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NBA FINALS: CLEVELAND VS GOLDEN STATE

June 1, 2017

Oakland, California: Postgame

Warriors - 113, Cavaliers - 91

Q. Kevin, in the first half, you had 23 points, but were you 0-2 from 3-pointers. You were going to the rim, dunking a lot. Was that part of the game plan, or was that organic, that it just developed because of the way things were going?
KEVIN DURANT: That was just -- that was organic. I was just -- I don't know. I don't know when I'm going to dunk or when I'm going to get the wide-open three. I just go out there and play. I try not to predetermine anything, just go out there and hoop. And tonight, we could be a lot better than we were tonight. But in The Finals, you get the W, we'll take it.

Q. Kevin, you know you had LeBron as the assignment, he guarded you, what were you thinking going into this? What were your emphasizing, and how did you think that matchup turned out?
KEVIN DURANT: Well, it's not about me. He's going to do what he does. He's LeBron James. He can, you know -- you guys know what he can do. So I just tried to play as hard as I can and not make it about a matchup, it's about us, it's about the Golden State Warriors versus the Cleveland Cavaliers and we're only going to do it together. That's just our whole mindset.

So I just tried to do my part, stay locked in on both ends and have some fun out there. But they're tough to stop, but I think we did it as a group tonight.

Q. Steph, you mentioned how you don't want to relive anything that happened last year. Where does this win put you guys as far as like just taking the lead in this series to start off?
STEPHEN CURRY: I mean, focus on what's in front of you. We had had an opportunity to win the first game of the series, get off to a good start; we were able to do that.

Like K said, we feel like we can play much better, especially offensively, early in the game, just finishing better around the rim. There was open opportunities that we had because we were moving the ball well and trying to force them into a tough decision on the defensive end.

But the best thing about tonight, obviously, was just our defensive presence and effort for 48 minutes. They're going to make tough shots, they're a talented team, they have two of the best scorer's in the league, so you got to just keep pressing, sticking to the game plan, but focus what's in front of you. Win one game. Now we look to Sunday to try to do it again. We have been here before and know there's a lot of work left to do. So, good start.

Q. Kevin, you mentioned having fun out there. Indulge those of us who are not seven foot tall and tell us what it feels like when Steph Curry is drawing defenders and the lane is cleared out for you and you can just go to the basket in a NBA Finals game and dunk the ball like you did tonight?
KEVIN DURANT: Like I said, I'm only as good as my teammates. I didn't say that here, but I said that to Doris Burke. But I'm only as good as my teammates. And Steph and Klay and Draymond and Zaza and the rest of the guys, we just complement each other, try to complement each other and try to make the game easier for each other. And in transition, I only can get in transition because we got stops and rebounding.

And they're a great offensive rebounding team, and we got to take them off the glass if we want to win. I think we did a solid job of that. They did have, what, 15 offensive rebounds? So we got to correct that. But only way you get out in transition and get those baskets and get the crowd into it is if we get stops. So I just try to focus on defense.

Q. How easy do your teammates make it for you?
KEVIN DURANT: It's not easy at all. We got to go out there and execute. It's hard to try to do it every possession. You got to stay locked in and focus every possession if you want to do it. So it's not easy at all.

Q. Steph, I noticed that you ditched the sleeve for this game. I thought it looked pretty good fashion-wise on you, but what was kind of the decision behind that, and is your elbow feeling better?
STEPHEN CURRY: I always wanted to be like Allen Iverson as a little kid. That was the only way I could really come close. But just wasn't feeling right, just kind of a split decision, just whatever, success or not, it doesn't really matter. Just keep playing.

Q. Kevin, toward the end of the game you shot a three, kind of putting the dagger into them, and you looked toward the crowd toward Rihanna. Was that on purpose? Or do you remember that?
KEVIN DURANT: I don't even remember that.

Q. Well, just to let you know, social media is buzzing about it.
KEVIN DURANT: Really?

Q. Yes.
STEPHEN CURRY: Don't get into that trap, man.

KEVIN DURANT: Yeah, I won't get into that. I'm cool. Have fun with that.

