“Structured setup” in a “good half-court game plan”

[G1-G2-GSW-MIN videos/transcripts]

Been overwhelmed uploading stuff on the YouTube channel, so here’s a core dump of all the videos and transcripts since postgame Game 1, through pregame Game 2 including morning shootaround and off-day, no paywall. Chronological order starting with G1 postgame. But first, BTS from Game 1 and shootaround:

00:00 Any general update on Steph? Any prognosis at all you can give?

00:04 STEVE KERR, POSTGAME G1-GSW-MIN: Just day-to-day. He'll get an MRI tomorrow.

00:06 Did you talk to him? Just what was his — ?

00:08 Yeah, I talked to him at halftime. He's obviously crushed, but the guys picked him up and played a great game and, obviously, we're all concerned about Steph, but it's part of the game. You just, guys get hurt and you move on. Our guys did a great job of moving on and getting a great win, 48 hours after a Game 7 road win. It's an amazing group of guys. These guys are — they compete and they're together. We've been the best defense in the league since the Jimmy trade and that's what's keeping us afloat right now.

00:44 What's the message to the group when you find out Steph's out?

00:47 I didn't say anything. By the time we got into to the halftime, into the locker room, Steph was already in there with an ice bag on his hamstring and the guys already knew and we didn't say anything. I just told Gary he'd start for Steph and we talked about the plan for the second half.

01:06 What can you say just about Buddy Hield? Full court, two-way defensive stopper, shooting, whatever you wanna call him. How would you describe that game by Buddy?

01:15 Buddy was, following up that amazing Game 7, he was just crucial for us tonight. I think he started out the game 0-for-7 and we needed every one of his 24 points. With Steph out, we had very few options offensively and the guys did a really good job of just defending and trying to run off misses, so we could get the offense going before they could set up their defense, not that it was a great transition game for us. I mean, we only had six fast break points, but when you're defending like that, you always have a chance and some guys hit some big shots. Buddy's three, Gary's three, Jimmy had a bucket in that stretch where they cut it to, I think, eight or so. So we did what we had to do, great defense and just kind of hang on in that fourth quarter,

02:10 What was Draymond doing defensively? Seemed like he was everywhere all the time. Was there something particularly special about his effort tonight?

02:19 Well, Draymond was doing what Draymond's been doing for 13 years, for whatever, how many years he's been in this league. He's the best defensive player I've ever seen in my life. He was everywhere. He was guarding everyone. He just has a way of helping every single teammate by being in the right spot and thwarting different advantages that the opponent has and he makes our defense go. He makes the game much easier for all of the other guys.

02:51 Hamstrings are particularly tricky to play through. Are you kind of operating under the assumption, game-planning under the assumption over the next 24 hours that he probably won't get out there Game 2?

03:01 Yeah. Yeah, I'm getting — we're definitely game planning for him to not be available on Thursday, but we don't know yet, but with a hamstring, it's hard to imagine that he would play Thursday.

03:14 What's kind of the — I mean, I know it's early and you'll have a day to really think about it, but as you reset the series without him, what's — how do you find enough scoring?

03:25 We have to talk about that. We're gonna give the players the day off tomorrow, nothing, no film. They need a day. These games have been every other day. We're flying all the way across the country. Our guys are tired and they need a rest. They need the day, so the coaches will meet tomorrow and we'll figure out our plan for Thursday.

03:48 They missed their first 15 three-pointers, finished at 17%. What was the game plan? What was the keys to limiting them from the arc?

03:56 Well, we did a great job early of keeping them from getting many good looks. I mean, I thought their first seven or eight threes were tough threes. I'll watch the tape, maybe I'm wrong, but it felt like our defense was responsible for the early threes and sometimes when you don't get open looks early as a team, you start to force things a little bit. And then when you do have an open one, you're not in rhythm, so I thought they had several really good looks late-second quarter mid-second quarter, but we had done a good job taking them out of rhythm. We held 'em to 11 points in that second quarter and so we established a really good defensive posture and mindset and that was enough to really swing the game and we were able to hold them off in the second half.

04:52 Was the plan coming in to go 12 deep, just coming off of Sunday?

04:56 No.

04:56 Was that an adjustment with Steph going out?

04:57 No, that was an adjustment with Steph's injury and we were completely winging it in the second half.

05:03 And then what did you think of just Pat and JK, Looney?

05:07 Awesome. Awesome. Every single guy who came off the bench contributed. I never really look at the stats after a playoff game. I just think about how guys competed and I thought every guy who came off the bench, whether it was Moses or Gui, Loon, QP — Quinten was a plus-14 in six minutes. Didn't take a shot, but he battled and we were in a good run there with him. JK, to come off the bench and play some important minutes when he hasn't been in the rotation, that was important. And Pat's — we've seen Pat, he's a gamer. We know that. And those minutes were big and if Steph doesn't go, Pat will definitely get more time Thursday.

05:52 Steve, you've talked about what a different dimension your offense has with Jimmy and with Steph out. I would imagine that accentuates that. It looked like you went through Jimmy almost every possession.

06:01 Yeah.

06:02 How much — maybe it's obvious — but to have Jimmy when Steph goes down, how much does that changed the dynamic?

06:07 It's massive. The game settles down. I mean, you could see the last six, eight minutes. All we were doing was high ball screens for Jimmy and we were even willing to take shot clock violations at that point. He was all about protecting the ball and Jimmy is, I think, as good as anybody, any star in the league, at reading the game, understanding how to control the tempo, control the time and score, understanding everything that's happening and putting the ball in his hands in a situation. That is pretty comforting.

06:43 Jimmy also had six offensive rebounds, two steals in the first half. How crucial are those little details, especially going against Gobert and Randle?

06:50 Incredible anticipation. And I think that's one of the things that separates great players, is the anticipation of what's happening at all times, both ends of the floor. Jimmy's got that sense.

07:04 Steve, you obviously are always gonna err on the side of caution when it comes to Steph, especially with the hamstring, but how much does this win afford you to be a little extra careful?

07:15 I don't know that it affords me anything. I just listen to Rick Celebrini and whatever Rick says, goes. And he's the expert and he's got an amazing feel for these guys and I'm sure we'll get an update tomorrow and whatever Rick says, that's what we're doing.

07:33 Because of how gutsy this one was, where would you say this kind of ranks for you, personally, of winning without Steph of some of the wins you've gone through?

07:42 13th.

07:45 Okay.

07:46 Sorry.

