NBA WESTERN CONFERENCE SEMIFINALS: LAKERS vs WARRIORS

May 4, 2023

Steph Curry

Media Conference

Golden State Warriors 127, Los Angeles Lakers 100

Q. It was kind of a peak-point-guard-on-ball- Steph tonight, was that something you guys knew you wanted to do going in or was that going with the ebbs and flows of the game early?

STEPH CURRY: It was a point of emphasis of trying to get the ball in my hands a little bit more to start but the rest of it is just kind of read and react, taking what's there.

They obviously had a game plan and we tried to make adjustments, and I'm sure that there continue throughout the rest of the series, and that's the beauty of what we can do is playing a lot of different ways. Trying to create a lot of different offense a lot of different ways using gravity.

But that was connected with our defense, and the emphasis on not fouling, trying to make them earn everything they got on that end of the floor. Obviously Bron came out hot, hit some tough jumpers early, but we stuck with the game plan and it played to our favor.

Q. You mentioned using gravity. Just what does going small having that extra floor spacing do for you guys especially against a team of the Lakers size?

STEPH CURRY: You've got to give up something. It's hard to be everywhere all at once, what's that movie or show?

Q. "Everything Everywhere All At Once."

STEPH CURRY: Yeah, I think it's, between, part of how we are, again using our strengths to our advantage, pick-and-roll.

Again, you have to give up something. So as long as we're decisive and our floor is spaced properly, usually can find a good shot and then you've just got to knock them down. So JaMychal was huge coming in, being aggressive, being in the right spots.

Obviously Klay got going early. We found him in transition and on the halfcourt. Draymond was amazing in the pocket.

The Sacramento series, we found some success there and then they tried to respond to that and we figured that out, and so I assume that will happen with L.A., same kind of vibe, but we'll have an answer for all of it.

Q. Last playoff win, you scored 50 and it was a big deal. But does the TCC in you like these type of wins where it's up and down the lineup, all these people contributing, you only taking 12 shots, do you get special satisfaction out of that?

STEPH CURRY: I do. But I look to shoot, too. (Laughter) Again just finding ways to be impactful and be aggressive, and whatever is working, sticking with that until you have to do something different.

We are capable of playing a lot of different ways. I'm capable of playing a lot of different ways. As long as we are just creating open shots no matter who is taking them, and obviously tonight I didn't have a lot of open ones for a reason, and make the right decision, ball finds the right person, and good things happen.

Q. Draymond mentioned that Klay was particularly pissed off after last game. Did you see that? Do you get a feeling what that might mean, and all playoff series are big but obviously it's Lakers, none of you guys have played in the playoffs before and he specifically has not played his childhood team. Do you sense some added significance for him because it's the Lakers?

STEPH CURRY: He talked about it before the series and how excited he was. I don't know whether he's pissed off at the shots or the loss or both or all of it. He's a competitor and he takes that stuff personally in terms of his performance and how he plays, and he's been that way his whole career.

Whatever added fuel to the fire you need for him, whether that's, you know, the matchup itself or the personal history of fandom that he had, and now as a guy that's trying to chase this for the Championship. All that stuff matters. We have to find motivation to keep the fuel going; so whatever motivates him, I love it.

Q. JaMychal mentioned the speech you gave before Game 7 helped him get out of his feelings a little bit. Was that the purpose of it, and what do you think of what he's done in this series?

STEPH CURRY: We talked about a lot of in the sense of it's really difficult at times for a lot of guys to keep confidence in themselves, to trust that the work that you're putting in on a day-to-day basis to keep yourself ready and in shape and your skillset sharp; that it will pay off, because you don't know when it will be.

And historically with our team around our core, we've talked about it, there's always guys that find ways to step up at the right times; and whether you need to reminder or just that message that it's going to happen. I'm glad it works, and I'm glad he took it to hard. It's a big part of who we are as a team and our identity and culture.

Like I said, I know it's not easy and credit to him, staying ready and staying sharp mentally and confident to himself and knocking down shots and taking what the defense was giving him. That's him being professional and taking advantage of the opportunity.

Q. With the 12 assists tonight, should we be calling you Magic Curry now?

STEPH CURRY: No.

Q. Do you take extra pride in doing things in a traditional way even if you're not a quote, unquote, traditional point guard?

