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NBA PLAYOFFS ROUND ONE: WARRIORS v CLIPPERSApril 27, 2014Chris PaulOAKLAND, CALIFORNIA: Game Four Warriors – 118 Q. Chris, I guess that first basketball question is you guys came out with your do's on and you took them off and you had your shirts inside out, your hat on, black wristbands. What was the reason behind that? CHRIS PAUL: It was just talked about as a team. At the end of the day it had nothing to do with the game. Q. Chris, you played in this league for a while. You played some physical, tough games. Is this series as intense as any you've been involved with, and you figure it might go the full seven? CHRIS PAUL: I don't know. I don't know. I played in a few. But this one's pretty physical. It's just you gotta try and figure it out early how they're going to officiate it, how they're going to call it, and go from there. Q. Chris, why do you think the Warriors, especially Steph Curry, were able to get off to a quick start? CHRIS PAUL: It's all on me. It's all on me. I let him get loose early. I gotta be better. I gotta be better defensively. I gotta be better offensively, gotta make sure I'm getting the ball to the right people. But it started off early, getting off his body. I gotta make him a little more uncomfortable. This was on me. Defense was horrible tonight. Q. Chris, do you have any expectation for what kind of a home court you're going to have? There's a lot of stuff happening. But just on the court, do you have an expectation for what kind of home court you'll be on? CHRIS PAUL: I would be lying if I said I wasn't nervous about what it is going to be like. Because our fans have been amazing all season long, and obviously I hope that it will be the same. You just never know. They've been amazing, and we wouldn't be where we are without them. But it's tough. Q. Chris, Doc said that he takes all of the blame for the result tonight and for anything that might have distracted on you or turned up the way it ended up. What's your response to that? CHRIS PAUL: At the end of the day, Doc can't score a basket and he can't stop Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, anybody like that. I don't think anything had to do with the outcome of the game, but they beat us, they came out hungry. We were focused. We were ready to play. And they just beat us in all aspects of it. And like I said, it started with me early in the game, letting them get loose and letting them get going. And I just gotta be point guard and direct the game. Q. Chris, I know the last thing you're going to do is make excuses, but at the same time you've been fighting through a hamstring, the other night you had a 100‑degree temperature. Has this particular series been challenging because of that? It's kind of frustrating to have that happen. CHRIS PAUL: It's all good. It's basketball. At the end of the day you're going to win; you're going to lose. We prefer to win. Nobody going to feel sorry for you. And I gotta do my part. It's tough getting in foul trouble and stuff like that. But I gotta be better. Q. Chris, you've been on Curry all series. Did you expect him to have a breakout game eventually because he's that good of a player? CHRIS PAUL: Yeah, like I said, good offense is going to beat great defense any day. I think tonight I got off his body. They ran a couple good plays, a lot of screens being set. Some of them moving, you know what I mean? But he's a great shooter. And I think he made a couple when I was on him, but most of it was him running or offensive rebounds in transition. By any means necessary, it don't matter, that's my matchup and I gotta do better. Q. Chris, regarding the situation with Mr.Sterling, in terms of the conversations that you've had with Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson, just talk about his role and what you hope to get out of him in terms of this situation. CHRIS PAUL: Mayor Johnson is going to be unbelievable. We've talked probably not as often as you guys think. But what they're doing is giving me an opportunity to stay locked in with my team and what we're in the playoffs trying to do. For us, it's all about winning basketball games, nothing else. Q. Chris, is it harder to give your all to a team in a situation with such an ugly reminder of who owns the team? CHRIS PAUL: No, no, because, I mean, it's about those guys in the locker room, our guys, our teammates. We prepare. We've been through training camp and stuff like that, and this is what we love to do. Q. Chris, I was asking Steph and Andre Iguodala how they dealt with distractions. You have a lot more on your shoulders not only because you're part of this team but you're also a player rep. How did you deal with it? How did you steel yourself away and just get in that zone and think about today? CHRIS PAUL: This is what we do. This is what we do. THE MODERATOR: Thank you. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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