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NBA WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: TRAIL BLAZERS VS. WARRIORS


May 19, 2019


Stephen Curry


Portland, Oregon - Practice Day

Q. When you look at Draymond, do you see maybe something big picture here, like the seriousness that he takes the playoffs, the work he does to prepare for playoffs, the weight he lost, is all of this like the fruits of his labor?
STEPHEN CURRY: Sure. He comes with the right intentions and professionalism in terms of, we know he's been through a lot in the last five years and a lot of games. It's hard for everybody to keep that edge. But we know how important this time of year is and the opportunity that we have. Everybody's going down the line taking advantage of, or taking the right perspective in terms of being at their prime for this this time of year. It's obviously paying off.

We've got more work to do, but everybody's stepping up, and Draymond is leading that charge.

Q. A lot of players elevate their games in postseason, and we've seen Draymond in triple doubles before. But this stretch has a different feel about it with what he's doing. Is there something that you notice at all or something you sense is different about how he's getting his triple doubles and what he's doing out there?
STEPHEN CURRY: I mean, honestly, with K [Kevin Durant] going out, it requires another level of just intensity, and it's a lot of production that you're missing. So for us to be able to create good offense, Draymond included, where he's getting rebounds, pushing transition, finishing at the rim, finding the open guy wherever he is on the floor, trying to create open shots that way. And then defensively taking on that challenge because a lot of talk about K.D.'s offense, but his defense as well, and his length and his presence out there, Draymond's trying to compensate for that too. He's just taking on the challenge.

We talk about every playoff run, every year is going to be different, there's different challenges thrown at you, and it's how you respond to and react to those that help you have this level of consistency chasing finals appearances and championships. We take pride in that, and you can see it on Draymond's face that he takes pride in it too.

Q. Andre is questionable for Game 4. With his importance, how do you kind of overcome that as you try to close out the series?
STEPHEN CURRY: The same mentality. Injuries are a part of the game, but we have guys that are capable and can step up. It will require Alfonzo having a few more minutes, Jonas, J.B. playing the solid basketball he did last night. So we'll adapt if we need to. Tomorrow's a big opportunity for us to, obviously, close out the series, get back to The Finals, and take advantage of the little break to get healthy and get bodies refreshed and understand how difficult it's going to be to win a championship.

Q. You lost Boogie, you lost Kevin. How have you been able to overcome those injuries throughout the playoffs?
STEPHEN CURRY: We've been here before. Guys that are out on the floor know how to play and know how to win, know how to make winning plays, aren't afraid of anything. Over the course of the regular season, we talked about everybody was going to have an opportunity to impact us winning a championship. This series has been a true testament to that for sure. That's not just talk.

You don't just throw out that strength in numbers situation and talk about no matter what the performance and the numbers were about our bench all year and this and that and the talk, like make winning plays and you go out there and you go out there and produce when you're out there on the floor. And that confidence is contagious. So we feed off each other's energy, and it's been great.

Q. How have you guys been able to slow down Lillard?
STEPHEN CURRY: Honestly, it takes all five guys. He's an amazing scorer, amazing talent, him and C.J. You look at the film of our defense, we're very aggressive, trying to make them play in a crowd, and they still can make tough shots. You can live with it, but can't let them be comfortable out there. It's not just one guy. I know Klay loves that challenge, Draymond loves that challenge, Andre as well.

But we came into this series talking about five guys on a string, and we've executed that pretty well. We want to do better in the first half tomorrow so we don't have to have another second half comeback. But just playing with energy and discipline and just trying to make everything tough on them.

Q. Steph, to your point about the benefit of closing out because you have more than a week to rest before The Finals, how did you see that play out earlier rounds where you had the quick turnaround between the Clippers and the Rockets and you got a rest after Game 6 in Houston, in terms of how you guys adjusted in different scenarios.
STEPHEN CURRY: I guess we've been able to do both. I don't know if one is better than the other. Obviously, if you want to rest and get healthy, that's a priority. But whether you're coming off a less than 48-hour turnaround between Clippers and Houston or three days between Houston and Portland, you just show up ready to play. Like whatever the situation is, whatever you need to get your body ready, talking about game plans and Game 1 is usually a feeling out process anyway. We've seen a little bit of everything these last five years, so we kind of rely on experience too. That helps.

Q. What's the communication been like with you and Seth during the game and even in between games?
STEPHEN CURRY: Not much in between games. Usually we talk about basketball, so there's not much to talk about right now. (Laughter).

Not much we can share or I can about what's going on in our heads, but our families are enjoying it. On the court, there's talk back and forth all the time, either with him and me or him and my teammates. It is what it is, but, again, when you're out there playing, you just compete and hoop, and then we'll talk about the full experience afterwards.

Q. What did you think of that back and forth he and Draymond had?
STEPHEN CURRY: They always be doing that, so it's nothing new.

Q. Steph, the highlight of the series this year is definitely you and your brother, but I think the time you're spending with Klay is probably more part of the success over those years. How do you describe your relationship with Klay over the years?
STEPHEN CURRY: We've always pushed each other on the court in terms of understanding how great of a backcourt we could be, and obviously individually gotten better. But we've been able to work off each other, elevating our games in the games that matter. We just enjoy playing on this level, so very comfortable, very inspired by what he does on a nightly basis. And we want to continue to push as long as we're playing together, to do something historic. We're on that track for sure.

Q. Do you think you know him 100 percent at this point?
STEPHEN CURRY: Only God knows him 100 percent.

Q. Your sort of brother rivalry, do you feel sort of proud of what he's doing in this series? Even though I know you're trying to beat him, but in a certain way in the back of your mind, are you proud of the way Seth is playing?
STEPHEN CURRY: I'm always proud. You can't turn that off at all. I've talked about it just in terms of his journey to get to this point, him missing all last year with an injury and then turning around and playing in the Western Conference Finals, that's unbelievable. Yeah, I could separate that for sure. Do I like beating him? Yeah. He'd say the same thing about me. So we'll have an opportunity on Monday to close it out.

He's obviously set up for an amazing NBA career, and I know, whether it's Portland or another team this coming summer looking to add him to the roster, it would be a smart move for sure.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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