NBA FINALS: CELTICS VS. WARRIORS

June 2, 2022

Steve Kerr

Golden State Warriors

Game 1: Postgame

Boston Celtics 120, Golden State Warriors 108

Q. Why did you guys have trouble making stops in the fourth quarter?

STEVE KERR: Well, give them credit. I mean, they made 21 threes. They were moving the ball really well, and they had us on our heels. They made a good push to start the fourth, and they kept that momentum going.

It's going to be tough to beat Boston if they are making 21 threes and they are getting combined 11 from Horford and White.

Those guys, give them credit. They knocked down every big shot in the fourth quarter. Boston was -- just played a brilliant quarter. They came in and earned the win.

Q. You played Andre, obviously, today, big minutes. What did you think of his performance, and what does he bring to your team that you didn't have?

STEVE KERR: We played him 12 minutes. I wouldn't call it big minutes, but Andre was great. He's got Finals experience. Gets us settled down. He's a great defender. I thought Andre did a really good job out there.

Q. They jumped out to the 7-0 [fourth] quarter start without Steph, you get Steph back in, you're still up, and it almost went even faster. Did you sense a loss of composure? Loss of focus? What happened in those moments?

STEVE KERR: I thought we had a couple turnovers, a couple bad possessions offensively, and they just pounced. They took advantage of every opportunity and moved the ball.

Like I said, you make five, six threes in a row in the fourth quarter, and that's tough to overcome. We'll watch the tape and see what we can do better.

My gut reaction, what I just witnessed, they came in and played a hell of a fourth quarter, and you have to give them credit. It's pretty much as simple as that.

Q. How challenging did you find it at times offensively to score against them? I know going in, you knew how good they were defensively, but what just specifically made tough tonight?

STEVE KERR: They have got good size and athleticism at every position pretty much. They put a lot of pressure on you. But I thought we had some really good moments. We had 38 in the third quarter. We had a good run there.

It was mainly the fourth quarter that got us. So we feel confident with our ability to score against them. But like I said, you give up 40 in the fourth and the other team makes 21 threes, it's going to be tough to win.

Q. I wanted to ask you about the shot disparity amongst the team. Specifically, Jordan Poole only had seven shots. Do you think you need to do more to get him some open looks, or do you think it's upon him to be more aggressive?

STEVE KERR: We'll watch the tape and see what we need to do. I thought Boston did a good job on Jordan. Put a lot of pressure on him. There's probably some things that we can do to help free him up. And then, you know, he's a hell of a player. So he'll bounce back and play better, too.

Q. You held Tatum largely in check; I think he was 3 of 17. Was that largely the game plan going in, that you were going to concede Derrick White and Al Horford taking those shots, and they happened to hit them tonight?

STEVE KERR: You never go in conceding shots. You kind of have a scouting report on each player. You know who you're going to close out hot to, who you're going to close out short to, all that stuff. It felt like to me that we didn't close out very well in the first half, and that allowed them to get going a little bit. But again, got to watch the tape and see where the breakdowns occurred.

Q. It's not just your team, but why do you think that there's been such wild disparities of play not only game to game in these playoffs but from quarter to quarter?

STEVE KERR: I think the three-point shot has a lot to do with that. I mean, you saw. I don't know how many they made in the fourth quarter. Somebody in here probably knows. They made seven or eight threes in the fourth quarter? Nine.

I think it has everything to do with the three-point shot. You didn't see these kind of swings even a decade ago because you didn't have teams that could make threes from every position and teams that could string together a number of threes like most teams can these days. So I think that's probably the answer.

Q. We were talking pregame about how you are not in this position very often, losing Game 1. How would you describe what the team is feeling right now?

STEVE KERR: Obviously everybody is down. You want to go out and win the first one. We had every opportunity, 12-point lead going into the fourth. Guys are bummed, as you would expect.

But it's a seven-game series for a reason. I think you give Boston credit. They came in and earned the win. Played a great fourth quarter. We'll come in, watch the film tomorrow and see where we can get better, and you know, it's one game. So you move on to the next one.

Q. Just picking up on that, the record in Game 1s prior to this was that you guys were always in control early. How does it change things, do you think, whether it's game plan, attitude, mentality, whatever, playing from behind in a series like this in a way that you haven't before?

STEVE KERR: It's different for sure. I mean, you know, when you win Game 1 at home, there's a sense of comfort, and you kind of have a feel for your opponent at that point and make your adjustments. You know, so it's a different feeling. Obviously you go into Game 2 with more of a sense of desperation.

But that's all part of this stuff. You know, we've been in this position before, and we've won series where we've lost the first game. We've won a road game, at least one road game in I don't know how many consecutive series. So you always kind of assume that you're going to have to win on the road to win a playoff series.

It's a different feeling, but it's still first one to four.

Q. You guys won third quarter by 14. What are the things you want to take from that quarter? Obviously you couldn't take into the fourth tonight, but what are the things you want to take from that quarter and move into future games?

STEVE KERR: Yeah, I thought the third was great for us. We got offensive rebounds. We shared it. We got some really good looks against their defense. Because we were the aggressor, we kind of tied the game together; good defense led to good offense, and vice versa.

Then in the fourth, that flipped. I thought we had some poor offensive possessions, and that led to some transition hoops for them, and that changed the game.