NBA WESTERN CONFERENCE FIRST ROUND: WARRIORS vs KINGS

April 20, 2023

Harrison Barnes

Media Conference

Warriors 114, Kings 97

Q. What do you feel like relentless to the difference in physicality compared to the first two games and does being on the road play a factor at all?

HARRISON BARNES: No, I think they just came out with a greater sense of urgency than what we had tonight. They definitely got us out of what we normally do. In the first two games, I thought we had a greater sense. They came out with desperation, down 0-2. For us we have to make a commitment to doing all the little things.

Q. The first two games, they were fun, you guys had a good time and you won. How much is this one of those games where you step in and talk to the team as a leader and help them since you've been through something like this before?

HARRISON BARNES: I think no matter what, you have to understand that these guys are not going to lay down. They have a lot of pride and they have won a championship. For us, no matter what the series is at, we still have to compete with the same level, the focus that we had in Game 1 and Game 2 we didn't have that tonight. We have to acknowledge that, own that and come prepared for Game 4.

Q. What do you think the reason for the shooting struggles, especially with the guys like Huerter, Keegan, Malik, just wasn't flying behind the arc today? What do you think the reason for it was?

HARRISON BARNES: I mean, it's the playoffs. Those guys are great shooters, 40 percent, three-point shooters, all that type of stuff. Teams are going to game plan for them and as a group we have to adjust and understand that their defensive game plan is going to be to not like them have wide open looks and to make them have challenged, contested looks and make them work to get open, to get clean looks off; as a group we have to help them.

But just understanding that there's other ways that you can impact the game other than shooting. If we are going to rely on guys rattling off five, six, seven threes a game, for them to have an impact on the game, it's going to be a long series for us.

Q. When you look at how the series has been going so far, and you lose a game like this with Draymond Green out and GP II, do you feel like it's like a missed opportunity in any way?

HARRISON BARNES: Yeah, I think that regardless of who was playing, it was a missed opportunity just because we didn't match the level of physicality and effort that they showed on the offensive rebounds. For us if you go into a game you say, okay, this is what we are going to give up, this is how we are going to play. Tonight was all the ways that we don't want to lose a game so I think from that standpoint, it's a missed opportunity for us.

Q. What did the energy and environment feel like, especially early on and how challenging is that to walk in here and play in a building like this and how do you adjust to that going forward?

HARRISON BARNES: Obviously we knew it was going to be a lively crowd and things like that. I just think their physicality, we have to meet force with force, and like I said in Game 1 and Game 2 we did that. I think at the beginning of the game, we didn't necessarily run our offense -- we didn't execute our offense as crisp as we normally do.

Defensively, they didn't really feel us, and we were just running around getting wide open shots. Those are things that we just have to be better at in Game 4.

Q. From what you saw from the Warriors in 1 and 2, how different do you feel they were with the personnel they were playing and how foreign that could have been to you guys?

HARRISON BARNES: I don't think it was foreign. We knew -- I don't pay attention to much in terms of, like, the stat sheet but Moses Moody had an impact on the game. I thought his energy cutting, rebounding, he had an impact.

So I think for us, it's a matter of understanding that all those little plays, they add up. It may have been offensive rebound there for him or layup for him, but it opens up something for Steph later that is going to snowball.

For us it's a matter of taking whoever is out on the court, paying attention to what they do and like I said, matching their effort.

Q. How can being better on the glass and being better at not turning the ball over impact shooting from role players? How can improving those areas allow guys easier looks and play a little bit more free or in a tough environment?

HARRISON BARNES: It's finishing possessions. In the first half, they were shooting 40 percent. You get rebounds on those possessions and you push, and maybe it's a wide open transition three for a guy. Maybe it's a transition layup. Little things like that that can kind of get a guy going when they haven't seen a ball go through the basket; a foul, free throws, whatever it may be.

If you're taking the ball out of the net every single time, you play in front of a set defense every single time, it's going to be tougher. As the series progresses and throughout the whole playoffs to get your guys good looks.

Q. Coach talked about your pace and it not being as fast as you guys wanted it to be. He said he wanted you to play faster than you did in the regular season. What do you think slowed you guys down tonight?

HARRISON BARNES: Taking the ball out of the net. Like I said, you play 20 seconds, 23 seconds of great defense, you get them to miss a shot, you should be off to the races. Offensive rebound, kick-out three; offensive rebound, foul, two free throws, taking the ball off the net.

Yes, you can run on makes, but when you've done the work to get the stop, you have to reward yourself. That's what fuels your offense. So those are opportunities that we missed tonight. I think that allowed them to get a rhythm and I think we have to do better at that in Game 4.

Q. They played a lot of small ball and five out tonight. How tough is that defensively to guard when they go that small?

HARRISON BARNES: I mean, look, regardless of who they have on the court, it's going to be difficult. But like I said, it's those extra possessions and obviously give credit to Loon, he had a great game for them in terms of just the energy and the impact; that he gave them extra possessions.

But like I said, if you do the work to get the stop and to make them shoot a tough shot and then they get a rebound, that's going to be devastating for us, and I think that like I said, Game 1, Game 2, I thought we had that under control.

Tonight, we weren't as sharp with that, and you know Game 4, I mean, it's going to be a matter of wills, who is going to do the little things and come up with those stops, come up with those rebounds, offensively and defensively. Tonight we just didn't do that.