	products recent interviews FastScripts archive about ASAP Sports

Our Clients:

Browse by Sport

Find us on

Subscribe to RSS

Click to go to
Asaptext.com

View our
e-Brochure

NBA FINALS: CLEVELAND VS GOLDEN STATE

June 6, 2017

Stephen Curry

Cleveland, Ohio: Practice Day

Q. What do you guys expect from LeBron James? He's playing as good as you and Kevin, but it's his home floor, he's probably going to be the one that will try to keep the Cavs in the series. What do you guys expect from him?
STEPHEN CURRY: We expect that. We expect him to play well, play with a lot of force, aggressiveness. There's obviously the change in venue probably will spark a lot of energy from them, and we have to play even better to try to get a win in Game 3 than we have in the first two games, knowing how much they can feed off the home crowd, how inspired LeBron and Kyrie are probably going to be. Especially out the gate, try to set the tone.

So it will be fun. It will be a fun atmosphere. We have been here before. We know what to expect from that standpoint and just going to be a matter of how well we can pay attention to details on our game plan and the adjustments we're going to make going into Game 3.

Q. Going back to what happened last year in Game 3, Draymond said that Game 3's going to be the toughest game of the series thus far. What makes it so tough, and what can you learn from what happened in last year's Finals in Game 3?
STEPHEN CURRY: We can learn that how thin the line is from success and failure. Especially playing on the road. Usually home teams have a different spark about them and they might make a few more shots, those momentum swings, six-point, eight-point runs that you can go on can be a lot harder to deal with, with 19,000 people going crazy.

So you got to just understand what's at stake every possession from the jump. The biggest thing for us is we usually haven't gotten off to a great start in this building. In the first quarter they come out with a lot of energy and things clicked for them, and we have usually had to deal with a deficit. Whether we come back or not is another question, but hopefully we can play better in that first quarter especially to give ourselves a little bit more momentum than we have had in the past here.

Q. The Christmas game was a little bit tough one for you. But since then, what are some of the turning points and adjustments that have happened so that the whole transition of you and K.D. together really seems to be coming together at the right time, right now?
STEPHEN CURRY: There's a lot of things, just obviously getting more comfortable with each other as time goes on, but just simplifying things, really. Understanding that not just me and K.D., but Klay, Draymond, we all can just be ourselves and just play our game and not have to overthink or overcomplicate anything, really. We all bring a little something different to the table, and the pieces of that puzzle fit really well.

And so when we're all locked in and focused and playing aggressive, knowing that whoever has the ball will make a play, just try to keep it simple, something good's going to happen. You're going to either make a play yourself or for somebody else.

So that's really it, really. That was just a good lesson to learn in a hostile environment here that the stat sheet might look differently from night to night, but at the end of the day we all have a role on this team. We all have an opportunity to help us win, and we all can really play at an extremely high level at the same time and do great things.

Q. Are you and K.D. friends? And if so, at what point do you feel that started to really develop and happen?
STEPHEN CURRY: I can't stand that guy, man.

(Laughter.)

No, for real. No, I'm just playing. I've known him since 2009 basically, so I wouldn't say -- we we're not at each other's house every day, we're not that type of thing, but when you go through these battles, and from October to now, I definitely feel like I know him a lot better than I did. And that will hopefully continue as we hopefully go forward in our careers.

But he's a great dude. He has a great sense of humor. I feel like I'm on dating show right now. He's a great dude. Great dude. I really like being around him, and hopefully that continues.

Q. Your team's never been shy about chasing history. Particularly last year and with 73. Do you allow yourself, even quietly, to say what 16-0 could mean historically for you?
STEPHEN CURRY: No, because we're not -- we have a huge hurdle to get over tomorrow. Maybe talked about it a little bit earlier, Game 3 has been rough for us historically, and especially in this building. So to give ourselves a chance at even coming close to thinking about that, we need to really, really just lock in and give every effort we have on tomorrow and how hard this 48 minutes is going to be to really seize control of this series.

We talked about it before, that doesn't -- 16-0 doesn't matter in any stretch of the imagination unless that's a closeout game. And that's the opportunity in front of us, because all it is is just winning a championship and doing what you need to do to get that done. So tomorrow's another step in that direction that we need to be ready for.

Q. Draymond just said that going for 73 maybe was a mistake, maybe not a mistake blatantly but maybe just took your focus off a little bit of the championship. Do you agree with that maybe, you talked about it, it was just too much of a thing for you guys last year?
STEPHEN CURRY: I don't know. In the moment you obviously want to -- that was a decision that we had talked about and we had discussed as a group and answered questions from the media pretty much from January on about that being a possibility, so I don't know if there may be have been a little bit of a mental fatigue when it comes to just how much it took to get that 73 done and then having to restart and go to the Playoffs.

But honestly I wouldn't regret those decisions at all. We were one game away from winning a championship, so you can -- I don't think you can second guess that that much. This situation, it's nice to be able to just turn the page and just focus on winning the championship and in its purest form, and that's what we're about right now.

Q. Two questions, when did you know you guys were good defensive team? At what point in this five-year run did you realize you were a really good defensive team and you were a part of that?
STEPHEN CURRY: I don't really know, to be honest with you. It was talked about and it's well known if you want to win a championship, that that's -- it might not have to be the best trait about you, but it needs to be top five, top 10 in the league for you to actually have a chance of being competitive in a championship kind of situation. You can't just try to outscore people all the time.

It makes it a little bit tougher, but I don't know if there's a real turning point really. It's just that became a part of the identity. Even when Coach Jackson was here way before that, that was talked about a lot more being a strength of the team as opposed to something you just kind of glance over and hope for the best, really.

Q. When you look at how good you guys can be now on defense and compare to like your early years when you first got here, it's like night and day. Would you consider it like a miraculous rise on defense?
STEPHEN CURRY: You would -- your plugs travel, too, huh? No, I think -- you got me all messed up.

(Laughter.)

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297