07:48 You joked pregame about Buddy being your defensive stopper, but you do put him on Edwards to start this game. Was that a statement of any kind or just, let's see what happens when we put Buddy on this guy?

07:58 Yeah, I mean, I think it's based on what our options are and two-way basketball. Can we get enough scoring at one end and enough defense at the other to make the game make sense? But he makes the most sense the way he's playing, defensively, the way he's shooting the ball. It was a no-brainer to start Buddy.

08:22 Obviously it's a long time ago, but Steph missed a bunch of playoff games in 2016 and 2018 and you guys survived. Any lessons? What do you when you think about those games? What do you take from that or does it matter at all?

08:35 Well, I think a difference at that time, we had an all-time NBA roster, so those days we were well-equipped to handle the loss of Steph. When you can bring Shaun Livingston and Andre Iguodala into the game to back up — or take Steph's minutes, you're in pretty good shape, but there is a lesson. I mean, you have to understand what it takes to win a game without your best player and tonight was a good indication of that. Draymond and Loon and Jimmy led the way just with the leadership on the sidelines, talking to the guys, recognizing if you battle for every loose ball, every rebound, I mean, we got 18 offensive rebounds. We out-rebounded them 51-41. Their guys are all six inches taller than all of our guys, you know? So it's about the intensity, the heart, the fight. And if you do that and you give yourself a chance, then you just find ways to score. We made 18 threes and, like I said, I had a lot of guys make big shots. Draymond, four threes in the first half. Gary made that huge three late to kind of stem the tide, so it's about defending, taking care of the ball and just finding ways to score.

00:00 BUDDY HIELD, POSTGAME G1-GSW-MIN: Buddy and Jimmy. We haven't done nothing yet.

00:04 JIMMY BUTLER: Stat sheet.

00:06 Draymond declared that, tonight, Jimmy became Batman and Buddy went from Alfred to Robin. Do you guys have any comments on that declaration?

00:17 No.

00:17 I'll start out, I'll start out.

00:18 No, no, no, no,

00:19 No, no.

00:20 I'm Batman today. I saved the day. He's still Robin.

00:26 All right. Well, I'm still Robin, yes. And Steph's still Batman and Buttered is still who he is.

00:34 Call me Buttered.

00:36 But you had another good game, man, except for that stupid thing you did at the beginning of the game when you didn't have on the right shorts. It's not real Robin and/or Batman like.

00:48 Buddy, what happened with the wardrobe malfunction?

00:50 Jimmy switched it out. That's was Jimmy fault. Jimmy switched it out and that's what happened, so I was looking for my shorts and I thought it was right when he said, "Yo, put these on. It was right and that was the--

01:02 That's what you're going with?

01:03 Yeah, I'm going with Jimmy. It was Jimmy's fault. His locker's next to my locker. I was looking for my shorts. He said, "Yo, I can't find my shorts." "Oh, I see there." And I put them on. I looked just alike. And after that, I'll get a fine for it. So it's cool. It's Jimmy's fault. Blame Jimmy.

01:17 Jimmy, I mean, obviously, there's always so much responsibility on you, but when you see Steph go down--

01:22 Responsibility in the shorts, too.

01:25 Like I'm telling you, responsibility on him. He's not doing his job.

01:28 When you see Steph go down, what does that communicate to you? What do you try to and then what did you see from Buddy when Steph goes down?

01:37 Yeah. I saw Buttered be aggressive and make some timely shots and get stops in a big way. I think we all want 30 back, that is for sure, but we want him to do what's best for himself, best for our group, in the long run. In the long haul and until the end, we can hold down the fort. I know we can.

02:00 Jimmy, you've been through these types of things before. What's psychologically happens to a player? You put everything into this and then you can't play. Like, yeah. What is he going through?

02:10 It's tough. One of the greatest to ever do it and he wants to be out there. I think he knows and we know how much easier the game is for us whenever he's hooping at a high level, but I think we're all prepared to compete and win without him. We don't want to, but we are prepared and we may have to, so we'll see what that all means and what it all says come tomorrow.

02:37 Draymond mentioned that you two guys were kind of going back and forth in the huddle, even. Do you feed all? I mean, we've seen that. We've seen you guys go back and forth. You're doing it right now.

02:45 Ask him why we was going back and forth.

02:47 Why were you going back and forth?

02:48 Because when I, you know what? I'm not gonna say exactly what I say in the locker room, but when I got a mismatch in the post, don't cut. Stay on the perimeter.

02:59 If you got a mismatch, you need gonna score the ball.

03:01 I am gonna score the ball. I can't score the ball when you cut into my space. You're a shooter. You're not even a cutter.

03:06 Oh, you've seen me score the ball.

03:07 You saw what happened when you shot a layup in the first quarter. Smokey Robinson. That's exactly what you did. Use the backboard too. Exactly.

03:16 Do you guys feed off of this though? I mean, is it like when you can do this, does it translate to what happens on the court?

03:23 It actually does, because I respect Buttered so much because he knows whatever I'm saying.

03:31 My name is Buddy.

03:33 But that's short for Buttered. He knows what I'm saying is always towards winning. Same thing that Draymond does and everybody, and you can talk to whoever you want to talk to like that in the moment. And then you move past it. You know what I'm saying? Like we had another something in the huddle. He's like, you know what? You right. And we move on because the main goal is to win. He understands that I just wanna win. I understand that he just wanna win. So we're able to talk to each other.

04:00 Perhaps.

04:01 You guys got a lot of contributions from guys. I'm curious what you thought about what Looney's done, really, the last two games and what Spencer did today.

04:10 Yeah, I mean, Pat was big. He came in, I mean, I'm sure you guys saw flashes in the Houston series where he is just being aggressive, was getting on the floor, getting stops, scoring basketball, crafty. And Loon is a pro's pro. Whenever he calls his number, he's always available. He doesn't pout, he doesn't complain. He does his job and he does his job at a high level, and that's why he's a champion.

04:33 Facts.

04:34 You guys, Gary compared you to bickering brothers and you're the little annoying brother and you're the older brother.

04:41 And what Gary is?

04:43 I don't know, maybe he's the middle brother though.

04:44 The clumsy one. Always doing the dumbest stuff ever.

04:47 You literally wore the wrong shorts. The audacity.

04:52 Did you think that this creates kind of a little family, environment?

04:58 Yeah, I think we w really do enjoy being around each other. We really do enjoy, when somebody else is playing great and whenever everybody else is shining, everybody's happy, so it's a a good feeling that to have this energy.

05:14 And did this energy and relationship kind of help your, I mean, when you got here, it seemed like it didn't take long for you to be part of the group.

