain mini runs and a fight out of them. Obviously we'd love to take a 15-point lead and turn it into 20, 25, but they're not going to quit. Some of the things they were really aggressive making tough shots. But for the most part I think probably three, four, maybe five possessions where we just lost focus, lost track of our men in transition, turned the ball over, gave them easy buckets and just let go of the rope just a little bit. But we found a way to fight back and keep them at bay for the most part. It's going to be even tougher once we go to Utah, so we've just got to stick with the program and try to play as complete a 48-minute game as we can.

Q. Does it feel like they're trying to foul the ball at times for Draymond from three? When he's hitting threes, what can opposing defenses really do?
STEPHEN CURRY: I mean, it's tough because we've been doing a good job of trying to drive and kick. They're a great defensive team, and great defensive teams usually collapse in the paint and help. When you do that, they obviously know, take away Klay, take away K.D. or me on the wing and whatnot. And Draymond obviously is a more than capable three-point shooter. He's confident stepping into it. We love that shot. So, you know, it gives us a huge lift. And if that jumper travels when we go to Utah, those shots will be open, and we love him taking those.

Q. For you guys to win the rebounding battle after Game 1 you didn't, how important was it? You did get some offensive boards that were helpful?
STEPHEN CURRY: They were timely ones. Tried to stop some of the runs and give us an opportunity to just get the momentum back on our side. Yeah, I think anytime we give ourselves extra possessions, we should be in good shape to try to finish those. The key for us is to turn that 17 turnovers into hopefully maybe single digits, and 10, 12 at the most. On top of the rebounding situation, we should be in good shape.

Q. When you look at those turnovers, in your mind was it what you were doing wrong or what they were doing right?
STEPHEN CURRY: I don't know. All 17, I'd have to look at the film and see, but there were probably five I can remember off the top of my head where we got too deep in the paint trying to sling some pass across court, and they're obviously a long, athletic team, so they can pounce on those passes and jump the line. Some of them were just a little careless.

But the film will tell us that, and I'm sure Coach Brown and Coach Kerr will clip those up real nice for us tomorrow.

Q. Did you like Mike Brown using the lineups there in the third quarter to get things going?
STEPHEN CURRY: He made an adjustment to try to get the pace back up. That's usually our bread and butter so we can turn stops into transition buckets. Even if they score, just still push the pace and get the ball moving a little bit. That definitely helped, for sure.

Q. Steph, what was your reaction when you saw Draymond go down? Also, he's playing at a really high level and he seems to be playing with a lot of discipline, and I'm wondering if you sense that about him, and if you feel like he's just playing at a different level than he did maybe last year in the Playoffs?
STEPHEN CURRY: Obviously, you're concerned anytime you see somebody go down on their back and trying to figure out what's going on. You give them their moment to collect themselves, and our training staff did a good job of just trying to make sure they knew what was going on. He was obviously able to come back, and thankfully, and hopefully he'll be ready for game 3.

But he's locked in on both sides of the ball, especially defensively, understanding his value on that end of the floor. And his versatility, you add in the three-point game and his playmaking ability, he's doing a lot right now. So he understands the moment, like we all do. Any time you're out there on the floor trying to make an impact, and he's giving us a lot of energy and we need it.

Q. Any level of concern as far as like you guys have gotten off to big leads against the Jazz, and both games have gotten within seven and six points respectively. Any concern there at all, even though you guys have won both games?
STEPHEN CURRY: No, we're not concerned. We understand we have to play better on the road to get a win in Game 3, and no lead -- you can't just relax once you get a lead. You have to finish out the game, finish out quarters, finish out possessions, not lose focus at all and just keep your foot on the gas pedal.

But this is the Playoffs. You're not going to blow a team out every night. It's going to be a dog fight until the end. I think our body language was, at times, a little down just when they made a run, but we snapped out of it pretty quick in the huddle and the timeouts understanding what the moment was. That showed how we were able to bounce back and take control of the game at different points. So the key for us going into Game 3, obviously, they're going to have their crowd behind them, and if we can come out like we did in those last two games early and take them out of it the best we can and sustain it, we should be in great shape.

Q. You got your mouthpiece knocked out there, is that the first time you've kind of had to play a little bit of time without your mouthpiece in there? Was that weird at all?
STEPHEN CURRY: No, it's happened before. I was actually trying to talk and spit it out.

Q. On the baseline?
STEPHEN CURRY: Yeah. Our equipment manager picked it up. But I do feel weird without it.

Q. You made a three with it, though?
STEPHEN CURRY: Did I?

Q. Yeah.
STEPHEN CURRY: Maybe I should get rid of it.

Q. Also, I'm sorry, they put Ingles on you in this game. Does that change any of the dynamics for you? Was that different having a bigger body on you like that?
STEPHEN CURRY: No, teams do that all the time and try to shrink the floor a little bit for me. That just changed your perspective on just trying to get by them, get in the paint, make plays and it just opens up different options for me. You've got to lock in on what those are and use it to your advantage.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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