STEPH CURRY: I mean, the labels and all that stuff, I don't have get into it, just because, you know, labels usually demean or kind of try to bottle up greatness in the sense of what we try to do on a night-to-night basis.

Like I said, we do it a lot of different ways. I try to do it a lot of different ways, however you want to describe it or label it doesn't matter to me. It's just when you watch us play, you know how we do things, and how I try to impact games. Again, whether that's shooting 38 times or shooting 12 and trying to find what the defense is giving you.

I'm going to continue to do that, and try to figure out -- my aunt, she sends me amazing stuff from game-to-game, and she talks says, they're always trying to solve the Rubik's Cube every game, and it starts at a different place and you're always trying to figure it out. And that's the beauty of basketball and the way that you see it. I love that part of the game, and I have at built to do a lot of different things in a lot of different ways.

Q. Today, eight years ago, you won your first MVP and Draymond was up here with his kids and a lot has happened in eight years. How much do you enjoy this portion of your career and being able to play in front of your children? They are a little older and can understand what's going on now.

STEPH CURRY: Gives you perspective. Me and Draymond talk about it all the time. They are like kind of the time stamp on a lot of things that you've experienced. It's a beautiful thing to know that you're still playing at a high level and you get to enjoy it a little differently than we did back in the day. I was talking to LeBron about it, he's got an almost college student. It's crazy to think about all the things that we've been through, and your family and the way that we get to enjoy the on-court, off-court experience of what that is is truly special. I'm grateful for that for sure.

Q. Do you sometimes think back to a certain sequence, like right before halftime, there's the offensive foul called on Wiggins, you guys win the challenge, and it's instead a block on LeBron, free throws, technical there, then Klay hits a big three and you guys are rolling, I mean, back-to-back 40-point -- 40-point quarters. Do you ever reflect on little moments like that?

STEPH CURRY: Yeah, I mean, every game is different. Coach McKillop at Davidson always talked about "Big MO." That was one of his things about how you finish halves in college, but how you finish quarters, it matters, because that can carry over to the next 12 minutes, and especially in the playoffs; that you keep your crowd into it. You have just a good feeling leaving the court and all that type of stuff.

So the specifics of this game went in our favor. And usually, we're pretty mindful about that and we talk about it on the bench in time-outs, three minutes left, let's finish this quarter strong because it can carry over to the next quarter whatever it is. It all matters for sure.

Q. Can you believe back-to-back 40-point quarters there? You guys were rolling there. You took off.

STEPH CURRY: We needed this one, so yeah. We had a great motivation to try to figure out how to win this game at all costs and everybody played amazing basketball and focused basketball, and then you allow your crowd to get into it, and you know, home-court advantage shows up.

Q. Do you feel that this Lakers team is tired?

STEPH CURRY: No. I think, I mean, most teams at this stage, usually shrink your rotation. You're only playing eight guys, and then the styles of each team, whichever one wins, usually within that game, put yourself in a position to be successful. So I don't sense that there's fatigue at all. They are going home for Game 3. They are probably going to be energized and rejuvenated there, so we have to show up there with the same mentality that we had tonight and not expect that fatigue is going to be a factor at all in the series.

Q. So what do you think about Draymond's defense on AD? He just got 11 points and played very physical and pressure ball.

STEPH CURRY: I know he was excited about the matchup, and trying to find different ways of making him uncomfortable. AD is an amazing talent, and Draymond would speak on it. Like you can have the best defense in the world and he can still score, but you can't let that stop you from showing up every possession.

Draymond was amazing tonight, and that's the back and forth of a playoff series, and the adjustments that you make. I've got a lot of faith in Draymond being able to show up the way he did tonight and the rest of the series, whether he's on AD majority of the minutes or whatever he's asked to do. He's a champ and he's proven his ability to do that over and over and over again. So a lot of confidence in him to do that.

Q. You mentioned how badly you needed this. How much of a sense of relief is there? You don't have to go down 0-2 for the second consecutive series.

STEPH CURRY: I mean, it's big. Just especially the difference being -- going down 0-2 after playing two home games like that would have been a horrible situation at the end. So it was -- well, every playoff game is a must-win because it feels like there's an importance of trying to get to four as fast as possible. But when you have a bounce back game like we had tonight and to win as decisively as we did, knowing it's going to be a whole lot tougher in Game 3 in L.A., it's a big morale boost to give yourself life and belief that our game can carry on the road. So excited about the opportunity and the challenge ahead.