05:25 We had to make sure he got his joy back. 'cause somehow he lost his joy. We're not gonna say where he lost his joy, but somehow he lost his joy.

05:33 Why do you keep doing this? Do you even know what these are called? What are they called?

05:38 Two fingers.

05:42 Are we done?

05:43 No.

05:44 Oh no.

05:46 Wow.

05:46 Jimmy, how-- Steph's obviously a very unique player, not just how good he is, but the way he played. With him out, it seems like the offense has to change the way it functions. And obviously a lot of it's through you. How do you see what the offense needs to do? How would you describe what the offense needs to do if he's out for a couple games?

06:05 Ball just needs to move a lot more, find the open guy, attack close outs, get into the paint. and I guess it's gonna be my job to draw a little bit more attention, probably not as much as Steph does draw, but I gotta find a way to score and get everybody else involved.

06:25 Jimmy, your belief in this team is steadfast, but to see this team win without Steph, a Game 1 on the road in Minnesota, in the semifinals, what does that do for this team?

06:35 I've said it before, any team with me on it, I think has a chance. And I know that any team with Steph on it does have a chance and my guys believe it too, they work so hard at their craft every single day. They don't shy away from any moment, from any matchup. They'll do whatever you ask 'em to do to make sure that we have a chance of winning and we gonna need all hands on deck if 30's not ready to go.

07:00 Jimmy, you've always played within the construct of the team. You never really want to stand out, but in other stops, you've had to be a high usage guy. Are you prepared to take on that responsibility again?

07:15 If I have to. I don't-- I'm not a volume shooter. Never have been, probably never will be, but I'm gonna play the right way. If my guy is open, I'm gonna pass it. I'm gonna yell, shoot it. And if they don't shoot it, probably gonna yell at 'em for not shooting the ball. And I'm just gonna have to be efficient. I'm gonna have to play hard. I know I'm gonna have a lot of minutes coming my way. I train for this, but we ready for it.

07:38 Jimmy, Steve said Buddy, he is a two-way player now. How tough was it for you to mold him into that?

07:45 Me mold him in? You know what, I do be frying him one- on- one, don't I?

07:51 Perhaps. Yeah. He had his moments.

07:55 I ain't gonna lie, Buttered has been stepping up big time on the defensive side of ball, for sure, to start out the games. And it's crazy 'cause I think he, what, you got two points a half?

08:04 Two points. Yeah.

08:05 But his defense was off the charts. And you got the toughest matchup in guarding Anthony Edwards. And then he came back still guarding at a high level and creating and making shots. Two-way player's a stretch, but Buttered is, he's been key. He's been key.

08:22 I'm nice.

08:25 For both of you guys, Buddy, you finished with eight rebounds. Jimmy, you came out and had six offensive rebounds in the first half, just the mentality against this bigger team going up and getting those rebounds?

08:34 I think the mindset was boxing out Rudy Gobert. He got a fair share of them, but just boxed him out. We know what he did in the Laker series and how effective he was. And we had guys, was doing it, doing the work early to prevent that. And just gonna keep on continue to board if we can continue to boards and get out and play our basketball and put the ball in Jimmy's hands like we've all been talking about. And just trusting to make the right play. I think we'll be in good shape.

09:00 Jimmy, there was there was some hype about you coming back, playing here for the first time since 2021. Did you notice the light boos and the response?

09:08 That doesn't bother me, but people do have to wash their mouth and it's cool with the boos and all of that stuff, but you calling people out of their names and all of that stuff, which I can hear.

09:18 What'd they say?

09:19 You want me to repeat it?

09:20 Yeah.

09:20 No, I'm not gonna repeat it. It's not good. That's unnecessary. The boos, I get it. I understand. Let's just keep it at that.

09:31 Yeah, watch your mouth.

09:33 Thanks little bro.

00:00 Yeah, can you kind of take us through the — you hit, I think, you hit a big three in the first quarter when Steph strained the hamstring and I guess you guys are celebrating a timeout, but Steph's walking off the floor and it's kind of the emotions of all that.

00:14 DRAYMOND GREEN, POSTGAME G1-GSW-MIN: Well, I didn't see what happened. I also didn't see that he had grabbed his hamstring. I just saw him limping a bit, so I walked over to him telling him, "Good pass," and he was kind of walking towards the locker room and I said, "You good?" He was like, "I'll be back." And he just kept it pushing, but we didn't really know what was going on for a while, several minutes and like, I mean, game time minutes, which is a lot longer than just a minute. We didn't know for a long time and then they finally told us it was a hamstring. A little deflating, but we knew he had did a great job of helping us build a comfortable enough lead. And Robin turned into Batman. What y'all call Buddy?

01:01 Alfred.

01:01 Yeah, Alfred turned into Robin and they just filled in, so it was beautiful to see. And then everybody played great minutes. Gui came in, played great minutes. The hustle plays from Gui Santos — what'd he play? Three minutes. Three minutes and 43 seconds and he was hustling all over the glass, causing — wearing those guys down. It was beautiful to see JK. Great minutes, guarding Ant, hit a big time shot, timely cuts. Everybody who came in the game gave us something. Loon was huge off the bench, gave great minutes and so complete team effort, but we know this series will get tougher and tougher. What — hopefully we get Steph back, but regardless, if we get Steph back or not, that's a really good team with a lot of pride and a lot of talent and the cohesiveness of that team has grown over the year and so they're a together team and we know they're gonna come out fighting.

01:57 What was Steph's mood at halftime? We heard he had kind of had the ice pack on his hamstring and it sounded like he was a little deflated.

02:03 He was a little deflated, but he didn't — he tried not to show it. He was just in the locker room waiting on guys to come in, continuing to show that support, saying what he saw going on in the game, but it was tough one.

02:21 You guys held Minnesota 0-for-15 from three in the first Half, and I just saw, 88 points overall. Was there something special about the defensive effort today or just something you guys did that was extraordinary?

02:33 Just, we flew around. We made extra efforts which was important. We know this is a very, very good three-point shooting team and we knew that we didn't want to give them uncontested looks. They starting to hit threes, they can roll, saw that last series. And so that's — we're not gonna hold them to five threes every night, that's for sure, but incredible job, incredible game plan put together by CD (Chris DeMarco) and Stack (Jerry Stackhouse) on the defensive end. I think guys did a great job of following it, but I think we can be a lot better.

03:10 Draymond, 18 offensive rebounds, seven by Jimmy. How'd you outplay — play bigger than these Timberwolves?

