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NBA WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: WARRIORS vs ROCKETS

May 14, 2018

Stephen Curry

Houston, Texas: Game One

Warriors - 119, Rockets - 106

Q. With your guys' experience and in a pressure-packed situation, you guys obviously have a lot of talent. But how did you guys develop the kind of DNA the past few years to be able to withstand these kind of moments?
STEPHEN CURRY: It's all part of the process and the evolution of our identity. We've been a pretty good defensive team for five, six years now, and just trying to figure out what's the best way for us to play on both ends of the floor. We've got a nice chemistry going with the guys that have been around for a long time, and obviously adding KD and some of the other guys last year. So it's a matter of going through the different experiences and being really sure about who you are as a team and what to expect.

When you go on the road especially, you rely on that to not get rattled, to withstand runs like we did tonight and understand as well the endurance is takes to win a series like this. It's a big win for us tonight, but a lot of work to do. I like the kind of head space we're in right now.

Q. Obviously this first win is very important to you guys. Most of the playoffs in the past you guys played at home. But being away is very important, right?
STEPHEN CURRY: It's important because that's the only game we could play tonight, the first one. So, yeah, definitely a big win. Like I said, you don't win the series in one game. You've got a lot of work to do. You've got to come back and get a little greedy in Game 2 and try to get another one, put forth a solid 48-minute effort.

We'll make some adjustments. I know they will. Got to have that same competitive fire that we had after the first minute tonight.

Q. Speaking of that first minute, can you go back and tell us each sequence?
STEPHEN CURRY: Don't set me up like that. All I know is the first play, because I messed up not switching on James, trying to follow a certain game plan that didn't really make sense at that point. So he came down the court, there were two screens; I was supposed to switch. On one of them I didn't. He sat there and had all the daylight in the world to shoot the three and knocked it down. But after that we were pretty solid.

Q. Did you tweak something there in the second half? I saw you stretching.
STEPHEN CURRY: Yeah, but playoffs it doesn't really matter. You've got to keep playing. So I'll be fine. It's a physical series and it's a situation where I'm going to be out there hopefully regardless of what happens.

Q. You hoped they isolated on you every single play. I don't know if it was every single play.
STEPHEN CURRY: It felt like it.

Q. How did you think you did, and how happy were you to get that deflection steal racing with Harden there?
STEPHEN CURRY: I mean, if that's the game plan they want to stick with, my job is to just try to make it as tough as possible. You've got two great scorers over there, CP and James, who know how to get shots off in isolation-type situations, and they're tough to stop. So I'm going to get scored on. They're going to get scored on. There is going to be a lot of back and forth. But as long as we -- I should say as long as I'm in the right spot at the right time, defend and make the shot as tough as possible, I can be all right with that and just have that competitiveness that we need.

So we'll see what adjustments to make in Game 2, but I'll be ready for it.

Q. I went to interview Andre [Iguodala] after the game, and his response was, Why do you want to talk to me? Can you talk about what he adds to this team with his veteran leadership?
STEPHEN CURRY: He's just Mr. Do It All, kind of like a Swiss Army knife out there. He just makes winning plays. Defensively he's versatile, able to guard a bunch of different positions. He's smart with the ball. He understands how teams try to defend him. He tries to counter that with timely screens, aggressive drives to the basket and knocking down open shots. He just always seems to be in the right place at the right time, and the ultimate luxury to have to kind of fill a lot of different holes we have on our team.

Q. Klay had a lot of open three pointers tonight. I think he took 15 total. How was he able to get going?
STEPHEN CURRY: He stole like 10 of my threes that I usually take. I want them back [laughing]. No, I think the way we played tonight, obviously KD, what he was able to do in certain iso situations, getting shots off, the way they were defending certain plays, we got a lot of drive-and-kick opportunities. He was showing himself open in the right spots and we were trying to get him the ball.

When you have a guy like Klay, who got up 15 threes and probably 14 of them were really good shots, that's a good recipe for success for us. I'm very confident in him knocking those down.

Q. This team is now 25-3 in the last 28 playoff games, almost 12 points a game. What is it about the team? Is it just the talent overload, or do you all have a knack of peaking at the right time?
STEPHEN CURRY: Talent is great, but you have to actually go out there and compete and execute and be ready when the lights are on. We put together a solid run. We want to, like I said, continue to be greedy and go after more. It's a fun way to play.

We've got a good thing going. Everybody knows their role and everybody appreciates the moment that we've had, the extended moments we've had over the last few years, and hopefully more to come. Just feeding off each other's energy, and it's been great.

Q. Kevin was showing off his brilliant shot making all night long. What were your favorite moments from him? And some of his competitive fire also came out.
STEPHEN CURRY: He was ready for tonight. I think just us building up momentum throughout the regular season, the playoffs and getting to this point, he was appreciative of the moment.

He got subbed out in the third quarter. A lot of that fire was great to see. It was my fault I didn't execute on two possessions, going down at the end of the third quarter. I was supposed to have his back on that one. I had some empty possessions.

But when you have a guy like that that just has it going, he's putting pressure on the defense and every spot on the floor, it's fun to watch. I know that will continue.

Q. Early before the series started, Steve Kerr said he felt confident because you all had rings. But what does that give you when you come into an arena where you know a team has been targeting you? They want you. What kind of comfort does that give you that you have that?
STEPHEN CURRY: I mean, at the end of the day it helps to have gone through this experience a couple times, or a few times, and understand how you react to the pressure and find a way to get over the hump. You rely on that experience.

At the end of the day, the way we came out and the way they came out in the first quarter tonight, they tried to throw a heavy punch early. James hit some shots, we didn't get rattled.

That could have been a deciding moment right there. You could lose a game in the first half by abandoning your game plan just because they hit some tough shots or whatever the case is. We settled the game down. We were only down one at the end of the first quarter, kind of got settled in.

Just the experience helps, and you want to rely on that with just keeping your calm and your composure, especially on the road. Raymond [Ridder] loves to tell me this is my 18th straight series winning a game on the road in the playoffs. That experience helps for a night like tonight.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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