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NBA WESTERN CONFERENCE SEMIFINALS: JAZZ vs WARRIORS

May 4, 2017

Draymond Green

Oakland, California: Game Two

Jazz - 104, Warriors - 115

Q. Draymond, what was going through your mind when you went down initially? Was it a big sigh of relief when you found out, obviously, that you were going to be okay?
DRAYMOND GREEN: I knew my knee was just locking up a little bit. I had it before, a little tweak. It wasn't like a huge sigh of relief, because I kind of knew what it was from the jump. But obviously it's always good to know you're okay.

Q. Before that you had been getting stretched, were they related? You were getting your hip stretched out?
DRAYMOND GREEN: No, when I stole the lob that they were trying to throw to Gordon Hayward, he kind of caught me on the hip. So that was two different things.

Q. Draymond, in this game you guys obviously got off to a great start. They kind of crept back in a couple times. In your mind, was this a good thing to have a game where you have to kind of keep pace and keep focused throughout?
DRAYMOND GREEN: Obviously, if you can blow it up when you want to do that, just put the game away. But I think we kind of lost our focus there a little bit. We turned the ball over. Had defensive breakdowns, just didn't stay locked in. So we've got to do a better job of that, especially on the road. You've got to try to put the game away.

Q. What would you credit your surges in the three-point shooting ball?
DRAYMOND GREEN: Really just working with Travis Walton every day. For the last, I don't know, since the beginning of April we've just been in the gym every single day. Getting a lot of extra shots up and just really seeing that ball go in the hoop every day and raising that confidence level. It's been working for me.

Q. Do you feel particularly open in this matchup, like they're purposely trying to funnel it to you?
DRAYMOND GREEN: Yeah, I feel particularly open in every game we play (laughing). So, yeah, I do. Pretty strong statement, particularly open, and that probably won't change.

Q. Hayward it seems like when he gets going, that's when his team really get out and they kind of build confidence. Going into Salt Lake City, what are you guys going to have to do to contain him? Because once he gets going, they get going?
DRAYMOND GREEN: I think they made some tough shots. Guys contested well. He was just able to knock them down. He's a great player. He was an All-Star for a reason. That team is where they are for a reason. You're not going to just shut him down every night. But 33 points is a bit much. We want to try to keep him under that. But I think he had a lot of contested shots, so we have to keep trying to make him take tough shots.

Q. Draymond, did you like that adjustment of AndrÃ© coming in early third quarter there?
DRAYMOND GREEN: I think it was good. I think we need to push the pace a little bit. We just had lost that fire, that push, and bringing AndrÃ© in, you know, we're able to push the tempo a little bit and get it back on the offensive end. Got stops on the defensive end, and they worked. It was good for us.

Q. What do you expect the crowd to be like in Utah?
DRAYMOND GREEN: I expect it to be a hostile environment. It always is. They cheer pretty loud for their team, obviously, with a few things that went on this past week, it will probably be a bit hostile. But that's fine.

Q. You said earlier your knee locked up before. Something you felt after those pastimes, were you sore the next few days and do you feel like it will effect you the next few days?
DRAYMOND GREEN: I think I'll be fine. I was able to catch it before it locked all the way up. So I think I'll be fine. One time it happened when I was in college, and I rebounded at Michigan a few days later, their whole team, so that was pretty good.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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