NBA WESTERN CONFERENCE FIRST ROUND: ROCKETS vs WARRIORS

April 28, 2025

Steph Curry

Game 4 - Postgame Media Conference

Warriors 109, Rockets 106

Q. Steph, Jimmy said he was in a lot of pain and started to move better in the fourth quarter. How gutsy of a performance was that?

STEPH CURRY: Sheer determination and will. We held it down in Game 3. I know he wanted to be out there. Injuries are tough, especially in the Playoffs. But for him to gut through that first half and get the wheels going, then second half, both ends of the floor, why he is who he is, why he means so much to us.

Gutty performance, for sure.

Q. You've been there before, too, where you've come back from an injury. What is the mentality when you know you can't be 100%?

STEPH CURRY: Just a sense of urgency of the moment. No matter really how it looks, you understand it's a long game and there's going to be opportunities for you to make your impact felt.

Just having a knack, doesn't have to be loud scoring opportunities or whatnot. There's moments where you feel like you can make a play. You have the confidence in yourself to do it.

It helps when somebody lights a fire under you, too. I know we all saw that.

Q. Brandin was good today on both ends. What did you see from him tonight?

STEPH CURRY: Yeah, I could spend all day talking about him, Buddy, Draymond's stop down the stretch, talked about Jimmy. QP coming in, hitting a couple big ones. Everybody contributed at a level we needed. That's the Playoffs.

Every game has a different identity and a different feel. It's hard to predict how it's going to look, but you have to have five guys who are on the floor ready for their moment. BP did that. There's certain matchups that he liked, took advantage of, made some timely shots for us.

All you want is everybody to be confident to take open shots, play the way that they see fit, just bring energy. He did that from the jump.

Q. You mentioned light a fire. Maybe that's a reference to some Dillon Brooks things. What did you think of your technical foul? Was there even more inciting in this game than maybe the past few?

STEPH CURRY: There were more views. Every game has been physical, there's been moments. You expect two teams to not like each other at this point. Four games in, physical series, every game is just a battle. It's what you expect when everybody's competing at a high level.

You don't want the antics to distract from the game. I think we did a good job of bouncing back in the second half, not letting those type of episodes really get under our skin at all, and channel that energy in the right direction.

That's what a good team can do, and we did that in the second half.

Q. You seemed pretty excited to celebrate this one with Draymond afterwards. Obviously he made the big play at the end. What can you say about his night as a whole?

STEPH CURRY: He kind of bookended the game. It was kind of funny. He hit the two threes to start, got us going. Finally got off to a better start. Foul trouble, all the other stuff took away some of his minutes in the meat of the game.

That's what you want right there. I think I heard coach talk about it's like me taking a game-winning shot. It's Draymond getting a game-winning stop. Especially when it's a one-on-one situation where they're going to try him.

He stood tall, took the challenge. To be able to do that with how the rest of the game went is a testament to him understanding the moment, staying locked in, engaged, doing what he needs to do to help us win.

Q. Is the taunting a sign of you turning over a new leaf, becoming a villain?

STEPH CURRY: I'm not -- yes, I am actually.

That was so stupid because he had did it literally the play before. I just returned the favor. But they didn't see him. They saw me. It's like siblings, the second one's going to get in trouble. That was me.

Q. As the guy who has seen these games come down to the end, what is more agonizing, more difficult, when you need to get a bucket or a stop to win a game?

STEPH CURRY: What's more agonizing? Defense, for sure, just 'cause you don't have as much control. You probably ask Draymond, it's the opposite answer. That's how we see the game, so...

Either way you feel like you can do enough to get over the hump and make a play to win a game. I think I had missed that little floater to try to go up three. Felt like I missed an opportunity to give us a little bit of a cushion. I'm sure Draymond at the end was like, All right, it's my turn. He answered the call. It was unbelievable to watch.

Q. What are the challenges to closing out a series? How valuable would it be to make this a short series?

STEPH CURRY: I mean, that's pretty straightforward. The more rest you get, the better. You don't want to mess around with the game. You understand closeout games are extremely difficult because of desperation from the other side, try to do it on the road is even more challenging.

Just the idea you have to stick with 48. I remember our first closeout game, or my first experience in 2013 playing Denver, I think we were up 10 with, if I remember correctly, a couple minutes. We turned the ball over so many times. Felt like the longest two, three minute stretch to finish a game. It's been helpful to go through it a bunch of times over the last decade.

But it is an experience that it takes everything out of you because you know the team doesn't want to lay down, they're not going to quit. They're going to feed off their home crowd.

Doesn't mean you have to play perfect. You don't want to come in with that mentality. Oh, if we miss shots early, if they go on a run early, you don't want to get it in your head. It's a long game. Be resilient, relentless. You got to be disciplined more so than anything. I think that's our biggest challenge.

Q. Jimmy just said during the last play he told Draymond you get the stop, I will get rebound. How would you describe the team's effort on defense?

STEPH CURRY: Good combination. Draymond taking a stand, making Sengun take a tough shot. Adams, Smith. That's how they kind of came back. End of the third, taking advantage of a big lineup.

So for him to go get that rebound. I mean, even the confidence to be able to get up with the injury that he had. Didn't work out in Game 2. But he turned the page and knew how important that was for us to seal the game.

I just like the fact that they're talking about it, too. That's how you build confidence with teammates. You do your job, I'll do mine.

Q. You mentioned lighting a fire under you. When you're playing 40-plus minutes two nights before, does it really help to be trashed?

STEPH CURRY: We've seen it all. Like I said, there's moments where it can distract you if you let it. You kind of have to check yourself. Nobody trying to be soft, let people walk all over you. You have to protect yourself, protect your team.

Some of those tactics are done to take you out of your game. If you allow it to, you kind of play right into their hands. So whether I'm talking or smiling my way through it or having fun with it, everybody handles it a little differently, but you got to focus on basketball.

Q. Do you think it's better being that you have championship pedigree that you are able to respond so well to it versus a younger team?

STEPH CURRY: I think we have championship pedigree because we figured that out on the front end. That's kind of who we are consistently. This team is different. We have to kind of figure it out on the fly. This particular group hasn't done it together before. Everybody individually has to be as disciplined as possible. That's the way we're going to win.

Q. You were announced today as the teammate of the year in the NBA. What does that honor mean to you?

STEPH CURRY: It was cool because you're around a long time and understand building culture, being consistent, a consistent presence in the locker room, on and off the court, being somebody that people can reach out to appropriately for advice, build relationships, that type of thing, it's a really cool honor.

My favorite part about it was when coach at shootaround this morning started to give the whole spiel before anybody even knew who won. Three our people got nominated in our huddle before it got to me, which speaks to the coach that we have around here, reflection of how much fun I've had being a part of this organization for so long.

Definitely a special honor, for sure. Pretty cool trophy, too.