NBA WESTERN CONFERENCE FIRST ROUND: ROCKETS vs WARRIORS

April 28, 2025

Fred VanVleet

Game 4 - Postgame Media Conference

Golden State Warriors 109, Houston Rockets 106.

Q. Fred, you played a lot with that double-big, almost triple-big lineup with Jabari out there sometimes. Why do you think that was so successful in helping keep you guys in the game?

FRED VANVLEET: You get a little run profession, put pressure on the board, some screen actions and then obviously once Alpy got going late there, it's hard to stop. Just kind of out sizing them a little bit. They went small and we kind of countered and went big and they were spacing us out.

But I think that slowed down the penetration and the interior points in the paint for them. Obviously it got loose with some threes but that lineup has been good for us all year with the double bigs. So some we had to lean on heavily tonight.

Q. What did you see on the final play? Alpy said you were going to potentially slip out for a three and he ended up going one-on-one.

FRED VANVLEET: Yeah, didn't get a clean catch and kind of slowed the rhythm up. He was supposed to get a catch at the top and it came to me, and I threw it back to him and I was supposed to run it to on action but we got jammed up. He was cooking all night. Got a good look one-on-one against Draymond there. Didn't go.

But we living with that all day, every day. I like Alpy at that position at the top of the key, going, getting a look, getting the shot on the glass, and it just didn't fall.

Q. What's the message going back home in a Game 5 facing elimination?

FRED VANVLEET: Just got to get one. Just got get one. Get back on the board. Get back feeling good about ourselves one game at a time. Anything is possible, and it's a good test for your young group to come back and stay connected, stay together, and get that Toyota Center rocking louder than ever. We're going to leave it all on the line, but we're going home to get one.

Q. What did you like about the composure some of your young guys had tonight when the Warriors were doing what they do?

FRED VANVLEET: Yeah, we've had that resolve all year. Been able to keep our composure. Been able to bounce back. I mean, they went on some crazy runs to start the game and start the second half. We were able to bounce back.

Again, you would like to not get punched in the mouth like that in those spots there. We've got to be better but we respond. We always do, and it's one of the things I love about this group is there's no quit in this group at all. We stayed together and we continue to fight and find ways to get back in the game.

And it came down to a one-possession game again at the end. But too many mistakes. We're finding and learning as a group how slim the margin of error is in the playoffs.

Q. What was going on in the first half with a couple scrums out on the court? Was there talking going on or pushing? What set all that stuff off?

FRED VANVLEET: Great playoff basketball. Two competitive groups. Nobody wants to lose. They got championship pedigree. We got young guns that's not backing down from anybody, and just going out there and competing.

So it is what it is, and I thought the basketball was played well. Again, we're getting a little whistle-happy for my liking, you know what I'm saying. I like when [were are just out there being able to figure it out, but whistle was a little bit different tonight. It is what it is. It's going to be different game-to-game.

But I'm not getting too carried away or getting too invested in scrums. I mea, it is what it is. It's playoffs.

Q. It feels like in three of these games, the Warriors have used high pick-up points in Jalen to take him out of the game. Do you guys counter that in Game 5?

FRED VANVLEET: Physicality. Spacing. Giving them easier lanes to read and try to give them simpler things that can slow down the game for him so he's not thinking as much so he can just be in attack mode.

We've got to do better jobs of screening for him and opening up the floor for him and giving him some space to get downhill. But again, he's going to bounce back. I've got no doubt in my mind. We need him confident and strong and positive, and he's got a big game coming Game 5.

Q. To piggyback off of that, I was going to ask you, Jalen is one of the guys that you took under your wing when you first got here, your lockers are next to each other back home. What is the message that you tell him and get him to bounce back in the next game?

FRED VANVLEET: Yeah, he'll be all right. I'm not really that worried about it. I don't want to, you know, make it all about him.

I'm more concerned about what I can do better. Whatever we talk about is between us but just big picture-wise, go out guns glazing, unload the clip and let it fly, and just be aggressive until you figure it out. You know, it's his first experience in the playoffs, and teams throw different looks at you. There's a lot of ups and downs. There's a lot that you have to deal with, and I'm proud of how far he's come since I've been here as a player.

But you know, we need him to be playing at his best and at a high level and he takes our team to a different gear. So we'll look at the film and see how we can help him be more effective.

But again, defenses are going to do what they do to try to take guys out of the game. That's part of the playoffs, and we've got to counter that.

Q. In these last two games, you've been super aggressive in terms of trying to impose your will in the middle of the floor. As a leader of this team, seeing what you guys have been through all year in the last two years, how are you feeling going into Game 5 and how can you galvanize this group?

FRED VANVLEET: I feel good, man. Listen, these games suck. We had two ones that could have went our way. This is the playoffs. I've been swept before, and I felt like we're the better team. You lose all four; like the margin of error is so slim, it can go either way, and you learn that it comes down to possessions. And possessions are so important.

It's really a one-possession game, both of these games here on the road trying to be aggressive and give us some calmness out there. But we're going home, and to get one, it's just not impossible. We're going to get it and you just have to get it one game at a time and stay confident keeping this group together, and going out there and competing.