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NBA FINALS: WARRIORS VS. RAPTORS

June 6, 2019

Steve Kerr

Oakland, California - Practice Day

Q. So what is the latest on Klay and Kevin Durant?
STEVE KERR: So Klay will plan on playing tomorrow. So we expect him to play, barring something unforeseen. He's continued to improve and so that's good news.

Kevin will not play tomorrow. He will continue to get treatment and get on the court and continue to work but will be unavailable for game 4.

Q. What didn't you see from Kevin that you needed to see?
STEVE KERR: It's not really about that, it's just about when the training staff tells me he's ready. He's been doing individual work on the court, he's been in the training room, in the weight room. He's been doing lots of different things, training staff said he's not ready to play in a game yet, so that's all.

Q. You talked yesterday about potentially getting him in a scrimmage today. Are you going to be able to do that?
STEVE KERR: It's not going to happen today. I think that's something that will happen in the coming days, but not today.

Q. They have obviously done a very good job in finding Danny Green, and he's done a good job finding spots. Is it as simple as that, or are there things that you're missing with him when he gets on some of these rolls that he's been known to get on?
STEVE KERR: Our defense was poor last night and in particular several times leaving Danny when we didn't need to and he's a shooter who commands attention and respect. And there were at least three of his shots where we just drifted away from him, and we have got to stay connected to him.

Q. Last night again Draymond sort of shouldered some of the blame for what happened. He does this a lot. Can you just talk about what effect that has on his teammates when he's willing to take the heat after a game that the team maybe didn't play real well?
STEVE KERR: Well, there's no need for him to take the heat on a loss. We lost the game as a team, and Draymond played hard, all our guys played hard. I thought they competed their butts off, but we didn't play well enough to win.

But I think all of our guys are always holding themselves accountable, and that's an admirable trait and it's a necessary one because it's the only way you can take a look at what you need to get better with and improve upon.

Q. Seems like he does it maybe more than some guys. Do you think it helps fuel himself? Does it help him play better the next timeout?
STEVE KERR: Yeah, yeah, I do. I think it's part of who he is. He likes to motivate himself. And so if he doesn't play well, he beats himself up a little bit and he sort of opens up about it to the media, and then he comes out and he plays better the next game.

Q. Statistically that was your worse defensive game since I think the Clippers series. Does that match what your eyes saw? And then part two: Do you feel like it was more personnel based and missing Klay, missing Looney, or do you feel it was just the guys that were there just making too many mistakes?
STEVE KERR: Combination of all that. When you change the lineups and you're without some key guys, now you're ending up with five guys on the floor who generally haven't played together a whole lot. And so I think that while the effort was there, the execution was not.

And we watched tape this morning. We saw all kinds of stuff that we did poorly that we have to clean up. So it's just something we have to adapt to, and I think we'll be much better tomorrow and we'll be more comfortable with the personnel groupings and strategically what we need to do.

Q. To clarify on Klay, are there any minute restrictions heading into Game 4?
STEVE KERR: No.

Q. With Kevon Looney, I know you were saying that he was going to be out for The Finals, but there was a report that came out today that maybe there's an outside chance. Has anything changed in that regard?
STEVE KERR: We're gathering information, a second opinion type thing, and so it's sort of open. It's an open question, and as we gather information, we'll know more. But at this point there's not really anything to report. But we're -- we are looking at all of our options and his options.

Q. I don't know if you saw the video of what happened with Kyle Lowry and the fan courtside during the game, but I'm wondering, does it disturb you -- we have talked a lot about these incidents around the League, but does it disturb you that it happened at Oracle, and does it make it worse that the person involved apparently is a member of the organization?
STEVE KERR: I have not seen the play. I didn't see it last night. I saw the commotion afterwards, but I haven't seen a replay and I didn't really even know the story until this morning. I know our organization has put out a release, and I will let the release speak for itself. It's really not my jurisdiction. But I will also personally apologize to Kyle and to the Raptors. That's unacceptable.

Q. With Steph, is it possible for him to play 48 minutes? Are you ever tempted to even stretch it out even more than you did last night?
STEVE KERR: Not really. Last night is about the extent of what I think Steph is capable of. He was brilliant, he was amazing, but I think he was -- I took him out with about two minutes left, and he got about two and a half minutes' rest in the second quarter.

We're asking an awful lot of him, and we should be able to buy a few minutes' rest here and there for him.

Q. Got a small picture and big picture question with Durant. Did he have a setback from yesterday to today? And then bigger picture, I mean, there's up to four games in a week and a half left in the series. Is there a question that he may not play at all?
STEVE KERR: Well, no, there was no setback. So I was hoping that today would be the day when he could get out on the floor. It's not going to be today. It's going to be probably tomorrow, the following day, the next couple of days.

So the hope would be that he could still make it back at the end of the series. But he did not have a setback. I'm getting asked a million questions every day, and so sometimes I might answer something that doesn't jibe perfectly with what the training staff saw that morning. So I probably misspoke last night. I thought today was a day, his day to get out on the floor, but he still has another hurdle to clear before he can do that, and so that's the next step.

Q. Through this run you guys have had your share of tough situations, down against Houston, OKC, and probably one or two I'm forgetting. But does this feel like the pressure's mounting a little bit, down 2-1 and a lineup seeming to change every minute?
STEVE KERR: It just feels like business as usual, honestly. I hope that doesn't sound arrogant, but the benefit of having been through five years of this is we have literally seen everything. We have lost a 3-1 lead in a heartbreaking fashion. We have come back from 3-1 down. We have had to win a Game 7 on the road. We have been without Steph Curry for a series. We have been without Kevin Durant. We were without Klay last night. Our opponents have been without key players. So you can name it and we have seen it.

So I think the key is, and our guys know this because they have been through it before, you just zero in on the next game. You make your adjustments, and you win the next game, and all of a sudden everything shifts and the whole narrative changes.

So you just can't get caught up in all of the hoopla. It's just focus on winning the game and doing what you have to do to do so.

Q. In each of the last three rounds there have been what I guess I would call Kawhi signature games. Kind of like a Steph game of last night. He hasn't had one of those yet in this series. How much of a concern is it that you're trailing and he hasn't had what you're going to expect him to do somewhere along the way?
STEVE KERR: It's not a -- that's not a thought that goes through my head. That's for your stories. A lot of different angles to take. We're trying to do the best we can on Kawhi, on their team. We have to make a lot of improvements defensively. It was a very poor effort.

The guy did have 30 points. I think he had like 23 in the second half. So if that's not a signature game, then I guess he's just still pretty good.

But, no, that's all part of it, guys have good games, they have great games, they have poor games, you just try to win, whatever you have to do, and then there's all kinds of coverage beyond that that is beyond our control, and we just move forward.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you, Coach.

STEVE KERR: Thanks.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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