03:17 I think just being relentless. We talked about that before the game, just like, "Yo, we got out-rebounded pretty badly in the Houston series. It's not necessarily that we gonna come out-rebound this team, although we did, but we can try to cut that back some. Let's not let that be a staple and we're trying to outplay the rebounding edge, so the 18 offensive rebounds was huge. Loon got some big ones, but in saying that, they missed a lot of shots. It's important that we are not giving up offensive rebounds. Rudy did an incredible job starting that game, getting offensive rebounds, and we were able to clean it up a bit as the game went on. But Rudy's a great offensive rebounder, has been his whole career, showed that a lot in that Laker series, so it was something that we wanted to target, focus in on, but it's a complete team effort, man. It's tough to box out Rudy and go get the ball, so our guards did a great job of coming back and cleaning up those rebounds and then it allowed us to get out and run.

04:20 You had four three-pointers. How much were you channeling Steph tonight?

04:26 No, don't put that on me. I just wanted to come out, be aggressive and take open shots. I missed the first one which felt very good. Then the second one went. I shot the pick-and-pop three. I was like, "All right, that one went in, I'ma keep it rolling." So it was good to see the ball go through the hole, but I think I enjoyed the defensive end more, still.

04:54 Steve said he's operating as if he's gonna game plan without Steph for Game 2. Because of the tricky nature of a hamstring, how much falls on your shoulders for play-making? You had 18-8-6 tonight. Do you feel like you're gonna have to do even more? Does your role change at all offensively without Steph?

05:12 I think I had four turnovers again tonight, so I think just taking better care of the ball, because you're margin for error shrinks dramatically without Steph and so we'll see what Coach has in the store. I'm not gonna come out and be like, "Oh man, I need to be Steph." I can't do that, but I may have to handle a little more. We'll see, but just play my role, play the game, honor the game plan that Coach gives us. If that's me making more plays, then I'll try to do that, but we got Jimmy Butler still who is incredible at making plays for people, so we'll collectively continue to move the ball, try to find open guys and try to make the right plays.

05:56 We've all seen the Jimmy-Buddy dynamic and they're both new to the team. They're just, it's joking, it's laughter, but what is — is there a competitive thing with both those guys that you see and you feel beyond the laughter? Or is the laughter part of all that?

06:10 It's a part of it, but they have an incredible relationship. Y'all don't get to see everything, but there's times where they really go at it. That's just the nature of the game we play. They went at it in a huddle today, but it's great. You love to see guys engaged and communicating back and forth to each other, but they have a great dynamic. Both of them playing great basketball for us is two great additions to this team this year.

06:43 And when you talked about how your role might be different without Steph, how much different is the offense without Steph? I mean, because Steve's talked much about Jimmy gives you another whole sort of identity. Now how much do you sort of lean into that now if Steph can't play for a while?

06:57 Have to, but we know what Jimmy's capable of. Jimmy's capable of carrying a team. He carried a team to the Finals twice, so we won't panic. We'll figure out what that means. We have best coaching staff in the NBA. We know they'll put us in a good spot and let us know what our offense looks like without Steph, if we have to go on without him, but we got full confidence in the guys that are on this team that we can make plays, we can make shots, and we know we got a guy that can make that first domino fall in Jimmy, so we'll be all right.

07:31 Steve said you guys really need a day and he's gonna give you a day tomorrow. I'm just wondering, after a pretty grueling seven-game series, how did everything feel today for you and how much do you guys need the day off?

07:43 You see me in the first half, Ann? You see me in the first half? You saw me bounce into that pick-and-pop three. I felt this is what I train for. This is what we all train for, to get in these situations. Beautiful thing about the NBA is you play back-to-backs all year, so getting one day of rest is plenty. Anytime you can get a day, it's always great for the recovery, so I think we have an incredible training and performance staff and they've taught me — but this team, everyone, so much about your body and recovery and how to expedite that process. And so we followed their lead, led by Rick (Celebrini), but the performance led by DT (David Taylor) and just try to take advantage of all the recovery tactics that we can, but I felt incredible going out there tonight.

08:40 As someone who's been through this a lot, what is it like watching some of these guys get their first real high-pressure, high-stakes playoff moments? I know you're witnessing them kind of go through it. What is that like to watch?

08:51 It's great because it takes you back to those moments when it was your first time. I always tell people when I've had the absolute honor and some luck to win four championships and the first one was incredible. Everyone after that, the most joy — or you get the most joy out of watching the guys that won it for the first time in their reaction because they just take you back to that moment. And watching these guys go through their kind of first tests in these playoffs is great because you see who stands up, who struggles a little bit, but as a leader it's fun because you get to coach those guys through it. You get to grab their hand and walk 'em through. You get to boost their confidence if they're having a rough stretch and so it's always a treat watching guys go through it their first time, but it's on us, myself, Jimmy — Steph down, but Loon, guys who have that experience to coach them up and drag them through it.

09:57 How crazy is it that Pat Spencer could step into a playoff game and play like that?

10:02 Pat is a damn good basketball player and I know he don't look like it. He don't just jump off the page at you when you see him in a basketball jersey. I don't think the number 61 helps him, but he's one of the toughest guys on this team. That includes myself, that includes Jimmy. Pat Spencer is tough as nails and he don't always get the opportunity to play, but every time he gets the opportunity, he's ready. And I think one thing that he does is he's so big for this team, he's a voice on the bench for us, but he's selfless. And when you have guys that either play low minutes or guys coming back from injury, he goes and plays in those games. He dropped me off so bad when I was coming back from my calf injury, it was embarrassing. I went out there thinking I'm about to win games and I pride myself on winning those games and I couldn't get a win. I got one win, but I couldn't win and he was talking crazy to me and I couldn't do nothing about it. I was mad as hell, but that is Pat and he brings that same energy every single day. He works so extremely hard. Extremely intelligent and he has a chip on his shoulder. He doesn't back down from anyone and he's been a great addition to this team, a good find by our staff. I think he'll be around here for a long time 'cause he just adds what he brings to the team. We're lucky to have him because from demeanor off the court, he's one of those guys that he's always grouped in with young guys, but I think past like 27. He 28, he's lived some life and so it's always good to have kind of an elder statesman in there with the young guys and he's not an elder statesman as far as NBA experience goes, but life experience and smart as hell, so you incorporate him with them young guys and even when we're not with them, they're still learning because you got a guy like that who's earned a respect. It's not like, "Oh man, that's Pat." They don't listen, no, he has everybody here and it's beautiful to see him get those opportunities and produce

12:16 Draymond, what's the mood of the team right now? I can imagine coming out there, it's like an adrenaline high. You win a game on the road, the second straight win, you go in the locker room. I'm guessing reality sets in about how hard the next few games are going to be.

