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NBA FINALS: CLEVELAND VS GOLDEN STATE

June 11, 2017

Stephen Curry

Oakland, California: Practice Day

Q. I know that you just want that fourth win, but is it any motivation to think about doing this in front of your fans and the way they have supported you over the years and doing it at home?
STEPHEN CURRY: For sure, that's the opportunity in front of us. We haven't had that experience before, so it would be a great night to get it done, to take advantage of the home crowd, the energy, how poorly we played in Game 4, to try to make the necessary adjustments energy-wise and focus-wise to get it done.

And we're in really good shape right now to have this opportunity tomorrow, and looking forward to it.

Q. I know Kyrie has had a huge series, but what are the shots you can give him and what are the shots that you kind of need to take away when you looked at film with Kyrie?
STEPHEN CURRY: The ones where he's in space and has time to knife through the defense, get in the paint, those are the ones you want to try to take away. He's made a lot of contested shots. He's got to the basket a little too much to our liking, and I think that for the most part you have to live with some of the shots, because he has the ball in his hands a lot and he's such a clever creator of space and he's a tough shot maker in certain situations. You don't want to let him toe up on the three-point line. That's another adjustment we want to make from Game 4.

Just try to make him play in a crowd as much as possible. That's the biggest thing, and just staying locked in for 48 minutes. Knowing he'll have some runs, but over the course of the game, you just want to make it tough.

Q. Did they play, we saw they were certainly more physical last game. Was that significantly different than they had played you just even earlier in the series?
STEPHEN CURRY: Not really. We just didn't play well at all. We didn't give any kind of resistance in that first -- I'll call it first three minutes where they just got real comfortable on our miscommunication, on our -- we got separated from bodies a little too much and let them toe up on the three-point line.

And in that building especially, if you allow them to get that three-point game going early, they feed off of that energy.

So that wasn't a good recipe for us to try to get a win and knowing coming into game that they're going to try that same game plan. We just got to play with more force, energy, and just lock in defensively. We scored enough points to win, just didn't get any stops.

Q. For you offensively you were off the ball almost from the start, is it harder for you to deal with that when you're off the ball or was it easier when you're on the ball?
STEPHEN CURRY: Off the ball it's more opportunity for them to try to jam stuff up. A lot of our sets allow for me to get some runs off the ball, changing sides of the court, coming off pin-downs and stuff like that, trying to draw a couple defenders maybe for some openings for others or get me a shot.

But I think when I have the ball in my hands, I just got to be a little bit more aggressive than I was in Game 4, just try to get in the paint, make plays, and not let them try to take me out of it.

Q. It seemed like they were double-teaming you a lot particularly coming off screens and stuff like that. Just so you -- how much more problems does that create, first of all, and second of all, how do you beat it?
STEPHEN CURRY: They have done a lot in the last three years we played them, and it's something we expect and have adjustments to make, but you just still have to play with force and make them work defensively, even if they want to trap or blitz at the top of the key, because a lot of good can come out of that, especially if I can turn the corner or drag those defenders away from the line and move it on, and we have a four-on-three on the back side.

So you just can't play passive. In the first four to five minutes, we didn't really set the tone of the pace that we wanted to get to, mostly because we were taking the ball out of the net or they were getting to the free throw line too much. So we want to be able to establish that pace early.

Q. How do you play better perimeter defense against a team that makes 24 threes?
STEPHEN CURRY: Those 24, I would say probably 10 of them were just mental breakdowns and giving them open looks. And they're obviously great three-point shooters. If you give them open looks, they're capable of making it, and they can make them in furies. So just staying connected to bodies, trying to stay close on screens, on switches, making sure we're talking and communicating. And the biggest thing is early in the game you can't let them get going, because they feed off of that.

Q. How do you feel like Mike Brown has transitioned back into his role as lead assistant, and how smooth of a process has that been?
STEPHEN CURRY: He's been great. He's been as vocal and present as he's been all year, just giving his input when he needs to. Obviously he's not talking as much in timeouts and huddles and stuff like that, but from game to game, in the practices, he's giving us that Mike Brown presence that he brings to the coaching staff and he's brought all year.

So it's obviously nice to have Coach Kerr back and the normal flow, but doesn't mean anybody else just falls to the back, to the shadows. They all have huge impacts on our game plan and our adjustments from game to game.

Q. What are some of the things that you've learned about K.D. since you became his teammate that you didn't know before you guys were on the same team?
STEPHEN CURRY: As a basketball player, I knew pretty much everything he brought to the table playing against him for all eight years of my career and having played with him on Team USA and stuff like that. So I knew exactly what kind of addition he would be to the style of play that we have here.

And just bringing his level of efficiency, his versatility on both ends of the floor, he's obviously upped his rim protection and defensive presence in that sense, all those blocks he got all year, so that was a little change, but for the most part he's been the K.D. that we expected him to be and even greater. So it's been great.

Q. There's been talk over the last few days just about the Warriors core and you've just gotten together and you're going to be together likely for a while and probably be in this situation for years to come. As a competitor, is there any part of you that hopes the Cavs core stays together and that you see that maybe there are multiple matchups? I know we have had three in a row, but that this goes on for a long time with against LeBron, Kyrie, Kevin, those guys?
STEPHEN CURRY: Well, I think it's great for the league what's going on right now, for sure. There's great story lines, I guess, you can follow all year. And for us to be back in this situation, this is the third time. The level of competition and intensity in The Finals is unbelievable, especially when you have that history with the opposing team.

So, yeah, we'd love to be in The Finals every year, I'm sure they would love to be in The Finals every year, the back and forth. A lot of things happen in the league that you can't really predict, but that would be good for everybody involved, for sure.

Q. Last year your numbers at least fell off Games 5 through 7. How much did that stick with you over the summer, and have you let it go at this point, or are you kind of still thinking about trying to finish this series very strong?
STEPHEN CURRY: This year's a totally different year. I actually wasn't thinking about that until you asked me. I'm confident, I'm energetic and positive about the opportunity we have in front of us tomorrow. The past is the past. It's definitely fueled us all year, just trying to keep that hunger to get back to the stage. But we understand we're one win away from getting the job done, and we have a chance to write our own story this year, so this is going to be a fun night and want to just keep a clear focus to what's going on in the present, for sure.

Q. Where were you physically in terms of a percentage this time a year ago as compared to where you are now? Were you a hundred percent, 80, 90, 70?
STEPHEN CURRY: That's such a subjective -- I actually don't even remember how I felt back last year. It's so long ago.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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