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NBA WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: WARRIORS vs ROCKETS

May 25, 2018

Steve Kerr

Oakland, California: Practice Day

Q. You talked about your confidence last night going forward. Can you just talk about the challenge going forward, going home, but having a chance to tie it back up?
STEVE KERR: Yeah, I mean, this is kind of what the playoffs are about. You go through a lot of ups and downs, but ultimately somebody's got to win four times, so you just keep going. You keep playing. We have a chance to tie the series at home. That's a pretty good position to be in. We've got to win two basketball games and we've done that an awful lot, so we're very confident.

Q. Anything you can say about Chris Paul, his injury, and the thoughts on that and the impact the guy makes on the series?
STEVE KERR: I haven't heard. I know he was hobbled at the end of the game, but I don't know the extent of the injury.

Q. You were mentioning even with yesterday as a result, there were certain things you saw that left you encouraged. What were some of those things?
STEVE KERR: I thought we got better shots last night. I thought we moved the ball pretty well, better than Game 4. Feel good about the way we're defending them. We've got to stop reaching. I think I mentioned that. We sent them to the line too many times. But all in all, I feel good about our ability to come out in Game 6 and win the game and get some momentum back.

Q. How's Andre [Iguodala] doing? What is the likelihood he'll be back?
STEVE KERR: I have no idea. He's gotten incrementally better each day, but I haven't talked to him this morning.

Q. How much of a boost would it be if you're able to get him back for that game?
STEVE KERR: It would be great. He's a great player. He's one of our keys, and we've missed him the last two games. But we can't count on it. Injuries happen, and you've just got to play with whoever's out there. So we're hoping he's back, and we'll see what happens.

Q. What is the game plan the rest of the day? You guys fly back, and what will you do after that?
STEVE KERR: I will not meet with the media (laughing). The players won't do anything. Coaches will probably gather at the facility and put together a plan for tomorrow.

Q. What does Andre still need to show [Warriors head performance therapist] Chelsea [Lane]?
STEVE KERR: Chelsea just needs to tell me that he can play and that's it. Other than that, he's either healthy enough to play or he's not.

Q. Obviously, Quinn [Cook] got some very key late game minutes. Can you kind of talk about the thinking about putting him on the court? After he missed that three-pointer, was there any sort of talk you had to have with him? What does that do for a young guy?
STEVE KERR: Well, he's on the floor because he's a great shooter. He is important for us. He spaces the floor. He's got guts, as he showed. I didn't need to say anything to him. The biggest thing in the NBA, the only regret you should have is if you don't shoot a shot. He was open and had a good look at it, had the guts to shoot it, and it didn't go in. But next time he's going to shoot it again and pretty good chance it will go in.

Q. TV had captured that moment with you and Kevin [Durant] talking about trust during yesterday's game. Team wide, what is your read on the trust component with these guys right now? Ball movement is obviously still a bit of an issue?
STEVE KERR: Well, Houston's doing a great job defensively. They're doing what we do. When you switch everything, it makes ball movement more difficult, and it makes player movement more difficult. That's why you do it. That's why they've built the roster they have, and that's why we've built the roster we have. Everybody's saying why aren't you guys moving the ball? Well, it's good defense. So we're lucky we have Kevin, because Kevin is the ultimate answer against switching defenses. He's had a great series.

Last night wasn't his best game, but I thought he still carried us at times. There's not much more to say. We've just got to play better as a team.

Q. You've played with guys that have missed a lot of shots and stepped up and taken the big shot. Eric Gordon's done it two games in a row. What kind of quality do you have to have mentally to have a terrible night shooting, but when the ball finds you in a big moment, you just step into it?
STEVE KERR: You just can't care, honestly. You've got to find a way to not care. If you think too much about the repercussions, then you get in your own way. It's my experience that if you just trust it and let it go, no matter who you are, you're more likely to make a big shot. But even the best players, most of them don't make half of those big shots at the end of the game.

So that's why I love Quinn taking that shot late. Love Steph taking that runner. Love Draymond making that big three. You've just got to play and don't worry about anything else.

Q. What is the general mood of this squad when you address them after the game, and what do you try to tell them to maybe encourage them?
STEVE KERR: Well, there are things I tell you guys here, and there are things I tell my team that are private. So I'm not sharing anything I said with the team after the game.

Q. How valuable do you think your team's playoff experience at this level will be, as you all try to avoid elimination?
STEVE KERR: We've been here before. We've faced elimination on the road before, this team has, a few years ago. We faced series deficits before. We've won all of those series. Our guys have the ultimate confidence that we can get it done this time too.

Q. We're at the point in the series where both sides have seen each other so much, but they're anticipating rotations and ball movement, and the sequences and the moves even. Is that exaggerated at all with the switch, because everybody's anticipating the switch, and they know what they're going to get every time? Does that stagnate the energy offensively a little bit?
STEVE KERR: Yeah, that's what switching does. I think we're trying to do some different things, and I thought we had some success last night in changing some things.

We pretty much know what they're going to do. We knew what they were going to do before Game 1. Nothing has changed. They've made no bones about how they're going to attack. They've done it all year long. They've got two great one-on-one players, a lot of good three-point shooters. So they're going to just iso every time.

We've done a good job guarding the iso, and we've got to continue to look for better shots offensively and better ways to find those shots. But I'd say at this point everybody kind of knows what's coming.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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