	products recent interviews FastScripts archive about ASAP Sports

Our Clients:

Browse by Sport

Find us on

Subscribe to RSS

Click to go to
Asaptext.com

View our
e-Brochure

NBA FINALS: WARRIORS VS. RAPTORS

June 2, 2019

Steve Kerr

Toronto, Ontario - Postgame 2

Golden State - 109, Toronto - 104

Q. Is there any new information on Klay and Kevon with their injuries?
STEVE KERR: Not really. Klay said he'll be fine, but Klay could be half dead and he would say he would be fine. We'll see. He pulled his hamstring. He thinks it is minor, so I don't know what that means going forward.

And Loon, something with his shoulder, so we'll see. Sorry, that's all I got.

Q. Given all those things in play, what were the keys you thought of the team ultimately prevailing over this?
STEVE KERR: Well, I said yesterday and today that 109 points is plenty to win the game, which is what we had in Game 1, but we gave up 118. So it was all about our defense and we held them to 37 percent and forced 15 turnovers and guarded the three-point line well. So it was championship defense and that's what it's going to take.

Q. How would you put into context the performance DeMarcus gave you, given the fact that he's missed six weeks and he tore his quad?
STEVE KERR: He was great. We came in thinking, all right, he can maybe play 20 minutes and he gave us almost 28. There was only one time in the game when he needed a rest, which was mid-fourth and we gave him a couple minutes and then got him back in the game. But he was fantastic and we needed everything he gave out there, his rebounding, his toughness, his physical presence, getting the ball in the paint, and just playing big, like he does. We needed all of that.

So I thought he was fantastic.

Q. That 14-0 run to start the third quarter, we have seen some big third quarter runs from you guys, but how do you put that one in context amongst the most important you've seen, and how much of that do you think was keyed by the defensive intensity?
STEVE KERR: Yeah, I mean, it was the big point in the game. I thought just staying in the game at the end of the second quarter was also very important. I think we were down 12 and the place was going nuts, we couldn't score, and Steph and Klay both got loose and the game loosened up a little bit and we scored. We weren't exactly making stops, but we cut the lead to five and could kind of breathe at halftime.

I think our guys felt renewed life at that point and came out and just had a great run to take control of the game, and we were able to finish it out from there.

Q. Two things: One, you said Steph and Klay but Steph got loose. What was it that was bothering him early? Did you ever get any clarity on that? And secondly did you have a feel at halftime that you guys were going to put together one of those spurts to open a quarter like you have sometimes?
STEVE KERR: Yeah, I mean, I couldn't have envisioned 14-0, but I liked our position. It felt lake we should have been down by a lot more than five. For the first quarter and a half we really had a tough time scoring. So the last whatever it was, four, five, six minutes, the game loosened up and we finally broke free and started getting some buckets. We started to look like ourselves and so at that point it just felt better and then the second half we got it rolling and we ended up with 34 assists, which is more like our team.

So it was a great win, we got to go home and protect our home floor and we'll see about all the injuries. But I'm very proud of our team and in particular all the guys off the bench. Quinn Cook hit some huge shots, Bogut came in gave us big minutes, Jerebko as well. So it was a hell of an effort from the bench.

Q. Would love to get your impressions of the final possession where Iguodala hits the open three, first of all, the scramble on Steph, the nearly intercepted pass, and the fact that the Raptors allowed a guy like that to take an open shot and the fact that he took it with time remaining on the clock.
STEVE KERR: Well, you're not going to let Steph Curry take the shot, so they double-teamed Steph and that left Andre open, and he had hit another big one earlier in the game.

Anytime Andre can make a couple threes it's huge for us and loosens up the game. I thought his play in the second half was really inspiring at both ends. He did a fantastic job. He's hit a lots of big shots in the Finals before, so he was unfazed.

Q. You moved Klay onto the Kawhi defensive assignment, kind of freeing up Andre maybe off the ball. Do you think that had a difference and what was the thinking behind that?
STEVE KERR: Just wanted to change the look. Both teams have a lot of versatility defensively and both teams have been kind of switching matchups and changing the look, and we felt at halftime like it made some sense. So we went with it and whether that was it or not, I mean, we just got into a good groove defensively to start that third quarter.

So we'll take a look at the tape and assess what we see. But that was a great third quarter effort, held them to 21 points in that quarter.

Q. You mentioned needing everything that DeMarcus was able to give you tonight. If you come out of this game with some questions about Klay and about Kevon, are you going to need more from him moving forward? Do you feel comfortable with his health, physicality to be able to get more from him moving forward in this series, from DeMarcus?
STEVE KERR: From DeMarcus? Yeah, he feels good in there right now and we have a couple days before Game 3, so we do feel confident that we can continue to get good minutes from him. We're going to need them, obviously, with all these injuries.

Q. To go back to Steph for a second, there were reports that he left the game in the first quarter and then he was battling some kind of an illness. Can you fill us in on that?
STEVE KERR: I think he may have been a little dehydrated and that was the word I got. He just was feeling a little bit lightheaded and went back into the training room and came back and was doing much better. So I'm not exactly sure beyond that. So that's all I've got for you.

Q. Can you just kind of expound on sort of the totality of the team during that run, you mentioned Bogut, but like Cook and Livingston, it seemed like you got something, McKinney, from every one of those guys in the third quarter. And how important is that going to be moving forward if you guys are as depleted as you leave the game tonight?
STEVE KERR: Well, that's what it takes. You need your bench, no matter what, but in particular when you've got a lot of injuries. So we'll just continue to go to those guys and trust them, and they have proven that they can really help us. Bogut hadn't played in the first game and three quarters, so what he did was fantastic out there. It gave us a little different look with that lob threat, so we'll just see what we have got and tee it up for Game 3.

Q. You mentioned that Andre's unfazed, a few years ago was so big for you in the Finals. What is it about him on this stage in these big games in the big moments where he delivers?
STEVE KERR: He's just got a lot of experience, he's done everything in his career, he's been in the Olympics, he's won three rings, he's been an All-Star, he knows how to play, one of the smartest players I've ever been around. I think he sensed that we needed his production in that second half and he came alive.

Thanks.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297