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NBA WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: WARRIORS vs ROCKETSMay 22, 2018Stephen CurryKevin DurantOakland, California: Game Four Rockets - 95, Warriors - 92 Q. For both of you guys, I think you had one assist in the fourth quarter, why were you guys so stagnant in that fourth quarter? STEPHEN CURRY: I think we just got a little rushed. I think some of the mix-ups we had on defense affected our energy on the offensive end. I mean, credit to them, we know they're doing a lot of switching and trying to force us into one-on-one type situations, but that's no excuse to not get the ball moving. Trusting what we do best, and whether it's the first quarter, second quarter or crunch time in the fourth, we've got to be us, and that's going to be the adjustment for Game 5. Q. Were you feeling exhausted in the fourth quarter? I mean, that seems to be the theme. Also, Steve said he thought that blowing the 12-0 lead and not capitalizing on that was really maybe the key part of the game. Would you agree? STEPHEN CURRY: I mean, when you give yourself a lead like that, it would help to sustain it, try to make the game as easy as possible early. We played really well in that first six, seven minutes and made it tough on them. But they're a great team. So whether you extend the lead or not, it's a 48-minute game, and we had plenty of chances to come down the stretch and win the game. Not an ideal situation after the way we started, but I like the fight that we showed. Fatigue is not an excuse for either side, so that will never creep into your mind. Q. For either one of you or both, would you say this was a lot more physical game than the previous three in the series? Do you think that was a conscious strategy on Houston's part? And what do you do to combat that in Game 5? KEVIN DURANT: I think it's been physical every game. They made timely shots in the fourth. Eric Gordon hit that big three to put them up five. I think that gave them a nice cushion. We had chances of winning this basketball game, but you've got to tip your hat to Houston. They came out and took the game on the road, and we've just got to regroup and be better the next game. Q. On that last offensive possession, when you passed to Klay, can you break down that possession? Secondly, were you looking for a reset, possibly getting the ball back? KEVIN DURANT: I raced it down. I was trying to see if I had some options. I saw Klay running along the baseline and maybe should have waited until he set his feet, but I just threw a bounce pass and tried to relocate for it. But, man, that's not the reason we lost the game. I wish it could have been a better possession at the end, but, you know, we've got to live with that and move on and be better next game. But it's the whole game that we've got to get better at, especially in the fourth. I think going up 10 going into the fourth, it was a good opportunity for us to kind of take control, and we didn't. So I definitely wish I had that last play back. So I'm going to watch film and see what my options were and just hopefully if I'm in that position again I'll be better. Q. Also on that possession that Kevin's talking about, Steve [Kerr] was in here saying that Draymond was trying to get the ref's attention because he saw it breaking down. Can you explain what was going on in that possession? Why it didn't work and whether you needed the timeout? Secondly, when you got the ball in your hands at the very last 0.5 of a second, what did you see there and did you think you got it off? STEPHEN CURRY: Well, like K says, it's a scramble play. You get a stop. We've been in that situation plenty of times in the regular season and playoffs. You don't call a timeout because you've got a flow, and usually something materializes and you get a good shot. Once we came down, like K said, made a read, threw to Klay, I heard Draymond yelling for a timeout. Klay thought he could get a shot off. It's basketball. There are so many bang-bang plays night in, night out, you can't really second-guess anything about it. Yeah, we'd like to maybe get a timeout with four seconds left, but it didn't happen. Last play actually got a decent look, I think maybe in my head I was thinking 0.5, you don't know how long you can catch, turn, do that whole thing, so maybe rushed it a little bit. Decent look, but you wish the game didn't come down to that to try to extend it. We know how to correct and get back to who we are. Q. No Andre [Iguodala] tonight, and Klay had to leave the game briefly. How much did that mess up the flow and the rotation of the team throughout the game? STEPHEN CURRY: I mean, it changed it, but Andre's a huge part of what we do, and it helps us have that versatility. We're trying to fill different spots throughout the course of the game. You'd love to have him out there, but it's a long series, and you want him healthy, able to really make an impact when he's out there. So hopefully that happens in Game 5. You look at how the game went, we were in pretty good shape for 44 minutes with a chance to win and take really control of the series, but it didn't happen. Now we've got to fight and really understand this is a true playoff-type experience. It's not going to be easy against a great team like Houston. So we're up for it though. Q. What was your read on the contrast with your third and fourth quarter in terms of the shots falling down? STEPHEN CURRY: They were just missed shots. I had a wide-open one on the right wing, in and out. Early in the fourth, got a little rushed. Got a shot blocked, missed a lay-up. I could sit here and nitpick all you want. Had some decent looks that didn't go down, but that's not why we lost. Just keep being aggressive like we were the whole game, and more so just try to be more assertive when it comes to what we want to get out of each possession down the stretch in the last 6 minutes, and we could be a lot better at that, and we will be. Q. So it's 0-0 now and home court's back in Houston's hands, how do you approach the rest of the series? Is the mindset different going into Houston now as opposed to if you had the 3-1 lead? STEPHEN CURRY: I don't think the mindset is any different. We went in Game 1, and took care of business. We know what it's like to win in that arena. We should be ready to go. We need to reset, put together a pretty solid, 48-minute game, and steal one down there. It would be nice if it was a closeout game, but it's not. We can regain control of the series if we go down there and play a complete game, and we've shown we can do it before. I think the vibe in the locker room is really positive right now when it comes to what we need to correct when it comes to winning Game 5. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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