NBA WESTERN CONFERENCE FIRST ROUND: ROCKETS VS WARRIORS

May 2, 2025

Steph Curry

Golden State Warriors

Game 6 - Postgame Media Conference

Rockets 115 - Warriors 107

Q. Steph, many of your teammates have said the downfall tonight is not getting after the 50/50 balls, the want to get the hustle plays. Why do you think that is happening? How do you think that changes in Game 7?

STEPH CURRY: You just got to go do it. Like, we were down, what, two going into the fourth. They're playing zone against us pretty much the whole second half.

You can kind of look at a possession at the start of the fourth, and-one three. That's a tough moment play. Jabari got two threes off of a good hustle play and a tough turnover, then another offensive rebound that turned into a three.

A possession here, possession there. It's not just the points on the board, it's the feeling, it's the vibe, morale, momentum.

You got to dig deep to win these type of games. Thankfully we have another opportunity to go do it. We're very confident that we can go do it.

Q. Do you see some sense of hesitancy on some of your guys not to take the shot? Do you tell them it's okay to make or miss, just take the shot? Do you want them to keep passing the ball for the perfect shot?

STEPH CURRY: There's a reason they're playing a zone for a whole half pretty much. They're trying to force a certain type of shot. I took probably four heavily contested deep threes just to try to will us.

If they're going to do this and they're going to play zone and make certain guys shoot it, then it's the same way we talk about all season long, regular season, Playoffs.

Everybody's in this league for a reason. If you have a shot, take it. I don't need to say anything. Coach doesn't need to say anything. You're out there, be aggressive. Look for your shot. We'll live with it. That's the name of the game. The shots that we're creating or the shots that are open, keep taking 'em.

Q. As you look at the zone, do you feel you're getting the looks you want? Do you feel you need to keep doing the same thing and hopefully your other guys make those or do you need to attack the zone different?

STEPH CURRY: Probably a little bit of both. I don't know if it's a surprise. Might be a little bit of a surprise that they played that much zone. I think we could probably look at a little bit more film and see where those shots are, see where those drives lanes are.

Obviously when you drive, they have Steven Adams in the middle of the paint waiting on you. Boy, that's a drive to a kick to a swing that's going to get you a step-in three. I think we can be a little bit more patient on certain possessions.

But you have to make shots at the end of the day. Fred hit some big momentum ones. Jabari hit some big momentum ones. Those can swing momentum.

For us, don't panic. Just make the necessary adjustment and understand how they're defending us, and we should be all right.

Q. You and Draymond have five Game 7s together. Jimmy has played in four. Where does that Game 7 experience factor in the most? How does it help you guys the most?

STEPH CURRY: Just the confidence that no matter how it looks, we can get it done. We need to be composed. We need to be able to manage the emotions of the next 48 hours. Again, not panic, but have a sense of urgency on the adjustments we need to make going into the Game 7. How to deal with a hostile environment. I think we've had one in that building before. You understand the crowd is going to be into it.

How we start the game is going to matter. It's going to be a long 48 minutes. Just stick with it and come with a level of aggressiveness, intention to detail, or attention to detail, just the idea that it's going to be a game of runs. You got to just embrace it, have fun with it, show up with kind of a killer instinct. Everybody got to be like that.

Q. How do you stay locked in the whole time when the defense is doing everything it can to stop you?

STEPH CURRY: Just embrace it and still try to find a way to impact the game. You see all type of defenses. At the end of the day you have to be able to figure it out.

Q. How do you feel physically? What are your fatigue levels?

STEPH CURRY: I actually feel great. You're having to work. That's fine. I think it's weird 'cause the zone, it doesn't necessarily take the most out of you or demand the most physically. It's just mentally trying to figure out where the holes, where the pockets are, where the openings are.

But I feel great.

Q. Is the solution to get in the paint or is it to shoot them out of the zone?

STEPH CURRY: I mean, it's a balance because, again, they have size. They're playing two bigs and trying to buy possessions defensively with the zone so they can take advantage of it on the other end.

