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NBA WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: WARRIORS vs ROCKETS

May 18, 2018

Steve Kerr

Oakland, California: Practice Day

STEVE KERR: Players generally get over games pretty quickly. You see it for what it is. It's usually the next day you're now in assessment mode and you're watching the tape and figuring out what you can do better. The emotions settle down. But postgame, after a playoff game, you're always either exuberant or bummed, and then you just move on.

Q. How do you guys get back to doing what you did in Game 1?
STEVE KERR: We didn't have different game plan in Game 2. We basically had the exact same game plan. We had seven turnovers in the first quarter. We let them off the hook early. Some early turnovers gave [Trevor] Ariza some transition points. In the second quarter, we broke down with our coverages and gave [P.J.] Tucker a few threes. So it wasn't so much game planning, although there are some things that we will tweak. But mostly the team that brings the force and the energy and the desperation has the advantage. I thought we had that advantage in Game 1, and I thought they had it in Game 2.

Q. What do the turnovers and the lack of focus sort of indicate to you about the team's readiness for such an important game?
STEVE KERR: I don't know that it's necessarily our team. I think it's sort of every team. I'm an NBA fan. I was a Lakers fan growing up. I remember the Memorial Day Massacre -- 148-114, I believe. You can check on it, but I'm pretty sure that was the score. The next day, the narrative was it was going to be a blowout. The Lakers came back and won Game 2. Apparently Pat Riley lit into them and challenged them. It's just human nature.

When you get to this level of basketball, great teams in every round, two teams going head-to-head -- one team wins the first game, you better believe the second team, the team that lost, is going to be upset and bring more energy and more desire. It's human nature to let your guard down a little bit. The way it manifests itself with us is through turnovers. That was a big problem in Game 2.

Q. Is it more challenging with this bench rotation? The inexperience on your bench, the [indiscernible] with centers. Just thinking back to the first time around, your bench was like a coach's dream.
STEVE KERR: I think one of the reasons it's more challenging is because of the way Houston plays. They play so small; they spread you out. So it nullifies several guys who you would ordinarily be able to play. And then Patrick McCaw being out takes us down a wing. But it's just the playoffs. Every series brings a different challenge. Different guys off the bench are going to have a chance to make an impact.

I have no problem with how we have to approach things with our bench, mixing and matching. It's all part of it.

Q. Every postseason for the last seven years Kevin Durant has averaged between 28.5 and 30 points. What type of mental fortitude and mental strength does it take to have that consistency over and over and over again throughout the playoffs?
STEVE KERR: First thing it takes is talent. The guy's so gifted. He's going to score no matter what the defense does. The second thing I noticed with KD in my two years coaching him, the different level of focus and intensity from him come playoff time. He's locked in in the playoffs. He's locked in. He wants to win. He's competing. When he's locked in like that, like most players, he plays better. He's been fantastic throughout the playoffs.

Q. What does that different level of focus and consistency look like from your perspective?
STEVE KERR: They're locked in. You can see the focus. You can see the energy.

Q. They've obviously kind of targeted Steph when you guys are on defense. In your four years here, how has he evolved as a defensive player?
STEVE KERR: The first year we were here he was a good defender. He's always been an excellent defender in terms of playing the passing lanes, using his quick hands, being disruptive, getting steals and that kind of stuff. This is a little different series just because they're targeting him so much. We've seen it before. We saw it with Cleveland with LeBron and Kyrie.

And Steph has said himself that's the obvious thing to do, because the other four guys are all 6-7, 6-8, long arms. So we're used to that. Steph's used to that. That's how the game's going to be played, and we have to adapt a little bit better.

Q. Does his size affect him more on defense, as you just suggested, than on offense?
STEVE KERR: Yeah, for sure.

Q. How hard is it to come back from an injury right into a playoff game as opposed to the regular season?
STEVE KERR: I think that's an underrated dynamic to this. I think Steph is healthy. He's moving fine. It's more rhythm than anything. To come back from six weeks in the regular season, chances are you're going to have a game where nobody's focused and the other team is playing their fourth in five nights. Defense isn't that tough and you make a bunch of threes and you just feel good.

Playoffs, the analogy I would use would be to baseball: You come back in the playoffs and you're facing the other team's best pitching night after night in the World Series or playoff games. You're not going to get that one freebie where they have to call up the guy from the minors and he's much more hittable.

So it's harder to adapt in the playoffs. But I feel really good about where Steph is and our ability to help him and help free him up.

Q. We've seen some shooters in situations like this they'll just take more and more shots to try to get into a rhythm. How important is it to stay in routine and not do anything differently? What were you like as a shooter?
STEVE KERR: I want Steph shooting every time he's open. We've got to do a little better job getting him open and we will. We've got some thoughts on that front.

Q. What about in between games, though? Does the routine change at all?
STEVE KERR: No, Steph has the same routine every single day. Game day, off days. It reminds me of all the great shooters I've ever been around. Steve Nash, Reggie Miller, Mark Price. There is a standard routine that they go through that keeps them going through the ups and downs that they inevitably face.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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