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NBA FINALS: CAVALIERS v WARRIORS

June 3, 2016

Draymond Green

Oakland, California: Practice Day

Q. Draymond, the expense and the energy you guys gave up in the Western Conference Finals, how much of that was on your mind in terms of how you came out and started Game 1 of this series?
DRAYMOND GREEN: I don't think it was really on our mind. Definitely we had to spend a lot of energy to overcome OKC. But number one, you're not really thinking about it. It's like the NBA Finals. How many times do you get the opportunity to really play in the NBA Finals, so you kind of put all that behind you and you just go out there and play.

But it wasn't something that we said, hey, we need to spend a lot of energy, we need to do this. We just knew that last year coming into The Finals everybody was nervous and didn't know what to expect, and it took us a few games to settle in. We said we need to come out and get going immediately to start this Finals off and kind of try to set the tone.

Q. How do you feel about having this two-day break at home? Is it good to get a chance to take a breath, or would you like to carry the momentum in and be able to play right away?
DRAYMOND GREEN: I think you can look at it from two perspectives. It will definitely be good to carry the momentum in and play right away. But at the same time, I'm not complaining about an extra day of rest, especially after the last series that we went through.

It is what it is. So me personally, I like the two-day break, but at the same time I'm sure most people want to just continue their momentum.

Q. You guys seemed very composed, loose and relaxed in Game 1. How much of that was grasping from the experience from last year and kind of knowing what was going to be happening and the media and the practices and all the attention that comes along with being in The Finals?
DRAYMOND GREEN: You know, that was huge. Just like you said, coming in knowing that all the attention and the style of play, all that stuff made a difference. I think the biggest difference was people forget like we're playing basketball, it's not just basketball, you've still got to live every day. I think the biggest difference was coming off the court. Where it's your first time to The Finals, everybody's coming into town. You want your entire family there. You want to do this, you want to do that. And then you realize like, oh, man, I've got a game to play.

This year coming into The Finals you know how to handle all that stuff now, and you know to get it right out of the way and focus on the game. I think that was a huge difference for us, and that's a part of the reason we were just settled in and kind of like, hey, it's another game because you've been there before so you know what to expect with everything.

When you go through everything, like all that stuff weighs on you, and it can sometimes affect the game. But going through it before, you kind of know how to settle in real quick.

Q. When the opposing team kind of baits you to shoot the ball, does a part of you get a little offended at that? And second part, take us through your game-day rituals. Do you have any superstitions that you have or anything like that that you do on a game day?
DRAYMOND GREEN: I don't get offended, like if that's your game plan, that's your game plan. I'm going to shoot. And I'm also not going to shoot every time I'm open either because obviously if that's your game plan, that's your game plan for a reason.

We still have stuff that we want to accomplish as a team, so just because you're open always doesn't mean it's a good shot. We're out there in search of great shots.

But, yeah, I'm never going to get gun shy. I know the amount of work I put in on my shot, and if you're going to leave me open, step it up and knock it down. So it doesn't bother me. It doesn't offend me.

As far as game-day rituals, I kind of have my things that I do at the gym, at the shootaround, cold tub and all that stuff. I usually get a flush by a massage therapist. But I'm not really superstitious type of guy. I'm a "go with the flow" type of guy.

Q. We have huge, huge bench performance last night, and Klay and Steph just scored 20 points. So Coach said it's a strange game. Do you agree with this?
DRAYMOND GREEN: It was definitely a different game. But the one thing we always preach about is our depth. And we've trusted in that all year, and last night it showed up in a major way for us.

So it was good to have other guys step up, especially in the light of the struggles that Klay and Steph had. And we know they won't struggle like that all the time. But to be able to win the game the way we did with those guys struggling like that says a lot about this team. But it was definitely a different game for sure.

Q. When Steve Kerr first uttered the phrase Strength in Numbers, what went through your mind, and did you ever expect this thing to blow up with names on every T-shirt in the arena? Shouldn't the marketing department be responsible for things like that anyway?
DRAYMOND GREEN: I thought it was corny when he first said it. Like Strength in Numbers, that's corny. But when he started to speak on it and say what he meant by it, and then at that point we still don't really understand it. But then you really get to playing and you kind of see what he means, then all of it comes together, and it's like, wow, that makes a lot of sense.

But it was one of those things at first where you're like, huh? You want this to be our motto? Like we don't like that. But like I said, when you start to see all the stuff work and you start to see what it really means and you hear what it really means, and then like obviously last night wasn't the first night, but a night like last night and you're like, wow, Strength in Numbers, all right. That makes a lot of sense now.

So it's definitely something that we live by, that we try to always be conscious of, because I think the strength in our team is the numbers. It is the depth. It's the camaraderie. It's all of us as one. It's not all of us as a bunch of individuals. So it makes a lot of sense in this and it's very fitting for this team.

Q. But do you think the marketing department needs to step up and maybe do something that even the head coach can't come up with?
DRAYMOND GREEN: I think we have a great marketing department here. I think they do a great job, and one thing I'll tell you about that marketing department, they definitely took that Strength in Numbers and ran with it, so they did something right (smiling).

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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