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NBA WESTERN CONFERENCE SEMIFINALS: PELICANS vs WARRIORSMay 8, 2018Steph CurryDraymond GreenOakland, California: Game Five Game 5 Warriors 113, Pelicans 104 Q. You've been playing with Draymond for a few years now. Is there anything that you see from him that, I guess, I don't want to say surprises you, but have you just come to expect what you see in games like this, or games like this series the whole postseason pretty much? STEPH CURRY: Nothing surprises me but always just kind of impressed and you don't want to take a talent like that for granted what he brings every single night -- I'm doing it again, man. This is crazy. We're going to need to switch this up, I'm going to toot it (laughter). It's fun to watch, the intensity he plays with and timely plays on both ends of the floor, it's what a gamer does and that's what he's been his whole career. Earlier in his career, never, rarely showed up in the stats sheet like his stuff is there right now but right now, yeah, it's -- right now, it's the whole package and it's amazing. Q. Draymond, can you now toot Klay Thompson's horn? What's he going to mean for this Houston series coming up? DRAYMOND GREEN: He's going to be huge. Obviously he's a big part of what we do with the way he spaces the floor, the offense he brings to this team. But more importantly, what he did on the defensive side of the ball, as well. He's really key in us on our defense and the job he's done on Rondo the last two games was huge. So I think he's going to have -- I mean, I'm looking at the stats sheet, he was 2-for-8 from three tonight and it seemed way crazier than that. Like he really had it going in the first half. Definitely looking forward to what he's going to bring to the table coming up in this series against Houston but it's no different than what he's brought for the past six years since I've been here. Q. Steph, what left you most encouraged tonight, looking at your progress overall just with everything? STEPH CURRY: I don't even know. I was just out there playing basketball, having fun. Second half, I played the whole fourth quarter, so it was nice to get a full 12-minute run like that. But other than that, like I told you this morning in my head when I'm out there, just trying to play free and not worry about anything and continue to try to get my rhythm on both ends and keep moving. The last three games have been -- last four games have been solid. So looking forward to continue to build that momentum into the next series. Q. Steve said you are back; your conditioning, to play 37 minutes in a playoff game, tells him you're back. STEPH CURRY: Yeah, I feel good. I feel confident in what I'm able to do out there. Timing can still get a little better with the ball, things like that, when you start to get so excited. When I'm out there, missing six weeks is still appreciative of just being out there playing. Yeah, like I said, I continue to get better, continue to get my timing right and continue to get back to the normal rotations, normal, you know, minutes that I'm out there playing, and hopefully won't look back? Q. I think your last ten or more series have started in Oracle and this one starts in Houston. Is there any part of you that's going to embrace the attacking role of the first two games, instead of the protector? DRAYMOND GREEN: Definitely. It's been awhile since we started out a series on the road. Kind of forget that feeling. But we're definitely looking forward to it. You know, this is a great opportunity for us. You know, when you're going on the road, the mindset is to go get one game. Hopefully you can do that in Game 1, but nonetheless that, is going to be our mindset and you know, I'm looking forward to the opportunity for us to go start a series somewhere else and not so much where we're at home, like you said, protecting, just trying not to give up a game. We got a couple swings to go in there and take one. I'm looking forward to that for sure. Q. What do you both remember about the January 28 game, and is there anything that somebody said afterwards that kind of stuck with you? STEPH CURRY: We lost. That was about it. That's all I remember. DRAYMOND GREEN: Yeah. What somebody say after? What did he say? What'd he say? Yeah, got to play the game now. (Laughter). That's all fine and dandy, in January, but now you got, you know, they got us, we got them. Got to go out there and play. We'll see who better. Q. Just follow-up on that, you've heard from the beginning of the season how they were obsessed with you. Now in your mind, did you always figure this was going to be the matchup, and what does it feel like knowing that they have been thinking about you guys the whole time? DRAYMOND GREEN: Not necessarily. We just played a great New Orleans team that, you know, was a tough matchup for us. They played us very well. It looks, oh, 4-1, but those games weren't that easy. Can't necessarily just say, oh, we knew this would be the matchup. You know, we had a lot of work to put in to get to this point. Now, in saying that, you know, they have made it known that their team is built to beat us. Kind of their, like you said, their obsession or whatever you want to call it. I mean, it is what it is. But like I said before, all that stuff is cool. You can build your team, obviously you want to build your team to beat the defending champs because that's usually you've got to go to get a championship, the way you've got to go. All understandable. That stuff has been said for about a year now. It's time it play. So just is what it is. Q. Actually, last season, during the playoff time, you guys had 16-1, and right now you're facing Houston Rockets, and people consider that as a great team right now. Do you guys feel like that could be like a most difficult matchup since the finals in 2016? STEPH CURRY: Every series you play, it gets harder and harder and harder. So following that trend for sure. Like Draymond said, we faced a tough, physical San Antonio team. Turn the