12:32 That one was hard. They are hard games to win. Obviously, things get tougher if we gotta go forward without Steph, but it's the same issue. We trying to keep this thing going, win as many games as we can, so I'm not gonna let that reality set in right now. We'll start figuring that out tomorrow. I'm gonna enjoy this win tonight, rest up, recover and we'll get back to the drawing board. Like I said earlier, I think we got the best coaching staff in the NBA. They'll put us in a position to be successful and it's on us to go out there and perform.

00:00 Gary, what was the kind of, from your perspective, the mood, the atmosphere, like on the bench, when Steph goes out, when you find out he is not coming back tonight?

00:08 Every time he goes in the back, you hold your breath, but he's got us outta so many jams this season, so for us just to have his back for this one game, hopefully it's one game. Guys just stepped up and made plays.

00:24 And how would you just characterize the collective team defensive effort against Minnesota tonight?

00:28 Man, we was locked in, did what we needed to do, limit their shots and got on the glass and rebound, which we knew that we didn't do such a great job in the last series.

00:41 Jimmy went back to Miami this year, but how do you think you responded to maybe an unfriendly environment coming back here tonight also?

00:47 Nah, I didn't think it was too much behind coming back to Minnesota, more than Miami, but Jimmy always wants to make a statement. So, glad we got that done for him today.

00:58 You guys had 18 offensive rebounds. How do you really play even bigger against this big Minnesota team?

01:05 Just being together, gang rebound, help Jimmy and Dray down there with big fellas, so emphasize he's coming back in, gang rebound and then get out and running.

01:17 Anytime you lose Steph, obviously it's a big adjustment. A big scare, but when you have Jimmy, what — how does that change sort of the tenor of it?

01:27 Nah, you still get life. We got Jimmy and Dray, Buddy stepped up, made shots, made plays. But when you got another alpha like Jimmy, give him the ball and play off him. So we hold our breath when he went down, I mean, Steph went out, but we still got Jimmy Buckets.

01:46 You've had a hamstring strain before. What are the challenges in recovery and what is that process like?

01:53 Yeah, a lot of conditioning. You gonna have to do a lot of conditioning, get back, but it's not fun. It's uncomfortable day to day, especially when early you feel you gotta get through it and get through the little rest period where you gotta let it heal, but other than that, you come back, attack the rehab and get back as soon as you can.

02:16 What are the keys, offensively, if you guys are without Steph for a game or two here?

02:22 Take care of the ball, get stops, rebound and run. Try to get easy ones.

02:28 We've all seen Buddy and Jimmy go back and forth. It's hilarious and Draymond said they were even going back and forth, I guess, kind of heated in the huddle. What's it like with those two guys? What's the competitive level when they're together, it's a moment like this? What was that like to see?

02:43 That was good. Big brother, little brother, and they're talking it out. They have a relationship where they can have that conversation at a high level, high voices and go back and forth, but, it comes from a good place and they're just trying to win and do the right thing. And make the right plays, so when that happens, they talk it out and figure it out and at the end of the timeout, they're on the same page.

03:09 You had certainly your stints with Ant. What was going right with you guys, the way you played him?

03:15 Just limit his touches, make it difficult, send him to crowds and make him finish over at the rim. He missed some easy ones today. It figures that he's gonna come out Game 2 more aggressively than he did today, so just continue to repeat that and just make it tough for him, make his catch tougher and limit his touches.

03:38 What has Pat Spencer brought to the group this season and what do you expect from him in the bigger opportunity here?

03:43 Pat brings a lot of different pieces. His IQ, high IQ guy. He knows what we're trying to do. He comes in aggressive, makes, plays feisty, plays with a chip on his shoulder. He helps our team in very different ways. He's on the bench coaching when he gets in. He's just — he knows how to play basketball at a high level, so whenever he needs — whatever we need, Pat comes in, handles, gets us into our offense. Yeah, he just said, Jack of all trades.

04:16 You're gonna realize all hamstrings are different, but how long were you out and what sort of — I mean, Steve was saying he doesn't expect Steph to be available Thursday right off the bat, but what do you — what's kind of the best case in your mind having gone through it?

04:29 Be available Thursday.

04:31 Realistic best case? Let me rephrase.

04:34 Well, I haven't heard anything, but you probably got more info than me, so if that's the case, we gotta have his back for one more game. You guys are great. Have a great night. Get outta here. 12 o'clock.

04:53 And, one point in the first half, just what, what was happening out there that just prevented you from getting going? nothing. I got everywhere I wanted to get. just couldn't finish. Yeah. I think that was the only thing. I got everything I was looking for in the first half. Yeah. Just couldn't finish.

05:12 Coach was saying that he relies on you to set the tone from the start, and he didn't quite see that. Do you feel like you were off at all just in that department or just kinda the way that he started the game? nah. I feel like I play great defense. I just couldn't do nothing offense. So I. Yeah. and well, how do you view the series where you're at right now?

05:32 You lose the first game, but there without Steph Curry we, we will see how that goes moving forward. What you mean view the rest of the series or like the spot you're in right now? You lose the first game, but you're going to the game two with Steph Curry, dealing with the hamstring issue. I don't really know.

05:51 I'm just. Ready to play. Yeah. I don't, I don't really look at who injured who, who out there, who not out there. I'm just, I'm ready to go out there and do it again. Try to play a little better. And Julius, if I could, was there something about, tonight's a approach that you would like to address off the start when you looked to game two?

06:12 approach? Execution could work as well. Yeah, I mean, I, I just think we didn't play well. I mean, to be honest, like we still were up two at the end of the first quarter and, just had a bad stretch in the second quarter. and I just think overall we just offensively we just didn't play well.

06:33 We still held him to un under a hundred points. They shot 39% from the floor. and we still had some defensive miscues that we can clean up obviously, but. I mean, we just didn't play well. Like, I don't, I mean, they made 18 threes, we made five. Like we talk about this is a team that we feel like we can, we can win the glass.

06:53 We didn't do that tonight. They had 51 rebounds. We had 40, 41. You know what I mean? So it's like, it's things that are in our control that we can do, to play better. And, you know. That's, we just have to do. So along those lines, NAS, what's kind of the, the balance between like having a lot of urgency after tonight, but not overreacting to, to one game as you guys approach game two?

