NBA FINALS: CELTICS VS. WARRIORS

June 9, 2022

Kevon Looney

Golden State Warriors

Practice Day

Q. How do you guys put last night behind you and come back for Game 4?

KEVON LOONEY: Just focus on the next game and watch a lot of film. Make some adjustments, and we know what we need to do better. Each game in the playoffs is different. Definitely the Finals each game is its own story and own different game. So we just have to put that game behind us and move on and execute our game plan.

Q. Anything specifically as far as like rebounding or anything you talked about today in film this morning?

KEVON LOONEY: Definitely about the rebounding. It's something that we've been doing really well the whole playoffs, and probably had one or two games where we didn't play as physical as we wanted to, and last night was one of them. We know what to do to be a better rebounding team. We have to hit bodies and get all the long boards. They beat us to 50/50 balls. That's what we hung our hat on all playoffs. We have to make adjustments and play with more force, play with more physicality. We know the formula. We just have to execute.

Q. Does it get chippier and chipper as the series goes on?

KEVON LOONEY: Definitely. That's how the playoffs always work. The more you play against a team, the more you know their plays, the more you know their tendencies, the more you start to dislike the other team. You know, that's what makes the playoffs fun. Those series are a lot of back and forths and a lot of trash-talking and lot of physicality. As the games keep going, it gets chippier. That's what makes it fun. That's what makes playoff basketball so intense. We're looking forward to it. Look forward to next game.

Q. That is what playoff basketball is about, isn't it? You never see a team potentially seven straight times, the same people during the regular season.

KEVON LOONEY: Right. Exactly. That's what makes it fun, makes it special. That is what builds rivalries. That's what builds that competitive nature. Each game this series has been physical. Each game has been back and forth, and we punch them in the mouth in Game 2, and they punched us in the mouth in Game 3. It's our turn to respond, and we have to respond and be physical and play harder, and we are up for the challenge. We know they're going to be here. They have a great home crowd, but we know what it takes.

Q. Loon, you mentioned this is typically what happens especially in the Finals. Three games in, where would you rank the level of dislike towards the other team, as you put it, compared to the other playoff series you've had in the past?

KEVON LOONEY: It's right up there with the rest of the teams. We played Memphis, that got really chippy. Dallas not as much, but we had a lot of -- I've been here for a long time with the Warriors. We've played Houston a lot of times that got chippy. Playing Cleveland every year in the Finals, it was real intense.

It ranks right up there. They got a great crowd. They have a physical team, and we have a physical team, and we're just going to brace for the challenge. It's been a lot of fun with the back and forths. I look forward to see how it evolves throughout the series.

Q. Is what you are describing why each game seems to have such a different personality just from game to game the way you guys have to make adjustments for what happened in the previous game, and then it's a series of adjustments, isn't it?

KEVON LOONEY: Definitely. They're a great team. We know they're not going to lay down. We're not going to lay down.

We go out there. We punch them in the mouth, they're going to respond. They showed throughout the playoffs that they don't let one game get them down. They always respond. They've been a resilient team all playoffs. We've been a resilient team as well.

We know each game is going to be different. We both have great coaching, and we both make a lot of adjustments and are both high-IQ teams. It's going to be a chess match out there, and it's our turn to respond.

Q. Kevon, as far as the chippiness, you don't have to put a name on it, but I wonder, if you ever had a situation where there might be a guy that you liked and thought he was a good dude, and after a few games in the playoffs, you are like, I'm sick of this dude?

KEVON LOONEY: Not really. Going into the playoffs, you don't like nobody. Especially when we've got our leader in Draymond, he makes sure that there ain't no friends on the court. Ain't no helping nobody up, none of that extra stuff. We follow his lead in that regard. It's been like that since I've been here.

So I've played with a lot of guys, Zaza or D West, we made sure we had friends out there. Kind of keep that motto going into games, and so it makes it easy to -- even though you might know a guy and see him in the summertime, on the court ain't no love.