page, faced a tough, athletic New Orleans Pelicans team with some great talent. That's the cream of the crop in the Western Conference, and in order to get to the Finals, we got to elevate our game, and that's what we enjoy about the playoffs and this moment and this stage. It's hard. Coach Kerr always said, it's why you pour Champagne on your head after you walk in the locker room after a championship because of how hard it is every step of the way. We've been there. We know what to do. Time to do it. Q. You became the first Warrior ever to average a triple-double in the playoffs. Can you talk about just sort of what your mindset was this series and then also, did you feel like you deserved? STEPH CURRY: Add that to the jacket. Q. Did you also feel like you deserved a good laugh or a moment of levity when you went over to the Pelicans huddle and stood there and kind of stood there and messed with them for a moment? DRAYMOND GREEN: I mean, guess that's great to be the first person in the history of a franchise to do something, but nonetheless, you don't get triple-doubles by yourself. You don't get rebounds by yourself. You need everyone else boxing out on the court. I don't score points by myself. I've got great teammates that find me and give me great shots, and I don't make the baskets on the pass that I deliver to them. You know, I don't get fooled into thinking, oh, I averaged a triple-double in the series because of me. I play, like I said, I have great teammates, super talented, that makes the game a lot easier, and you know, very fun to play with. It was great but it's not just good me. It wasn't really a huddle. Just they were shooting free throws. Somebody tapped me on my back and I took off running, I thought they was going to bring the ball down the floor and Josh said, hey, you got to get out of the huddle. I said, hey ain't no huddle. I just standing over here like they standing over here. It was fun. They was watching something of us. It was pretty good. Q. Steve talked about the calming influence that André brings and I guess it showed during that run when he was out, they kind of made a run to come back in the game. How has he been for you guys all season now, or just in general, how has he been a calming influence? STEPH CURRY: He's just a professional that knows how to be in the right place at the right time. Seems like nothing really rattles him and he just finds a way. I think he's embraced his role, which is I guess it's kind of undefined. He's out there playing and kind of fills a lot of the holes and gaps and defensively, we know what he's capable of. He's timely with his voice in the locker room and on the court. He's appreciative of just what he brings to the fold and knowing how important he is to what we do. You never know when it's going to show up, night-in and night-out, so it's big for us. Q. Coach Kerr was talking about how André is like a baby-sitter kind of on the court. Could you just expand on what he means by that, how he keeps things calm out there for you guys, and his contributions, even when he's not really scoring points? DRAYMOND GREEN: That's what he means, he keeps us, you know, pretty stable and you know, sometimes we get a little crazy out there. He kind of settles things down, on both ends of the floor. I think that's what he means by baby-sitter. STEPH CURRY: Maybe he can watch the kids. (Laughter). DRAYMOND GREEN: I need a baby-sitter. You know. That'll work. Q. At some point, somebody up there has to tell the truth. Ain't expecting it but I do look forward to it. With that being said, with the Rockets -- you know what I came for -- STEPH CURRY: That's pretty smooth. DRAYMOND GREEN: That was brilliant, man. STEPH CURRY: That was good. DRAYMOND GREEN: Kind of sucks that you're reading it. It's cool, though (both players looking mesmerized). Q. With that being said, with the Rockets having all that talk and narrative of what they have been saying about you guys, did you guys at all want them as much as you, with them having said all that this season? STEPH CURRY: We don't have to say nothing. What are we doing? DRAYMOND GREEN: We won two championships in three years. We don't have to run around talking about how bad we want to play somebody. We want to win another no championship and it don't matter who is in the way of that. If you in the way of that, then you happen to be in the way. But you know, we're not about to run around like, "Yeah, we want to play them in the Conference Finals." For what? Like it don't matter to us who we play. However, we got them, aiight. Now let's get it. We get to it now. But makes no sense for us to run around: "We want them as bad as they want us." For what? Right? That, honestly, don't make much sense to me. Like we got a goal, and whoever is in the way of that goal, you know, then we got to see you. You got to see us. Aiight, now they the way. Perfect. But we ain't running around talking about, man, I can't wait, like we want them bad. No, we want a championship bad, another one. That's the truth. You wasn't expecting it, but you looked forward to it. You got it. (Laughter). Q. I'm curious what it's like for you, when you're holding the ball under the high post and Steph and play are running crazy around screens, what's that like to see them move that hard without the ball, and have you ever run as much as they have without the ball? DRAYMOND GREEN: Nope. Never going to. But it's a great feeling, knowing that the way those guys -- those two are moving, and then Kevin, who is kind of the ultimate bail-out, because in the rare scenario they don't get all the moves they are doing, you just kind of throw it up to him and then he bail you out. You know, it's a pretty great feeling, for sure, and most of the time, somebody make a mistake on those two guys because they are so worried about him. Passer's paradise, for me. I enjoy it. It works well for me, too. So thanks, appreciate it. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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