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NBA WESTERN CONFERENCE SEMIFINALS: ROCKETS vs WARRIORS

May 8, 2019

Steph Curry

Oakland, California: Game Five

Warriors - 104, Rockets - 99

STEPH CURRY: They play physical, switch a lot. We've seen it so many times. Trying to assess the night tonight, I think I had a lot of good looks early, just didn't make it. That kind of vibe right now where my expectations of how I shoot the ball normally are always there. Sometimes you just go through some rough patches. But the thing you can't lose is confidence and aggressiveness.

Second half was better, so eventually it will break through, get back to kind of how I expect to shoot the ball.

Other stuff in terms of being aggressive, trying to make plays and get the offense rolling like we normally do is the key.

Q. Would you say that fourth quarter...
STEPH CURRY: It was a breakthrough, for sure.

Wasn't ready for that question (smiling).

Q. End of the game you crouched down on the court. Looked like you were taking a deep exhale or saying something to yourself. What did you think about the finish?
STEPH CURRY: I mean, all the things that happened tonight in terms of how we started the game, got out to the huge lead, kind of flamed out the end of the second quarter, could have expanded that lead. Missed a lot of shots. What happens to KD in the third, a tough situation that you see a guy who has been playing amazing for so long. Head back to the locker room, kind of uncertainty about what's going on there.

Honestly, it was a little deflating for a second. Then we rallied. So all the different rollercoaster of emotions tonight. At the end of day it's about winning or losing, trying to endure to the finish line. We were able to do that tonight. Just taking a moment of reflection.

We got some more work to do on Friday in Houston. Great opportunity for us to finish the series.

Q. Steph, how big will that challenge be if you don't have Kevin and also the fact that the home team has won every game in the series, can you break that on Friday?
STEPH CURRY: I mean, we'll see what happens the next 24, 48 hours on the injury front. But we've had the next-man-up mentality for a long time now. Hopefully the situation will be no different in terms of it will be challenging.

It's tough to replace the output that KD has been doing this whole entire playoff run. What Jonas was able to do when he came in, Zo is going to have an opportunity, what Kevon did for us in the minutes down the stretch in the fourth quarter were huge.

Everybody is going to need to be ready. We're going to have to just claw our way to one more win no matter what it takes. We're excited about it. It's a big win for us today. Carry that momentum to Friday.

Q. Did it strike you in the moment that it looked really serious for Kevin? Was there a reaction on the bench, conversation? Do you have to stay in the moment?
STEPH CURRY: I mean, any time you see something like that, it's scary. You could see the look on his face. He didn't really understand what was happening in that moment, trying to figure it out. Went straight back to the locker room. During the timeout, we all looked at each other. There were a couple smiles in terms of what that meant for us as a team, the guys that were going to need to step up in those moments. Again, next-man-up mentality. Draymond said that at some point during that timeout.

It's hard to remove yourself from thinking about your teammate and your brother as he's back in the locker room getting checked out. But we were able to lock back in and just find a way to win the game. Now we can regroup and understand whatever the situation is going forward.

Q. Steve said when Kevin went out, he sensed you went into a different mode. Do you think you started playing better or shift your mindset?
STEPH CURRY: No, I thought I was aggressive the whole game. I just missed shots. Again, that's going to happen. Right before KD got hurt, I missed a layup right at the rim, a wide-open three in transition. That was, like, the lowest point of the game for me in terms of just searching.

But when he went out, got the ball in your hands, initiate the offense, shots went in. Again, it's all about not losing confidence in yourself, just find a way to find any type of life on the offensive end.

Klay was amazing, hit some big shots. Draymond hit that big three. Looney gave us a lot of good opportunities with offensive rebounds. We dug deep collectively. Big way to respond to an unfortunate situation.

Q. Lots of stuff changes when Kevin goes out. Over the last three years with that experience, what did do you think changes the most?
STEPH CURRY: I mean, we have certain play calls we call for KD to get him into the right spots to take advantage of different mismatches, get him into sweet spots. Those play calls may go away, but the main identity of who we are offensively is moving the ball, moving bodies, trying to create good looks with regular motion offense and things like that.

It's going to be really key for us if he can't play on Friday to execute at a high level on those opportunities. Take care of the basketball, turn defense into offense opportunities in transition. But just try to make them work on the defensive end every possession.

I think down the stretch we did that. I was in a lot of pick'n roll situations trying to find a shot or get the ball moving, causing confusion. That's kind of our identity when he's out there.

But we have obviously the luxury of being able to put him in certain spots to score. If we don't have that, be that much more locked in on executing, whether it's halfcourt or transition.

Q. Draymond said he was surprised Klay took the last layup. What was going through your mind the last sequence?
STEPH CURRY: It was wild. When he first gave it up to Andre, was trying to get it back, it was kind of jumbled up right there. At the end of the day whether he tried to run the clock out or get a foul or a bucket, we ran enough time off the clock and found a way to secure the possession.

I'm sure if he had to take it back, he probably would have just kept the ball, try to get a foul there, knock down two free throws. I obviously worked out.

In those situations a lot of chaos, guys running around trying to find the open guy, make a simple play. He found an opportunity to finish. He was composed when he had the ball considering all the chaos, which is crazy. I think Klay would be the only person in that situation that could do that.

Q. Did you get a chance to talk to Kevin afterwards?
STEPH CURRY: I think he's obviously down because he's injured, doesn't really know the extent of it. The positive, if you look at the bright spot in everything, the way you saw him get hurt on the floor, the uncertainty of him walking to the locker room, the first thought is Achilles, things like that. Thankfully it wasn't that.

Talked about he did it before I think two years ago in the Portland series. Just going back into his experience of what it's going to take to get back on the floor as fast as possible.

More so we were talking about what it's going to take for us to win this series, keeping the vibe up, taking this momentum of tonight, traveling to Houston with it.

We got to have his back the way he's been honestly carrying us the entire playoff run. That's what makes a great team: whoever is out there is just making plays.

Q. You mentioned being in maybe a few more pick'n rolls. After KD left, did it feel more like before he joined the team?
STEPH CURRY: Yeah, that's always been a part of our attack, from Coach Kerr's first year initiating the motion type offense, moving bodies. Whoever has the ball, no matter if it's off a pick'n roll, we swing, again, make the defense work, make decisions on that end of the floor.

We still have a lot of weapons and can create good offense through that type of attack. At the end of the day everything that we do starts with our defense. That gave us a chance to win down the stretch with how hard we played on that end of the floor. Just subtle changes that happen when you don't have those play calls that gets K in the right spot to take advantage of his talent.

We'll tap into that for however long he's out.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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