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NBA WESTERN CONFERENCE SEMIFINALS: ROCKETS vs WARRIORS

May 9, 2019

Steve Kerr

Oakland, California: Practice Day

Q. The news you got today on Kevin, was it good news?
STEVE KERR: I think it's good news. Calf strain. He's had them before. He's responded well, and obviously we're disappointed he won't be able to play in this series, but if we're able to win the series and move on, it looks good for his return in the not-too-distant future.

Q. Could you talk about how this impacts you and how you work around not having Kevin Durant out there?
STEVE KERR: Well, we'll just find somebody on the bench who can give us 35 points and two blocks and 11 boards and nine assists. (Laughter).

He's been the best player in the NBA, in the Playoffs. He's been phenomenal. So it's obviously a huge loss, but our team has a lot of confidence. They trust each other. They've won championships together. So we come out and we give it our best shot, and we try to mix and match some lineups and find some minutes and some contributions where we haven't had them so far in this series. Guys will get opportunities who haven't had an opportunity yet. It'll be a little different. But no reason why we can't go get a win.

Q. What's your initial thoughts on what the rotation might look like?
STEVE KERR: I have a pretty good feeling for it, but I'm not about to share it with you or anybody else other than our team.

Q. Can you talk about you anticipate how it'll affect what they do against you and how they approach it with Kevin not in there?
STEVE KERR: What Houston might do?

Q. Right, what you can anticipate.
STEVE KERR: No, that's a question for Mike. For us, it's finding the right rotations, finding the right combinations, and getting enough minutes for our core guys to get some rest, and those are all things that we've just been discussing on the plane and we'll continue to talk about tonight.

Q. Who do you think they'll put PJ Tucker on now?
STEVE KERR: Again, that's for Mike. I'm not going to speculate on what Houston is going to do.

Q. In the fourth quarter yesterday, it kind of felt like 2015 all over again, like that style of basketball. Do you get the sense that you guys still have the muscle memory from playing that style?
STEVE KERR: Yeah, I mean, I think we obviously turn to Steph to generate most of our offense down the stretch. It's not like we've gone completely away from that over the years. It's just that with Kevin we have the ultimate weapon. So we've sort of mixed in different styles and different offensive starting points for our team over the last few years. We've had different rotations. We've had different ways to attack.

But the one good thing here is that we do have experience from before Kevin was here with Steph, Klay, Draymond, Andre, Shaun, our core guys. So we've been successful. That's not to say it's the same. That was a few years ago. But we're comfortable that we can be successful with that group.

Q. What do you think it's going to take to be able to replicate the kind of effort and execution you guys showed when Kevin went out?
STEVE KERR: Just got to go out there and focus and enjoy it. You know, it's the Playoffs. It's the ultimate test, and we're in a great spot. We're up 3-2 and we've got championship rings on our fingers and a lot of experience and a lot of confidence that comes from that, so let's go out there and let it rip.

Q. What about the challenge of trying to close a team out on the road?
STEVE KERR: Always tough, no matter what team you're talking about, but especially a team as good as Houston. We know that the challenge ahead is a big one and a difficult one, but like I said, we'll be ready to go.

Q. When they said that he would be reevaluated in a week, do you anticipate it being longer than that, or how do you anticipate --
STEVE KERR: We'll reevaluate in a week.

Q. Last night or this morning, were you able to get a vibe from Klay and Steph and Draymond as to just how they feel about what's facing them right now?
STEVE KERR: I haven't really had a chance to speak with any of them. We're going to have a team meeting here in a little bit and we'll get a chance to visit and talk about the game. But I think in general the vibe is good. Our guys are -- they're giants, as I said last night.

Q. That's not what you said. (Laughter). You're paraphrasing now.
STEVE KERR: Yeah, I am paraphrasing. But they're champions. And I think there's an advantage to have championship experience and to have rings on your fingers. You know, this group will never be doubted. This group has nothing to prove. So there's a freedom that comes with that. We're obviously being hit with injuries, which is part of it. It's one of the reasons it's so hard to win a championship, because things like this happen, and they generally happen to every team at some point. And so we've been hit with injuries in the past during this run. This is probably the hardest we've been hit with DeMarcus and Kevin, but the challenge is here. It's right there in front of our guys, and we just have to win one game, so let's go do it.

Q. Maybe because it was the fourth quarter, maybe it was because Kevin went down, but it seemed like there was a higher level of focus down the stretch of the game last night. Did you see that, and do you think either one of those situations contributed to it?
STEVE KERR: I just thought it was competitive desire. You know, I thought we gave up a chance to really blow the game open late first half. Probably should have gone into halftime up 20, and it was 14, and Draymond picked up his third foul on the last play of the half, which was my fault. So we came out of the third quarter or into the third quarter a little deflated already. Houston makes a good run, Kevin gets injured, now the air comes out of the building, and it took a few minutes for our guys and our crowd to really kind of collect themselves. And then I think you saw a championship response and you saw the love our fans have for our team, and that collective energy was a powerful force. I thought our fans really helped us win that game last night, and I think our guys, their spirit and their competitive desire, their soul, I think they dug deep and they knew they had it in them. It was a great night.

Now you start over again, and it's a different set of circumstances, but you've got to adapt to whatever those are.

Q. James didn't score his usual number of points first quarter. Can you share anything about the impact your defense may have had on him, and what are some keys to replicating that going forward?
STEVE KERR: We're just trying, trying our best. James is a tremendous player, and it never felt like we had him under control last night, but we defended like crazy in the fourth quarter. Our defense in general has been good in the fourth quarters of this series, even in the two losses our defense has held up well in the fourth. We're very confident in our ability to defend, but very respectful of the power of our opponent.

Q. What more can you tell us about the injury and how it happened?
STEVE KERR: I really don't know anything about it. I haven't talked to Kevin since last night. He had the MRI this morning basically as we were leaving, so I haven't had a chance to speak with him. From what it looked like on tape, it didn't look like any contact, just a strained calf. It is what it is.

Q. Iman Shumpert said last night even though he had nothing to do with it, he was worried that he did, and he kept looking at replays. He was asking people, he was very worried that he had an impact in that, and he was hopeful your guy was going to be okay. What do you think about that from a guy like Iman?
STEVE KERR: I think players in general feel that way about each other in the NBA. There's a tremendous competitive desire to beat one another, and then there's a compassion for what they do for a living and how important their health is for each of them individually. Doesn't surprise me. I think most players really want their competitors to be out there. They want their competitors to be healthy and enjoy their careers. That's how we feel about other guys, too, so it doesn't surprise me that Iman said that.

Q. Is Rick staying back with him?
STEVE KERR: No, Rick is here, but one of our trainers stayed back with Kevin.

Q. How much help do you need from the championship mentality?
STEVE KERR: Yeah, I mean, we have to rely on everything. Players, not only guys who are playing big minutes, but the bench, and then the memory, the experience of what we've done. It does factor in. We know that we've just got to focus on the job and not worry too much about anything else.

Q. Before Kevin's next reevaluation period, what will be kind of his day-to-day?
STEVE KERR: I'm not quite sure. I haven't really talked to Rick about that, either.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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