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NBA WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: WARRIORS vs ROCKETSMay 19, 2018James HardenOakland, California: Practice Day Q. What's kind of the fun part about coming into somebody else's building with this great of a team and these kind of stakes with you guys against everybody? JAMES HARDEN: Yeah, that's how it's been. I think we've had that mentality all year. I think that's why we're a pretty good road team in the regular season. Just have that mentality that it's us against the world. It makes us lock in even more. Execution is that much more important, and our focus has to be at an all-time high. Q. How fun is it to shut out the crowd? JAMES HARDEN: It's like one of the best feelings ever, especially when it's a pretty good home crowd. It's not going to be easy, but we're up for the challenge. Q. How valuable do you think a guy like Trevor Ariza's championship experience is to your team? JAMES HARDEN: It's very valuable. I've been fortunate to have Trevor on my team for some years now. He's like a brother to me. We just talk about everything, whether it's experience, or the way his focus turns up when the postseason starts; it's different. I kind of feed off that energy. I learn a lot from him, whether he knows it or not. The way he just mentally prepares himself. He's the first one in the gym every single day. He's a true vet. So I can learn a lot from him. Q. Does he ever bring out the championship ring? JAMES HARDEN: No, he knows better not to bring it out. Q. When you guys can bring energy before the shots start falling -- JAMES HARDEN: Yeah, that's different. That's who we are. Like I said previous times, the shots are a bonus; they're extra. But if our energy and the way we're moving around, flying around defensively, helping each other out, that comes before the shots. That's what helps the shots become easier, especially for guys like Trevor and Tuck [P.J. Tucker]. Q. How much does the mentality defensively have to be not just about trying to control what they do and how much they score, but to try to be disruptive? JAMES HARDEN: We have to go out there and put our footprint on the game right away. We can't allow them to be free and run around and shoot threes all game. We've got to be able to contain them, use our aggressiveness early in the game and try to carry that for four quarters. Q. Trevor was a 22-year-old kid who won a title with the Lakers. As a young player, what do you think that was like to win a title in your hometown? JAMES HARDEN: Man, hometown kid, L.A., playing with Kobe? Man, that's probably like a dream come true. He was just young. He didn't really know the game of basketball. He was just probably running out there listening to what those guys told him to do, playing hard and knocking down shots. It was probably a dream come true for him. Now I can just tell it's a different level. He actually thinks the game, he knows the game. He's been through the ups and downs. It's for sure a different Trevor. Q. We've talked about how you guys have been somewhat able to contain Steph Curry. How difficult is it going to be maintaining that throughout the series with a guy like that? JAMES HARDEN: Yeah, we're just trying to contain all of them, not just Steph. They've got Klay [Thompson] over there; they've got KD [Kevin Durant]. Obviously, KD has been scoring the ball extremely well. It's a tough challenge. It's a tough task. Each individual, when it's our opportunity and we're guarding the basketball, we've got to do a really good job of guarding the basketball. When you're off the ball and those guys are moving on the weak side, you've got to be able to lock in and not give them easy looks. That's all it's about. I'm sure they said the same thing about us. Give anybody easy looks, especially on these two teams, it's cash. Q. What's the margin of error like against this team? JAMES HARDEN: You can't make mistakes. If you make mistakes, they make you pay for it. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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