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NBA WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: WARRIORS vs ROCKETSMay 26, 2018Stephen CurryKevin DurantOakland, California: Game Six Warriors - 115, Rockets - 86 Q. Steph, Steve Kerr said that Draymond Green had a message for you at halftime. Can you talk about exactly what he said to you, what that meant to you, and how that helped turn things around for you? STEPHEN CURRY: Yeah, he just told me to slow down. We wanted that game so bad, and the energy in the building and how we were trying to get our way back into it defensively, that affected my offensive game, and I was just rushing a little bit, not being decisive with my shots. It was a nice little pep talk to get my confidence. Came out in the second half, tried to make plays. All the way down the roster tonight everybody made an impact on the game. It was a fun night in front of our home fans to take care of business and give ourselves new life going into Game 7, so it's fun. Q. For both of you, how much was the strategy tonight just push, push, push at all times? Why do you think it's been an issue in maybe the last few games and just how important was it to quicken the pace? STEPHEN CURRY: It's important because that's how we play. The key is to not foul and not turn the ball over, because when that happens, the pace slows down and kind of gets it where they want it. They get a little bit of rest inside their offense. If we make or miss, if we push and just be smart with the ball, good things will happen. We'll find open shots. For the most part in the game, after the first seven, eight minutes, we figured it out. Q. Klay [Thompson] just said he is made for this -- born for this, to do this in big games. What do you both remember from the 2016 games (laughing)? At Oklahoma City? KEVIN DURANT: Next question. STEPHEN CURRY: I think we both blocked that whole year out of our memory (laughing). Q. Kevin, after the slow start in the first quarter, it seemed to me when you got that block, it kind of re-energized your game. Did you feel that too? KEVIN DURANT: Yeah, for sure. They came out knocking down shots early, and I felt like we had some good looks to start the game, especially myself, that didn't fall. I just tried to stay in the game, stay engaged. That was a huge play for me personally to kind of keep me going a bit. I thought our crowd fed off of it and our team did as well. So just continue to make plays when I'm not making shots and stay in the game somehow. Q. This is a question for both of you. What's it like playing with Jordan Bell? Does he make you guys feel comfortable out there? STEPHEN CURRY: He's a confident guy. That's one thing about him that's consistent. Whether he's in the rotation or not, I think he's really observant, trying to figure out when his moment is called how he can make an impact. I think he's just fearless. As a rookie coming in in this type of environment, you can kind of go into your shell a little bit. He doesn't have an issue with that at all. So Coach [Steve Kerr] had confidence to throw him out there, whether he gets a stop, makes the right pass, makes a mistake, whatever it is, he always finds a way to keep playing hard. Can't say enough about a rookie in that type of situation. It's similar to Pat [McCaw] last year the way he stepped up. So doing in different ways, and it's great to have him. Q. Steph, Steve was in here earlier giving some insight about why Klay does have the ability to perform like this when you're down 3-2. He just said he wants to hoop. He's comfortable in his own skin, and he doesn't think about anything like that. How much of that is responsible for his ability to come up so huge? STEPHEN CURRY: That's why he is who he is. Yeah, he's kind of numb to the environment. He's excited to play basketball whether it's Game 2 of the regular season or Game 6 of the Western Conference Finals. Just, he's confident in himself and what he can do out on the floor on both ends. He's never seen a shot he doesn't like. So when you have that kind of recipe mixed in, good things do happen usually at the right time. Q. Everyone's focusing on the nine three balls, but how can you explain how he could make nine three-point shots and still have the conditioning to stay with James Harden, the MVP, up and down the court for 40 minutes? KEVIN DURANT: He's a tough little athlete. He's got good genes. He can thank his dad and his mom for that. For him to have the type of stamina to play good shots and play good defense. But it's also from him loving the game and loving to play and loving these moments. He just took full advantage of it. You know, it's definitely inspiring to every basketball player out there. Klay continues to just love to play every single day, no matter what. He still has that childlike joy for it, and I think tonight it showed a lot from both ends of the floor. Q. For both of you guys, talk about the challenge of going to a place where they haven't been to The Finals since 1995 You guys trying to get back, the pressure, the challenge, just everything to come, but trying to get this victory on Tuesday on the road? STEPHEN CURRY: We gave ourselves a shot tonight, and hopefully we can carry that momentum over. Game 1 down there, we played a solid 48 minutes and got a win. Game 2 it was totally opposite. Game 5 it came down to the wire. So we know how to play well in that building, and just got to be laser focused from the jump. I guarantee if we start the game out like we did tonight and they jump out to the lead, it's going to be 10 times harder to make it a game. So, for us, that's our challenge to have the same mentality we had for the last 36 minutes of tonight and bring that from the jump in Game 7. It's going to be fun. It's what you play for, to be in a situation where you're one win away from going to The Finals. Pressure both ways because of how big the moment is, and you've got to want it. KEVIN DURANT: Yeah, it's a great opportunity for both teams to come out there and play a great brand of basketball. I know for us we're going to come out there and be ready to play from the start of the game. We put ourselves in that position now to have one more game and trying to get to The Finals and get back to where we want to get to. I think guys are ready for it. We're looking forward to going down there, locking in and being who we are. Can't wait till Tuesday. STEPHEN CURRY: Monday. Monday. KEVIN DURANT: My bad. Q. Klay looked tonight like he was really hyped up more than usual. He usually keeps a lid on himself. Today he was hopping around and yelling and screaming. Is that unusual for you guys to see or just something you don't see that often? Or did you even notice it? STEPHEN CURRY: He had great reason to be that excited tonight. I like that fire and energy when you know he's engaged and appreciating what he's bringing to the game. So, as I said, a little fist pump, or him jumping up and down, whatever it is, when he's animated, that's good for us. As a team, we kind of keep our foot on the gas pedal and keep pushing, and him doing his part, for sure. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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