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NBA WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: WARRIORS vs ROCKETS

May 15, 2018

Stephen Curry

Houston, Texas: Practice Day

Q. What kind of an effort do you expect from the Rockets for tomorrow night?
STEPHEN CURRY: A heavy punch like they did the first game. Every game is a different opportunity. The score is 0-0, so we have to do what we did in Game 1, even better, be more sharp. Understand they're probably going to make some adjustments that we're going to -- hopefully we'll be able to adapt to pretty quickly. But it really comes down to how we respond after a big Game 1 win, and how we start the game and try to continue to build momentum.

Q. To what extent does getting a win here remove the pressure of Game 2?
STEPHEN CURRY: We turned the page. We came in only thinking about Game 1 because that was the only game in front of us. Sounds clichÃ©, but the true championship-mentality caliber teams, they think like that. You have 48 minutes to take care of business, understand what we did well, understand what we can do better. Game 2 is the same mentality. It's 48 minutes in front of us.

So I don't think it's a larger context to what that means for this series if we get a win. It's just about playing well, getting a win tomorrow night because that's the game that's in front of us.

Q. Do you think because of your past championships and all the confidence that you guys have built up over the years, that you're maybe able to enjoy last night in a way that maybe other teams aren't able to in the same situation?
STEPHEN CURRY: I think more so yesterday was our first experience starting on the road in a very long time. So it created a different challenge, different level of focus that we needed to have to come in and get a win in Game 1.

You kind of get spoiled and used to starting at Oracle every series and understand what the home crowd is going to be like and all that. For us to play the way we did, to withstand two or three serious runs that they made and end up getting that win, that's big. We can feed off that momentum carried into Game 2.

Q. You mentioned the Rockets making adjustments. What are you expecting to see?
STEPHEN CURRY: I'm sure defensively they'll try some different things to try to get us out of certain sets. But offensively we do know the ball is going to be in James [Harden] and Chris's [Paul] hands a lot, because that's what they're really good at. That's what they do. They've been really successful at it. But you've got to expect certain kinks and ATOs and things like that to try to get some of the other guys some shots.

But for the most part at this stage in the season, you've established an identity. That's true for us, it's true for them, and it's just a matter of who can execute better. That's what it comes down to to win a playoff series.

Q. Shaun Livingston said when you all got to shootaround yesterday, K.D. [Kevin Durant] was already here and sweating it. Do you see a more locked in guy?
STEPHEN CURRY: Don't let K.D. fool you; he does that all year. He's always locked in. He's always working. We all have our different ways of doing it. K.D. is a hard worker. His success is no accident. As they say, there is a reason he is who he is, and the why he plays the way he does. He has a set mentality and routine and expectation of himself and whatever he needs to do to get his mind into that frame of mind and get that killer instinct, he does. Yesterday we noticed there was another chapter in that.

Q. Yesterday you said you guys need to be greedy tomorrow. What's that look like?
STEPHEN CURRY: Just not getting comfortable or complacent. We played a really good game yesterday. They played solid. James had an amazing night. Tried to make it tough on him. You've got to expect them to do the same. But for us, getting greedy means playing another great 48 minuets and having the expectation that we can come out of here with two wins. That's whatever it takes, really.

Q. It looked like you put a lot of extra emphasis in doing a lot of the small things. Was that part of the game plan for last night?
STEPHEN CURRY: I do that a lot. I try to be versatile whether I'm shooting 15 threes or five or scoring 18 or 40, trying to find a way to impact the game on both ends. Offensively yesterday it was a little different. I was able to get to the paint a lot. Set up guys. They tried to take away the three-point shot, and other guys got some great looks. And I have to be a threat out there at all times and demand some attention, be sure with the ball and kind of manage the game. That encompasses a lot of different things. Playing on the ball, set screens, whatever it takes.

Q. Steph, there was a mic'd up segment in the game last night where they showed Steve [Kerr] on the bench talking to you during a timeout. You looked a little down. You weren't playing great. But he was like, hey, man, the series is going to come to you. The game's going to come to you.
STEPHEN CURRY: I need to work on my body language, I guess, because I was actually feeling alright. I was feeling pretty good. It was just a weird type of vibe. I felt like we were playing better than what the score looked like. That's kind of what my body was reading at the time. But everything he was saying I was already kind of thinking it myself.

It's a 48-minute game, so there is plenty of opportunity to make an impact. I think he was observing that and making sure that I was in the right frame of mind to stay engaged, to stay just stay locked in on what I was doing.

Q. Defensively they obviously were trying to put you in situations where you're on James a lot. Can you be valuable defensive player just making him dribble it 20 times before he can get to the rim and then shoot the jumper?
STEPHEN CURRY: We had a certain game plan to guard against those situations. At the end of the day , if it requires one-on-one type of defense, then you've got to be ready for those matchups and try to make it tough on him. Besides the very first blitz of the game, whether he scored or not, I felt like he had to work. The biggest thing for us is to not get discouraged if he does get a bucket.

As I said before, the man averaged 30 points a game. Not a lot of guys in the league are able to stop him. You've to be just disciplined, try not to foul, get a contested shot, make him miss, get the ball out and go down to the other end with the same type of force and play the long game.

Yeah, he had 41 points for a reason. But I felt like we made it tough on him.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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