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NBA WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: TRAIL BLAZERS VS. WARRIORS

May 20, 2019

Draymond Green

Portland, Oregon - Postgame 4

Golden State 119, Portland 117

Q. What was the mentality with the defense?
DRAYMOND GREEN: I think we finally put them under a little duress. In that entire game, they were getting wherever they wanted to go. Our game plan was to get the ball out of Dame [Damian Lillard] and CJ's [McCollum] hands. They were getting everything they wanted and everybody else was, and so we knew if we wanted to a chance to win that game, that we were going to have to make a stand defensively and that's what championship basketball is all about. May not be able to do it for 48 minutes, but if you can lock in the most when it matters, we can live with those results. We gave ourselves a chance and we were able to pull it out.

Q. Can you take us through your three where Steph [Curry] set you up and your emotions towards the bench afterwards?
DRAYMOND GREEN: My emotions towards their bench or our bench? I knew, obviously, in that situation, we want Steph to have the ball. We want Steph or Klay to take the shot in that situation. They were swarming them, and so I was just talking to them, "Watch out, watch out." When he passed the ball, I let it go and when I shot it, it felt good.

Obviously their coaching staff was letting me shoot the entire series. I didn't really shoot much threes, but they were giving them to me the entire series. I hit that one in the corner, I was feeling good, and once I let that one go, went in. I didn't say much to their bench, but I was just jumping and looking at Dave over on the bench and our emotion with our bench is always great to share those moments with our guys.

Q. I think you were down by 17 in this one. This was a hard place to play. There would not have been any shame if you had lost this one game and gone back to Oakland and wrapped it up there. What are you thinking when you're 17 down, and what is it that can drive a team under those circumstances to have the confidence in the intensity to come back again?
DRAYMOND GREEN: Well, we know we can cover 17 points in a matter of three, four minutes, and so we always try to keep that mindset that we are never out of the game and we just need to make solid plays. It definitely helps to have number 30, who they can go up 17 and he hits a three.

You know, just kind of puts them back on their heels and it shifts the momentum for us. So you know, we just really understand what we're capable of on both sides of the basketball, and you know, we're never out of the fight. That's just always our mindset.

Q. Even though Steph was swarmed in that moment, the trust between you and him has been built over a long period of time. Can you talk about that trust and how that created a moment like that for you two and how that formed and has been nurtured?
DRAYMOND GREEN: Well, I think, you know, he's shown that trust in me over and over again, whether it's, you know, giving me the ball right there in that spot. But even more so, you know, there's been several situations, especially in this series, where down the stretch they are throwing two guys at him and he's getting rid of the ball to me, trusting me to make a play, whether that's going to score, whether that's make a play for somebody else. He always shows that trust in me.

Obviously that is built over time, but I'd say that we've probably had that type of trust since about 2015. You know, it's always great to have a guy of Steph's stature who if he takes that shot, nobody is going to be mad. Nobody is going to complain. But for him to throw me the ball in that situation, it helps with my confidence, as well.

Q. What did you think of the job Alfonzo [McKinnie] did stepping in for Andre [Iguodala]?
DRAYMOND GREEN: He was huge. He got off to a good start. He was able to knock a three down and he got a couple baskets going to the rim for us, and he was good on the defensive end. Zo, he's brought that energy for us all year. When he gets in a game, he gets us extra possessions and he came up with two big rebounds there in over time. You know, Coach [Steve Kerr] trusted him to be in there in that moment and he came up big for us.

Q. Five straight Finals, hasn't been done since the Celtics in the 60s. Is this the ride of a lifetime for you?
DRAYMOND GREEN: I mean, it's incredible. It's definitely, you know -- basketball careers aren't that long. If you can get 10 out of it, you're lucky. To be to five straight Finals, I don't even know what to say about it. This is what you play for. This is our goal every year and to get here five straight times is special.

Saying that, we know we still have more work to do. The goal is never to get to the Finals; the goal is to go win the finals. With these nine days off, we definitely want to get our guys back healthy. We want to get DeMarcus [Cousins] and Kevin [Durant] and Andre [Iguodala], need those guys, going into the Finals and that's our hope that we can get all these of those guys back moving forward.

Saying that, we've had guys step up all along this entire time and we're going to look forward to those guys continuing to step up, no matter what happens with the injuries that we have. You know, we're trying to go win this thing. Never the goal is just to get there. I've been to a Finals and lost; it's no fun, so trying to get it done.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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