NBA FINALS: CELTICS VS. WARRIORS

June 8, 2022

Steve Kerr

Golden State Warriors

Game 3: Postgame

Boston Celtics 116, Golden State Warriors 100

Q. Was there an injury to Steph Curry that forced him out of the game?

STEVE KERR: No. You mean when they dove on the floor for the jump ball? I kept him in the game.

Q. Right. And then you took him out at the two-minute mark.

STEVE KERR: I took him out with two minutes left because we were down by 14 points.

Q. No concern for Steph moving forward?

STEVE KERR: I didn't say that. The injury didn't force him out of the game, but I took him out down 14 with two minutes left because we weren't going to catch up.

Q. [Inaudible]

STEVE KERR: We will know more tomorrow.

Q. They were clearly hunting Steph a little bit in game. Was foul trouble part of that? How did that relationship happen with him out there?

STEVE KERR: Yeah, that's not a surprise. You know, they are going to put him in pick-and-roll. They are going to put a few of our guys in pick-and-roll. Try to make us guard. Steph picked up a couple of unfortunate ones early, but I didn't think the foul trouble really affected the game.

We just kept him out there, and I don't know, did he finish with four fouls? So he played through it really well. He guarded like crazy, and obviously his shot-making was incredible in that third quarter. Allowed us to take the lead, but we didn't have enough in the fourth.

Q. What did you think of the energy levels? Seemed like they owned the glass and a lot of 50/50 balls?

STEVE KERR: Yeah, I thought the offensive rebounds were just a killer, yeah. I think they had like 20-something second-chance points. That was really the difference in the game. We made several stops, especially in the second half where we had a chance to cut into the lead or make a little push, and they got offensive boards. Those were tough.

Q. Can you just talk about Draymond's struggles and how the crowd reacted to him?

STEVE KERR: Yeah, he had a tough game, but I trust Draymond as much as I trust anybody. You know, he always bounces back from losses and from tough nights individually. He'll be back on Friday.

Q. And your thoughts on the crowd's response to him all night?

STEVE KERR: On the crowd's response to Draymond? Classy. Very classy.

Q. Eleven points in the fourth quarter, four turnovers in the first six possessions. You expended all that energy coming back in the third. What did you see to start fourth on their defense to get you out of sorts there?

STEVE KERR: Yeah, they did a great job pressuring us. We went back to Steph to start the fourth. We gave him the last three minutes or so of the third because we knew we were going to have to score to start that fourth quarter.

Just couldn't get anything to go. We had a couple turnovers and a couple shots that didn't go down, and obviously they took advantage.

Q. You mentioned a rebounding issue. Kevon only gets 17 minutes tonight. What's the balance you're trying to strike of leaning smaller, but obviously you get beat up inside and Kevon barely plays?

STEVE KERR: That's the game for us. We have to factor in what's happening on the floor, what we need, do we need floor spacing, do we need better rebounding.

And we were kind of plugging holes tonight. They did a good job. They earned the win. They put a lot of pressure on us and felt like we were kind of swimming upstream most of the night.

So we weren't able to find that two-way combination other than that stretch in the third when Steph really got hot. Couldn't find the right combination to strike that balance.

Q. You guys were outscored 52-26 points in the paint. What was going wrong defensively for you guys?

STEVE KERR: First half we didn't guard the ball well at all. That was really the main issue, was the point of attack defense. They got past us. It wasn't based on any sets they were running. It was more just they were coming downhill at us, and they got past us and that hurt us.

So you know, they got into the paint, got some buckets, got some offensive boards and set a tone.

Q. Usually get such a good jolt from Draymond, whether you go small or not. When he has a night like tonight where there is no jolt, really, how does that impact you?

STEVE KERR: He's one of our best players, obviously, a championship player. We rely on him for his energy and his brain.

Like I said, he'll bounce back. He always does. You know, tough night for all of us. I mean, we just couldn't get it going.

And not much else to say. 2-1. We've got a day tomorrow to prepare for Game 4, and we'll get back at it.

Q. Obviously this isn't the reason why Draymond struggled tonight, but the fact that he is having his postgame Podcast and kind of talking about this chess match so openly, it's unprecedented, is that something you're thinking about, tipping a hand to Boston or them taking in his content?

STEVE KERR: Yeah, I don't listen to the Podcast.

I don't know what he's said on there. It doesn't -- it doesn't bother me. It's 2022. It's a different world. Players are a part of the media now and it's been established. It is what it is.