07:14 just kind of remember who we are, as a team. I mean, you kind of have these types of games and moments. We have these games moments throughout the whole season. It's not like it's it's foreign to any team. just kind of just gotta stay even keel. It's a series for a reason. like they said, man, we, we kind of, we, we tricked this one off ourselves.

07:33 And, and as, as a team, the last two games have been really tough for you guys from three point range overall as a team. Do you, do you sense that that's as much mental over these last two games as it is just missing shots? Or, or how do you, how do you view just the struggles from three point range that you guys have had the last two games?

07:52 just keep shooting. I mean, yeah, that's the name of the game. You can't worry about the la the, the last shot. Yeah. Shoot, take the next one. Shoot it with confidence. and I think we've been doing that, like, juice said, I think we just, just didn't play well today. And people gonna try to blame whatever, blame whoever.

08:11 they can blame me. I just didn't play good enough. And Mike had mentioned in the locker room that he thought maybe the team was a little too juiced up at the, at the start of the game. Did you get that same impression? And how did that maybe affect the start? I. I don't know, man. When you lose a game, it's always somebody got this, somebody got that.

08:30 This the reason you lost. And this the reason I don't, I don't really look at all that. I just look at every, every last one of us gotta play better individually, including myself. and we'll see how it go. And we can't blame it's a team game, man. We just gotta play better individually and see what it do for us.

08:48 And Julius, you mentioned that you, you just felt like you didn't play well. Is that, does that make it a little easier thing, knowing that it was kind of just self-inflicted tonight and not something that the other team was doing to you guys in order to bounce back? I mean, it's never easy, like losing, you never want to lose a game.

09:04 or obviously it'll happen, but it's frustrating. But, I'm encouraged. Like I said, I think there's a lot of things. as a team that we can do better, obviously. I mean, coach said to himself their championship team, they got championship DNA, you know what I mean? So they're not gonna just give up and quit.

09:23 I don't care if they had a game seven a couple days ago. Steph gets hurt. Like they are who they are for a reason. So we can't hurt ourselves and we, we feel like we did that tonight. And we're talking about they made 18 threes. You guys made five, but they took 42 and you guys took.

09:41 29. Did you feel like over the course of the game you guys went away from going to the three, maybe as much as you normally do? you probably got a little gunshot a little bit. When you start missing a little bit you get a little tight. But, yeah, I just be telling my teammates, Hey, shoot it.

09:57 You know what I'm saying? Because they pack the paint. That's what they do. Anytime you get downhill, Draymond leaves this man, and it's two, three people in the paint. So, I mean, we kick it out, we just gotta shoot it, we gotta shoot it with confidence. And I always feel like we just gotta think we're gonna make the next one.

10:11 Like if we worried about the previous shot, we never gonna make the next one. I was gonna ask you about around the basket too. It seemed like they were packed in there. I mean, I guess maybe for Julius, you two, what was that like once you guys were getting downhill, around the basket? How did that read maybe compare to Yeah, the laster?

10:27 for me, I would say like a couple of 'em I should, I gotta finish a lot of those layups that I miss. I gotta finish. but it's, Yeah, that's all I gotta say. Yeah, I mean, just finish the basketball, you know what I mean? they be hacking, bro. Just, just finish the basketball, man. It's, it's as simple as that.

10:51 And we also talk about that collapse being able to kick out, for open shots. So it, I mean, it's, it is one or the other finish the basketball or, or kick out and generate more open looks. Good looks. And three, like you said, we shot 29, they shot 42. So now is, all four home teams lost game one in this, in the second round.

11:12 Did you feel just any kind of a little bit flat or just a little edge missing after the layoff where they are coming right back after playing on Sunday? a little bit, but I mean, it's. That's just kind of the situation we put ourselves in, kind of pat ourselves on the back, but we also gotta be ready to come out and perform at a high level.

11:34 'cause we put ourselves like, like I said, we put ourselves in this situation. So, yeah, I mean, I think, I think that's just the trend around the league. I don't know, I can't really speak for what they did, but I think we just came out flat and that's not like us. Juli, as you mentioned, the rebounding disparity, How frustrating was it with you guys being, having the size that you all have and them kind of employing the small ball lineup that you all weren't able to bring down more rebounds? I. I, I, I mean, it's frustrating, but I, like I said, I think it's one of those things that are just in our control that we can do better.

12:14 Like, and that, and that's just one of them, you know what I mean? We, that's to our advantage. So I, it's just a one thing we gotta go get it. And I myself, I gotta be better. I, I, I can't have three rebounds. Like I said, we said it from the beginning. We all gotta play better and I gotta play better as an individual and I can't, you know.

12:36 Come, come away from this game playing 30 minutes and have three rebounds, so I gotta play better. And it's got one more on the shooting for you. We just got the numbers that, you guys going 12 for 76 over the last two games is the worst three point shooting in the history of the NBA playoffs. And for a team that was fourth and three point percentage, in fifth, I think three pointers made 12 or 70.

13:00 God, like how do you even make sense of it? That's how it go. You know what I'm saying? you have stretches where you shoot the ball really, really well. Then you have stretches where you shoot the ball really, really bad. You just hope the good outweigh the bad. and I'm not gonna say it's going bad for us right now.

13:16 We just didn't shoot the, well tonight. I'm not really worried about the last series or whatever that was. That was a month ago if you asked me. But yeah, tonight we didn't shoot the ball well, but tonight is over, so next game we'll shoot the ball really well. Awesome. Thanks guys. Thanks.

00:00 Hey Steve, it's Ann (Killion). Can you just discuss the aftermath, the feeling this morning, the trip here and what you're facing with Minnesota?

00:15 STEVE KERR, OFF DAY BEFORE G1-GSW-MIN: Yeah, I mean, it's a great day to just think about what we have ahead to advance and have another shot to win a playoff series against a great team. And so I'm excited about what we just accomplished and excited about what's ahead, so it's a good day today.

00:42 And do you have any particular insight into Anthony Edwards from your time in Paris? I mean, did you learn the key in Paris of what he doesn't like and how to stop him?

00:53 The main insight I have is that he's really damn good, so I don't know how that helps us prepare, but yeah, Ant is an amazing player and I love his energy, I love his infectious enthusiasm for the game. He was amazing to coach and there's a reason the Wolves are where they are now. It's directly — they've done a great job organizationally and put together a really good roster. Chris (Finch) has done a fantastic job as coach, but this is — they are where they are because Ant is a superstar and you have to have a guy like that to build a great team and he's the reason they are where they are.

