NBA WESTERN CONFERENCE FIRST ROUND: WARRIORS vs KINGS

April 28, 2023

De'Aaron Fox

Media Conference

Sacramento Kings - 118, Golden State Warriors - 99

Q. Game 7, just how big is that for you guys to get this opportunity to learn to grow and to potentially make it out of this first round?

De'AARON FOX: You said it. It's a big opportunity. Everybody doesn't get to experience a Game 7, and not a lot of people get to experience a Game 7 in Sacramento. But for us, coming in here, we were worried about one game and that was tonight. We wanted to hit first, hit second, hit third, hit last, and I think we did a good job of that tonight. I think -- especially with our pace, I feel like we were in control basically the entire game tonight. From start to finish, I feel like this is probably the best game that we've played this year.

Q. You mentioned it being the best game you played all year. Bench points, points in the paint, possession game, all that stuff, you guys beat them basically in every facet. How much of a focus were the little things coming into this and how important were they?

De'AARON FOX: It was huge, especially when you're playing on the road. Those are the things that you really want to be able to win. Obviously, we can't expect Steph to miss three free throws and Jordan to miss two free throws. I mean, those are two of the best free throw shooters in the league. But I think that the only critique that I really have about our game is my turnovers tonight and then them shooting 35 free throws.

Other than that, I feel like we basically played a perfect game, you know, holding them to 31 percent from three. Obviously, Steph still shoots over 40, but I don't know how often you can really keep him under that. But other than that, I feel like limiting other guys, we did a good job of that tonight.

Q. To see the guys off the bench and step up, Malik again, Trey Lyles, especially coming off the bench and playing that little small game, how big was that for you guys tonight?

De'AARON FOX: It was huge. Obviously that was an adjustment just trying to spread them out, get Kevon and Draymond, who roams a lot, try to get them out of the paint, just attack the paint. And like Mike said before, there were times we were getting too deep and they had multiple guys around us and we couldn't spray the ball out.

So that was a big emphasis for us tonight and I feel like that's the reason that we got so many good looks. This is probably the best three-point shooting game that we've had. I don't remember the percentage for the other games, but that was a big reason why.

Q. How have you seen Keegan grow throughout the course of this series, you know, playing all but three minutes tonight, and what does that say about --

De'AARON FOX: I didn't notice. Damn.

Q. What does that say about his future in this league?

De'AARON FOX: I mean, I think we all know Keegan has a bright future. This being his first year, you're in a closeout game as a rookie and you're playing 45 minutes. Obviously we can talk about how he shot, but I mean, he hit some big shots for us. He was big in the beginning of the game for us, also having 11 rebounds. I mean, he's out there chasing Klay at times. He's switching onto Steph. Like, he's doing things that you're really expecting a vet to do, and he's having success. He know that we're going to continue to be confident in him regardless of how he's shooting. He hasn't had the best shooting series, but he's had big games for us. He knows that we're going to continue to ride with him no matter what.

Q. Two things: Number one, how did the finger feel tonight? Any better? Any worse? Then secondly, I'm curious just what you guys are kind of learning about yourselves through this run to come in here and show some resilience and get a big win like this?

De'AARON FOX: I feel fine. Obviously at times it's going to hurt, but that is what it is. But for us, I mean, coming into this game we knew our backs were against the wall, especially coming in here, which this is one of the toughest places to play in the league. We knew that we had to do the little things. Like I said -- I've said it before, this is a make-or-miss league. At times you're just not going to make shots. Even in the series, I feel like we haven't shot the ball well.

But we did all the little things that we felt like we needed to do to put ourselves in position to win this game. We got quality looks and we made 'em. So I feel like that was really the name of the game. We had 18 offensive rebounds. You're going to have a great chance to win. Even if you're not shooting the ball well, you're going to have a great chance to win if you're getting 18 extra shots, not to mention the 10 steals, their 20 turnovers.

Like Mike said, we talk about the possession game, that's huge. 20 turnovers to -- and we almost had 20 offensive rebounds. We definitely put ourselves in position to win this game.

Q. Building off of what you just said about playing in Chase Center, the 19-point loss is the biggest loss the Warriors have had in this building this year, just their ninth loss this year. Do those numbers mean anything to you, number one, and what do they say about the resiliency of this team on the road?

De'AARON FOX: Definitely. Like I said, just the little things that we did tonight. I mean, we shot 38 percent from three. We've shot better. We made 17 threes. We've made more. We only shot 40 percent from the field. We've done a lot better than that in the past.

But like I said, just what we were able to do as far as the effort game was big for us. You going into another team's building, regardless of who you're playing against, and you have 20 offensive rebounds and force 20 turnovers, you'll be able to beat anybody. With the fact that we were able to make shots tonight, we had a great opportunity tonight.

Q. This final game, shift back to G1C on Sunday. What are you going to expect from the fans? You know how crazy it is in that building. What do you expect from the fans in that final game?

De'AARON FOX: It's going to be rocking. We've had loud games this year. Coming out for Game 1, I think our guys were amazed at what was going on. But going back there for a Game 7, I feel like -- like I said before, everybody doesn't get to experience a Game 7, but not a lot of people get to experience a Game 7 in Sacramento. So I feel like this is going to be -- it's going to be rocking.

Q. There was a lot of talk about stemming the Warriors' tides, where they get on one of those runs. I thought in particular there was an instance about midway through the fourth quarter, Steph hit one of his kind of typical how can he hit that three, and you came down and hit a three right after that. If you could talk about, A, that specific sequence; and B, kind of in general, how do you stop or prevent those Warrior runs?

De'AARON FOX: With those type of runs you just have to give yourself a chance. You can't go down. You can't turn the ball over. You turn the ball over, you're going to get punched in the mouth again. So for us, it was really just trying to keep control of the game. With that, I was open. That's all I was. I was open. You have to take the shot. Mike always says, if you don't take the first open shot of that possession, then you're probably not going to get one.

So for us, it's really just shooting the ball when we're open. That's all that is. If they're about to go on a run, you can't shoot yourself in the foot. You can't take a bad shot. You can't turn the ball over. I mean, that's pretty much how it is. You stop a lot of their runs by doing what you do offensively.