Q. Steph, you're up 1-0. You obviously were up 2-0 this time last year. I presume it would be fairly easy to take it kind of one game at a time based on your experience a year ago?
STEPHEN CURRY: For sure. We talked about going into the series, a lot of us have been through both sides of a championship run and a Finals, kind of back and forth, and you're not going to see crazy celebrations, you're not going to see us getting ahead of ourself.

We obviously -- like K said, we're going to enjoy what we do on the floor and going to be passionate about it and have each other's backs when we're out there, but every 48 minutes is a separate event, a separate mentality, and the goal obviously is to lock in on the moment. So that's -- it should be very easy for us to do that, all things considered.

Q. Kevin, it's been some time since you've been back to this stage. Did you allow yourself to kind of take in the moment, the gravity, you're finally back here after all this time?
KEVIN DURANT: What other option did I have? This is what every player wants to be, is the highest level of basketball. That's what you dream about as a kid, is to play at the highest level. So I would have -- I wouldn't done my teammates any good if I wasn't just enjoying the moment, no matter what. So I just tried to stay locked in on that, at the same time have some fun. But know that it's hard to do what we want to do and it's hard to stay locked in for 48 minutes.

So just trying to do my best to be there for my teammates and to play up to my standards as an individual as well. So just trying to -- I'm probably going to say this a lot over the next couple days, we're just trying to stay locked in, man. That's all it's about.

Q. Steph, only four turnovers in this game. Knowing what happened at the end of The Finals last year, is that easy to do, to just not turn the ball over, or does it really take some discipline and focus to drop that total?
STEPHEN CURRY: It takes discipline and focus. That's a question for all the other guys but me and Draymond. Because we were the culprits there.

KEVIN DURANT: Oh, yeah.

STEPHEN CURRY: Everybody else was flawless. The situations where we come down, whether it's transition at half court, whatever, it's just a simple play. And when we did turn it over is when you just try to do too much, you rush or whatever. So it's obviously our best effort in that category throughout the Playoffs, and just keeping it simple, man, just making the pass that's in front of you. We have playmakers all over the floor. Just let the kind of gravity take hold on the floor, see who is going to draw attention on the ball and find the open guy and knock down open shots.

So that's the formula for us. It's going to get harder and harder as we go when the stakes are -- when they rise as the series go on, but you have to stay focused on that.

Q. It's a team game, like Kevin said, but when you know it's going to be Kev and LeBron pretty much going head-to-head and they do play the whole game against each other offensively and defensively, what do you think about when you're watching that matchup?
STEPHEN CURRY: I know K's ready for that challenge when he's on the ball guarding LeBron and he's -- when he has the ball on the other end, he's looking to do what he does his whole career, all this year in the Playoffs just being himself. So I said to the team going into the game we just got to be ourselves, don't worry about any other story line, anything that doesn't matter to the game.

And we were really, really good in that department at just being ourselves, playing Warriors basketball, knowing that there's a lot of talent out on the floor. And that's our best effort to win this championship, is just be ourselves.

Q. Kevin, Tyronn Lue came in here and said he felt their defensive game plan was kind of backwards at the start of the game, that they were concerned about getting out to the shooters and left you with the ball in your hands isolated. Did you sense that, and is that what triggered all those decisions to drive to the basket?
KEVIN DURANT: Yeah, I mean, we moved the ball and we just tried to move our bodies. If I see a lane, just try to attack. Coach and my teammates always want me to attack and try to open it up for everybody else and try to score as well.

So I felt like in transition they were running out to the 3-point line, and we got the best 3-point shooters in the world on our team, so obviously teams want to take away our 3-pointer, but just tried to be aggressive to the rim and loosen them up a bit. And Steph was able to hit a couple in transition.

But like I said, it all starts from getting stops. We get stops, we worry about defense first, and offensively we can move the ball around, drive and kick and try to find shots as well. So I'm more focused on defense.

MODERATOR: Thanks, guys.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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NBA FINALS: CLEVELAND VS GOLDEN STATE

June 1, 2017

Stephen Curry

Kevin Durant