01:51 Thank you.

01:54 Steve, it's Sam (Gordon). Looking ahead to Minnesota, obviously another big team just like Houston. Does facing the Rockets and that kind of size and physicality help prepare you for Houston at all?

02:07 I think it —

02:07 For Minnesota?

02:08 Yeah, for Minnesota. I think it does, Sam. I think one of the things that was so obvious in that Houston series was that if we didn't scrap for every loose ball and every rebound, we were in some trouble and the same concept is going to apply here. Minnesota's a big athletic team, a lot bigger than us and they're gonna be all over the offensive glass and we have to fight and claw for every rebound, every loose ball. And if that's our mentality, then I like our chances.

02:49 How much can you draw from the first four matchups, considering that you guys were a completely different team at that time?

02:55 Yeah, it was interesting watching some of those games on the flight up, seeing the matchup, seeing just the roster it was. It was an entirely different team, so the main points, I think, from watching those games was it was more individual matchups, what it looked like depending on who guarded Ant, for example. or who guarded Randle. And so they're valuable tapes to watch based on personnel, but we are an entirely different team now, so there's only so much you can take from them.

03:36 Thank you.

03:37 Mm-hmm.

03:38 Steve, it's Monte (Poole). You look very comfortable.

03:41 I am comfortable, Monte. Thank you.

03:46 Some of us probably know about your story that goes back with Ant sort of crediting you for pushing his development. What do you recall about what you told him, the piece of advice you told him a number of years ago?

03:58 It's a funny story. I mean, I didn't really think much of it at the time. I didn't think I was doing anything special. It was just — we were working him out. I think it was in Atlanta. It was during COVID, so nobody there. I think it's Joe Lacob, Bob Myers and me, and then Ant goes out to work out with his trainer. We're the only five people in the whole gym and after 15 minutes of just watching him lazily shoot 15 footers, I thought, when's the workout gonna start? And it turned out that was the workout and so I just went down there and I said, "Hey, can we see something more?" And I think he was kind of surprised and so they picked it up. They picked up the pace a little bit and more than anything, it was just a reminder of how young Ant was. I don't think he really knew what a hard workout was at that point. He was just getting started with his career and then we had dinner that night and Bob and I both talked about Steph and Kevin Durant and Klay and how hard they work and what it takes to be great and he was genuinely captivated by hearing stories about those guys, but didn't think anything of it. We went back and worked him out two weeks later and the workout was way better. He really went hard and at that point we were sure. We weren't sure after the first one and then after the second one, we were sure and you could see he was just exploding with talent and charisma. And so that was basically the pre-Draft story. And then, obviously, Minnesota took him before, our turn, but a year later he's telling that story about — that that inspired him and it kind of caught me off-guard. I didn't really realize that it was that big of a deal, but that was pretty cool that he said that. And I think it shows that he's a young guy who wants to learn, wants to be great.

06:11 Are you — knowing what you know about Ant, are you surprised at all that he's kind of putting targets on some of the establishment guys? Last year, KD. This year, LeBron. Now we got Steph coming. I mean, are you surprised at all that he's kind of looking at these guys going, "I'm coming for you guys"?

06:26 No, not at all. I mean, that's the kind of confidence he has, the charisma. I watched him in Paris every day after practice. He and and Kevin would go at it and LeBron and Steph, and they'd have these shooting contests and he's right in the middle of it, talking all kinds of trash and it's such a big part of who he is. His love for the game, his love for competition, but it's all in a really good-spirited way. He's — there's never anything malicious about the trash talk. He loves what he does and he loves to compete and the guys around him really enjoy that, the banter, too, because it's always in a humorous fashion.

07:14 Appreciate it. Thanks.

07:15 Yeah.

07:16 Hi Steve.

07:18 Hi, Janie (McCauley).

07:21 Brandin, we all know Brandin's had the courage to step in there and take charges for a while, but I mean, he's doing it against still some really big dudes and just continues to do it on the playoff stage. And what did you see in the seven-game series from this guy, who just continues to grow and find — it seems like he's taking the shot at the right time, dishing at the right time and just maybe continuing to make strides now with the whole world watching.

07:48 Yeah, he's — first of all, he's got great feel for the game and I think that's what stands out, especially in today's NBA. Some of these guys are so young and they come in and they're not quite sure what they're doing and he just has an innate sense of the game. He's also incredibly tough, to take all those charges, to stand in there against those big guys. That's not easy, but he relishes it. As far as the series, I think it's a great learning experience for him. He had some huge games. He had a couple tough games, but I think it was all part of his growth and his development, that every game's gonna be a little different, but there's ways you can impact the game regardless of whether the shot's going in or not. But he really does a great job for us connecting the game and making it easier for Steph and Jimmy and that's an important part of being on this team.

08:50 And is Gary recovered enough to get his strength back that you feel he'll be — ?

08:56 Yeah, we'll see.

08:57 Okay.

08:58 Yeah, he was on the flight, but he wore a mask, sat in the back, away from the rest of the players and I don't know yet about his status for tomorrow.

09:07 Okay.

09:08 Mm-hmm.

09:08 Thank you.

09:09 Mm-hmm.

09:18 Anybody else?

09:20 Anything else?

09:20 Jerry (Zgoda), did you have a question from the Minneapolis side?

09:24 Yeah, just a quick question. Just what has Jimmy brought to you and can he be any more Jimmy when he's playing against a former team of his?

09:36 Jimmy has brought incredible confidence and stability to our team. He is a perfect fit because he never turns it over and we have been a high-turnover team in the past, but we've always thrived when we've had guys next to Steph and Draymond who can stabilize the game, whether it was Andre Iguodala, Shaun Livingston, David West, those type of players. And Jimmy gives us that, so when the game needs to be settled down, he settles it down. He's got incredible confidence that, I think, fuels the rest of the guys. They believe in him, but they also feel his belief in them and that's really important. He's a great player. He's one of the best iso players in the league, so in a playoff game, when all else fails, you throw him the ball and he gets you a good shot. So all of those things, the competitiveness, the confidence, the IQ, the physical strength, he turned us around completely. We were below .500 when we got him and we've been one of the best teams in the league ever since, so he's a superstar and I don't know anything about what it's gonna be like for him to play against Minnesota. The only experience we had — we played a game in Miami this year — did not go very well for us, but I don't think that applies here. I just think Jimmy's a gamer. He loves to compete and I know he's excited for the series.

11:08 Can he get any more fired up than he usually is?