I think in the fourth quarter we struggled that first six minutes. You have to resist the temptation to rush and force shots, if it's me or Jimmy trying to get good looks, but use the attention they're going to throw at us, whether it's me running around or Jimmy driving it, to make the defense collapse and swing and find open looks.

I think for the most part we got a lot of pretty good looks in the fourth. We just didn't make 'em. Then on the other end, they made a couple. They got a bunch of offensive rebounds. Then we had to go hack at Steven Adams for a while.

Make shots. That's me. That's Jimmy. That's everybody.

Q. You mentioned Kuminga could or should have a role in the series. Could Game 7 be a nice time for that for him?

STEPH CURRY: I think everything's on the table, for sure. Him, included. It's the ultimate challenge of staying ready. I know he's answered that question plenty of times that he is ready.

It's going to be good for us to get into the war room to figure out what those adjustments are going to be personnel-wise, scheme-wise, to give our best effort for Game 7.

The good part or the fun part about this is no matter how it looks, you win one game, you hit reset and get an opportunity to play another series.

This is a grind. This is tough. This is what it's supposed to be in the Playoffs, bring the best out of you. You earn the right to get to the next round.

For us, everybody's got to be willing to step up. If you're asked to play, you're asked to impact the game, be ready to go do it.

Q. You guys are an older team. Now have to fly, play a game, go back and forth. Is it taking a toll? Is it harder now than it was a couple years ago?

STEPH CURRY: It's different. It's always been hard to win. Like don't get that twisted, not just you, but everybody, in the sense of winning is hard. Sustaining it is hard.

There are different challenges of figuring out a team that's trying to take you out of your rhythm or your patterns or whatnot. You're playing against a really good team.

If you want to win at the highest level, you have to embrace the hard, whether that's the physical challenges of doing it at this stage of your career or whether it's because you're playing a good team.

We've had challenges all throughout this run. This is another one.

Q. You've had a couple chances to close them out. What is your reaction to the fact it got to Game 7?

STEPH CURRY: I mean, thankfully we have another game to play. We did our work early in the series. Gives us some cushion.

They're the 2 seed. They have home-court advantage in the series because they're a really good team and they've demonstrated that all season. We've been on a run since the trade to have an opportunity to play a Game 7 in a lot of Playoff series to get to the next round.

In February, if you told us we would have a Game 7, we'd take that all day long. How we got here, not happy about it. But we do have another opportunity.

Q. How are Game 7s different? Do you have any specific snapshot memory of Game 7 in Sacramento two years ago?

STEPH CURRY: No, it's just the nerves and the adrenaline. You understand the stakes. If you don't play your best game or you don't figure out a way to win, you're going home.

But it's also exhilarating because when you do, it brings the best out of you. There's no better feeling than closing out a series with just the whole Game 7 vibe.

There's one tomorrow, we get to watch it. We got one on Sunday. It's what this league is about. It's a great opportunity to show up when it matters most and have an opportunity to move on.

You don't really do anything different, but you have to embrace the nerves and the adrenaline of it.

Q. Do you have a specific memory from Sacramento?

STEPH CURRY: That was just a great game overall. Hopefully I can repeat that (smiling).

Q. There were some moments in this game when you guys were visibly frustrated. I asked Draymond if that was something that the Rockets were doing or what you weren't doing. What is your answer?

STEPH CURRY: There were momentum plays that you want to have back, like 50/50 balls we didn't get, offensive rebounds that we let them have, just breakdowns where they're getting open looks.

There were times we would make a run and couldn't get over the hump. Like, you understand there's pressure to win on your home floor. They're playing great. Like, you got to give them credit. It's not like we're just laying an egg and rolling over. We're fighting. We're trying to compete.

In the margins, there's some things we can do better, control what we can control. I think we can do that in Game 7.

Q. Knowing things change year to year in this league, how much does will play a factor in wanting to have another game with this particular group of guys?

STEPH CURRY: It's kind of baked into the nature of a Game 7. If you don't show up with that appropriate mentality, then you got a long vacation ahead of you. You know you don't want to be the team that's packing up.

We're packing for a week getting on this plane to go to Texas and hopefully go to Minnesota right after. That's the approach. I know we're all excited about the fact that we still have life left even though these last two games haven't gone our way.