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NBA WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: TRAIL BLAZERS VS. WARRIORS

May 18, 2019

Steph Curry

Portland, Oregon - Postgame 3

Golden State 110, Portland 99

Q. How impactful was Draymond [Green] tonight and the way he would push the pace, just consistently, how much of an impact has that made on this series and just his game in general, where would you put it as far as just all-time games from him?
STEPH CURRY: I mean, I don't know about all-time games. He's had a lot of them to pick from. In terms of just his aggression on both ends of the floor, his decisiveness, like you said, there's not a lot of big guys that can stay in front of him full steam ahead in transition. And you know, puts the defense on their heels, and on top of that, he's making so many plays on the defensive end.

You know, a lot's been said about his game as of late. He's continued to take it up a notch. That's what the playoffs are all about. You know, he shines bright in those type of moments. He does it his way. It's awesome to see.

Q. What leadership qualities does he have that helps get everyone else going?
STEPH CURRY: It's like he's got like eight eyeballs. He sees everything and kind of knows what to say at the right time. Watched him talk to JB [Jordan Bell] after the missed dunk and kept him engaged. Talking to Coach [Steve Kerr] about some certain play calls and reads. Even going into the game, talking about different defensive strategies and whatnot.

So he's just observant of everything. He has just a high basketball IQ, and that's just, you know, obviously his experience, but the fact that he's so versatile he can do a lot of different stuff and he knows how to help the team win.

Q. It seems like it's pretty well known that this team goes on these big third quarter runs and Draymond sat up here and said 13 points is a two-minute stretch for us. Do you have that expectation that if you're down 10, 13, 15, that third quarter run is inevitable at certain points?
STEPH CURRY: I wouldn't call it inevitable in terms of, this is the NBA and there's a talented of guys on both sides of the floor and it's kind of a tricky conversations because you don't want to be in that situation over and over again.

But we understand basketball, and it's a 48-minute game and you know, teams have talent. They come out, especially playing with desperation in a situation like this, down 2-0, give us their best shot, and after the first quarter, we are were down two, having not really played well; down 13 when they gave us a really strong punch in that second quarter.

But there's no panic or, you know, in the locker room, people got composure. People talk about certain adjustments and our energy and effort in the third quarter, whether you make or miss shots, you can live with that.

Last two games, it's been big. We pretty much won the game in the third quarter coming back and giving ourselves a chance, and Game 4, we'll be all right, hopefully with a lead and be able to play like that, too.

Q. You had the big win against Houston. You now have the back-to-back second half comebacks, and this one in Portland. Do you think that the toughness of this team over the last few years has been underrated because of the style that you guys play?
STEPH CURRY: I mean, you don't win without that competitiveness and that killer instinct and just finding different ways to win games in different styles.

Tonight, and as of late, obviously with KD out, it's those other -- I call them the other guys, but you know, they know who they are; that set foot on the floor and play with confidence. Quinn [Cook] was tremendous in the first four or five minutes of the fourth quarter, decisive, getting to his spots, making plays. JB stepping up, Alonzo [McKinnie] hitting a big about shot in the corner, hit a big three for us.

So everybody, when they set foot on the floor, they can help us play, and we got to play that way, you know, shorthanded and you know, doing it by committee and having each other's back. So it requires a certain amount of toughness to do that for sure.

Q. Given kind of the degree of difficulty of the last couple games, the comebacks, not to mention the underdog status, if you will, that you guys have taken on since Kevin's injury, does that make these last few victories that much more satisfying?
STEPH CURRY: I don't know. We've been in this situation before chasing the Finals appearance, and it's kind of hard to separate all the different narratives. It's just about winning and doing whatever it takes to win.

So we're going to keep that same mentality no matter what's thrown at us, and again, we're one win away from fifth straight Finals. A lot goes into that, and you can spend all day talking about all the different storylines. It's just you've got to win games and figure it out.

Q. You mentioned a desperate team and that's what Portland will be on Monday. How much of a priority will it be within your guys' huddle to close this series out and not give them any semblance of having a shot in this series?
STEPH CURRY: The mentality stays the same. In this building, we know they are going to come out swinging with nothing to lose. We've got to be able to have energy and smarts to start the game and hopefully win that first quarter to create momentum.

But close-out games are always tough, no matter what the series is, and again, they have nothing to lose at this point, so they are going to be playing where that reckless abandon, and we have to be able to take that punch and go right back at them, with the keys in mind of how we've been playing defense, especially on their two main guys that create so much offense for them. It's going to be fun.

Q. Two things about Draymond. First of all, he dropped like 20 pounds in the last couple of months of the regular season. What kind of impact do you think that might have made on his performances now, and secondly, Steve brought up that he's not bothered by anything, including the officiating, and he just said that, you know, he was doing more crying than playing. How much do you appreciate the fact that he's not really getting involved with the refs and that he's not really focusing on what's happening on the court?
STEPH CURRY: I mean, that's huge in terms of just keeping the focus on what we can control, and that's how we're playing. You know, calls are going to go a certain way, and you can waste energy all you want talking to the refs. I've never in the history of the league seen a ref change a call because somebody was arguing it.

It's just a matter of understanding the moment and what it takes to win at this level and be consistent. So whether it's taking care of your body, and like you said, the transformation he made during the season where he can play 38 minutes at that pace on both ends of the floor and be as strong in the fourth quarter as he is to start the game, and just the way that he keeps attacking.

So he understands, like, again, what he needs to do and just like every great NBA player, showing up with the right mentality, the right focus, and the right edge, and again, controlling what you can control.

So it's been nice knowing, the first round, everybody was talking about how many techs he had and whether the suspension situation was going to happen, and he's done an amazing job just blocking all that out and playing basketball.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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