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NBA FINALS: CAVALIERS vs WARRIORS

June 3, 2018

Kevin Love

Oakland, California: Game Two

Warriors - 122, Cavaliers - 103

Q. Kevin, there was a play in the fourth quarter where the shot clock was running down on Steph and you were chasing him out to the three-point line and he decided to go way beyond the three-point line. Can you explain what you saw on that play and whether you thought he had a prayer of making that shot?
KEVIN LOVE: No matter where you are on the floor, especially past half court on their side, he always has a chance to make a miraculous shot. You saw it at the end of the first half last game. We made a gamble and he hit a shot from about, it seemed like, 35 feet out there. So I felt like it was well contested. We played 23 1/2 good seconds of defense, and he turned around and hit a moon ball.

So it was a well-contested shot, and what he hit -- he's 9 for 17 from the three-point line tonight, so it was a great night for him from the perimeter.

Q. You found yourself on him one-on-one a couple times in the corner. What's it like to be on an island with Steph Curry when he's feeling it?
KEVIN LOVE: Oh, it's tough. I mean, he's 11 for 26 from the floor, but like I said, 9 of 17 from the three-point line. So anytime he has it going from the three-point line, you have to try to make him shoot twos, make him shoot contested twos, and do the best job you can from the three-point line as well.

So it's tough, really tough to guard Steph anywhere out there on the floor, but he's just so good at finding himself open.

Q. The last time Cleveland's lost at home was Game 1 against the Pacers for this postseason. How do you guys play so well at home, and how do you replicate that going into Game 3 and 4?
KEVIN LOVE: I mean, it's a lot -- home-court advantage is -- can be a real thing. I mean, you look at how good the Warriors are here at Oracle, it's the same for us at home. We feel like we feed off of our crowd. We really get up to play at home. You know, we know that come Wednesday we're going to have to be better. There's a couple things, a couple coverages that we blew, a couple mishaps that we had on the defensive end, a couple lapses we had on the offensive end when things got stagnant.

So we just have to be better, and I think just going home and being in front of our crowd for Game 3 of The Finals will be huge for us.

Q. You guys have been down 0-2 before to them. You were down 0-2 against the Celtics. Is it harder to be down 0-2 against the Warriors just because of how good you have to be to beat them?
KEVIN LOVE: Yeah, I mean, it could be really tough, especially coming back here and playing in their arena. So we have to make sure that we really bring it in Game 3, because, I mean, that's really the game right there. This is a team that you don't want to be down 0-3 against. We know that. I was mentioning in the locker room. I was talking about anytime that K.D. is really hitting shots at such a high clip, he was 10 of 14 tonight, for 26 points, and he was at plus 24 plus/minus, so they're very tough to stop when he's hitting shots and he has it going.

A lot of people are going to talk about Steph's game and Klay having 20 as well, but I thought K.D. was the guy that really had it going tonight for them and was the difference maker.

Q. Coming off a concussion and you've had two pretty good games. I know the bottom line is winning, but how good do you feel about your contributions and how comfortable are you right now after these two games, the way you've been playing?
KEVIN LOVE: Oh, I think still have to be better. I've had a number of shots not only in Game 1 but in Game 2 as well that I felt I should have knocked down. Defensively they're the type of team -- even there were times when they missed the shot as well, but being a big and playing against this team and switching like we have been, and if you take that one second off or you stand up for that split second, they're so good at cutting off the ball or finding themselves open in transition. So I know it's not just myself, but I expect a lot of myself out there, and I know I have to be better come Game 3.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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