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NBA FINALS: CLEVELAND VS GOLDEN STATE

June 3, 2017

Draymond Green

Oakland, California: Practice Day

Q. I read a story where you were the first one that KD called when he was injured, and at first he thought it was a lot more serious than it turned out to be. Can you describe what that was like for this team?
DRAYMOND GREEN: I think that he definitely thought it was more serious. We all did. It was kind of a down moment. I talked to him on the phone right after the game, and he told me what was going on. Then our training staff came in a few minutes later and told me it wasn't as bad as they initially thought.

But the emotions are everywhere when something like that happens, the thoughts are everywhere when something like that happens. I mean, what we all think could be possible could possibly not happen then. So it was obviously good to get the news that it wasn't as serious. But for a moment it was pretty rough news.

Q. What was the process for this team to play that long without him and then to have to adjust a second time when he comes back?
DRAYMOND GREEN: Well, if you watched us play initially when we lost him, it was a bit of an adjustment. You take KD off the floor, I think the thought was, oh, well, now they're just the team that they were before he got there. Yet you get accustomed to playing with him and you're not that same team that you were before he got here. So it took some adjustments, and then once we got adjusted, we got it rolling.

Then entering him back into the lineup, at that point we already knew who we were with him, without him.

Everybody kind of had their roles, and you just play your role. It was never like, oh, KD's back, I need to take less shots. The way our offense works, the ball will find who it needs to find.

Q. And it does find everybody. How has he fit into that concept with his own unselfishness even though he's a dominant player?
DRAYMOND GREEN: He's fit right in. He doesn't mind giving the ball up. He doesn't mind going to pin away for someone else to get an open shot. He's a very selfless guy. So he's fit right in with our whole offensive concept. And at the end of the day, he still gives us that luxury of having someone who we can throw the ball to and say, just go get us a bucket.

Q. What factor has he been in this record playoff run, 13-0?
DRAYMOND GREEN: A huge factor. He just adds an element to this team that not many people can add to a team. So having him here, he is a big part of what we're doing and the reason we are having the run that we're having.

Q. What kind of adjustments do you expect from the Cavaliers, and what can you continue to do on the defensive end to stop them?
DRAYMOND GREEN: think they will try to get J.R. and those guys involved, try to generate some points from those guys. And then I think that they will just raise their level of physicality. But as long as we continue to play our brand of basketball, continue to lock up on the defensive end, we should be just fine.

Q. Was it a focus on offense to be prepared for the physicality?
DRAYMOND GREEN: Definitely. You come into a series, you know what a team's going to bring. That was definitely a focus, to prepare for the physicality that they're going to bring to the game. But not only prepare for theirs, try to meet theirs and exceed it. And so I think that we were able to do that Game 1. We have to continue that if we want to win the series.

Q. How prepared was this team for Tristan Thompson and the way that he usually works those boards? You guys seemed to be effectively neutralizing him.
DRAYMOND GREEN: That is a part of the scouting report. If it's not a part of your scouting report, you're going to have a problem. I think we did a great job, starting with Zaza, of setting the tone of keeping him off the glass. When he's getting them extra shots, they're a great team. You give them two or three shots in the possession, they're going to make one of them.

You just try to neutralize him on the boards. Obviously he's going to get a few of them. He still had three offensive rebounds, which is great, in the game. But at the end of the day, they weren't back-breakers. You may play great defense and all of a sudden he gets a rebound and it kind of demoralizes you. I think we did a great job of that, and we have to continue to do that moving forward in the series.

Q. Do you still feel like there's another level to get to?
DRAYMOND GREEN: There's definitely another level we can get to. You can just look at the amount of layups and things we missed. That right there alone. But there are a lot of things we can do better. It's exciting to know that we played a pretty decent game but can be so much better. And I think we'll get to that level.

It takes a certain focus level to get there. I think guys have been locked in through all the practices, through Game 1. Guys have really been locked in and focused on the task at hand.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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