11:12 He's — what I'm most impressed with Jimmy is his poise. He's so competitive, but he never seems out of sorts and that's one of the reasons he's so good taking care of the ball and settling us down, but yeah, I'm sure he'll be ready to go tomorrow.

00:00 Do you guys survive offensively without Steph?

00:04 BRANDIN PODZIEMSKI, OFF DAY BEFORE G2-GSW-MIN: I think it starts with our defense. Obviously, they didn't shoot particularly well, but we take the three outta the game, we keep 'em off the free throw line and just try to hold them to as many twos as we can, I think that helps us. And then the less we foul, the more times we can just get it out of the net and go.

00:19 Does his injury change your role at all?

00:23 I think it changes how aggressive I am, whether that's a score or to make plays for others. Obviously, the ball will naturally be in other people's hands more, but it's just staying aggressive and not trying to do too much. Everybody just does a little bit more and collectively as a whole, it makes us all better.

00:41 Do you feel more of a scoring onus without Steph and how do you not apply that pressure on yourself?

00:48 Not necessarily. I think when you tell yourself, "I have to score more because someone's out," there's a natural force factor to that and then you start taking bad shots or overthinking what you're doing. I think it's just everybody gets a rhythm from touching the ball more. And so with that I'll find offense throughout the flow of the offense in the combination with getting others involved too.

01:10 Steve said he wouldn't give a speech like "win one for Steph," that you guys would naturally have that inclination to wanna go out there and do your best. What's the feeling of the team, just going out there without him for a couple of games?

01:23 Yeah, we know what he's done, the amount of things he's done for our group throughout the year — throughout these years as an organization, everything he's kind of gave to this team. And we're gonna — we know we have his back, he has our back and we're just gonna put our best foot forward and we know we can win win with whoever's out there.

01:40 What's the key to playing with Jimmy when it's more isolation, when you're kind of running it through Jimmy as opposed to maybe the regular offense?

01:51 I think it's a lot of the same. If we don't turn the ball over which Jimmy doesn't and we have good spacing, we're really confident that Jimmy can beat his man one-on-one, similar to Steph. And so, if we just get space, we understand that he's gonna win his matchup a majority of the time and that creates someone else to come help which leaves someone else open. And so he's really good at making the play.

02:17 Chris Finch complained pretty pointedly about the way Gobert was being pushed, shoved, tackled, held. And he specifically mentioned a play in which you — he said you grabbed him, Rudy shed you and Rudy got the foul. Any thoughts on that and just what the level of physicality is against him specifically? He's obviously so much taller than you guys.

02:38 I mean, this is the playoffs, what we just had to go through with the Rockets. I think it's kind of just rubbed off on us and what they were doing is kind of similar to what we're doing now. I don't know if the Lakers were doing that to the Timberwolves, first round, but I mean, this playoffs you trying to do anything you can to win. I mean, Rudy's probably a whole foot taller than me, so what you want me to do?

03:01 Do you feel like the Rockets series prepared you guys for this?

03:05 A hundred percent. I talked to Steph after, I think, Game 4. We were up 3-1. Just said whoever we get this next round, this physicality, the athleticism, the length in all facets of the game is gonna help us. And you saw it last night on the defensive end. I was being physical, trying to take him out of the rhythm. Yeah, they missed some shots they usually make, but I think if you're physical and your touching, your grabbing wears down on people.

—

03:31 Do you have to take a moment to kind of absorb that? Did you kind of know that last night? Just what's the mindset now?

03:37 KEVON LOONEY: I think we kind of knew he was gonna miss some time after last night, so we just gotta — everybody gotta figure out how are we gonna approach the game? What adjustments gonna make from last game and it's gonna be different, completely different style without him out there on the court. So everybody's getting their mind ready and the rotation's gonna be different. Everything's gonna be a little bit different, so everybody's prepping to step up.

04:01 Steve said he doesn't need to give a "win one for Steph" speech, that you guys already innately know that. Would you agree with that?

04:08 For sure. We ain't even trying to win one. We're trying to win every one and every time we step on the court, we know how much he means, how much he wants to be out there, so we wanna win as many games as possible. And hopefully, he get back sooner than later and we are in a great position when he gets back.

04:27 Loon, Chris Finch today was asked about you, the Warriors' rebounding and said they're holding, grabbing, shoving, pulling Rudy Gobert, looked like pulling linemen out there. Any thoughts?

04:39 Not really. Last series, it was — I feel like it was way worse than anything I did last game, so it's the playoffs. I'm gonna push and grab until they call it, so Rudy's a great rebounder, Randle's a pretty — a great rebounder as well and they do — they got they own — everybody got their own little tricks that they do, so long as that the ref don't call it, it's not a foul.

05:04 Was keeping — Randle only had three rebounds last night. Was keeping him off the boards a big part of the win and of strategy?

05:10 For sure. Winning all the 50-50 loose balls was big for us. We watched a lot of film and first we watched the Lakers. Rudy was dominant on the offensive glass. Randle was everywhere. He was bullying a lot of people out there, so we wanted to be able to match their physicality and even exceed it, so I think we did a great job last game of doing that. We know that they're gonna come with a lot more force next game and we gotta be able to match that.

05:32 How do you think you guys just survived, offensively, in this stretch of games without Steph?

05:37 Everybody's had to step up. We're gonna lean on Jimmy a lot more. Usually we play through him through spurts, but we probably gonna play through him most of the game. Our young guys gonna have to step up and do what they do. Buddy's been doing great. He gotta continue that. BP's gonna have a bigger role, JK, Moses, all the guys that score the ball. Draymond, he's gonna be that point guard for us, so everybody's gonna step up and I think we're ready for it. We're preparing for it, excited for the challenge.

06:08 What can you say about Pat's ability to always be ready, maybe surprising his opponents as well?

06:12 Man, that's just Pat. After playing with him all year, practicing against him, playing 3-on-3 against him, nothing he does ever surprises me. I know he can score the ball. He's super-competitive. He's not scared, no challenge — he's fearless. He's the guy that you always want on your side, so nothing ever surprises me. It is always fun to watch other guys probably think, "Who is this guy?" But when he get out there, he's gonna compete. He's gonna — no matter who you are, he's gonna go right at your neck, so it's always fun to watch him play.

06:41 Draymond said part of the reason it looks like he can't play is because he wears number 61. Do you think he needs a number change?

06:48 I think — I agree. I don't — I still haven't got to the bottom of what the meaning in 61 is. I probably should ask him that.

06:54 What have you seen in Draymond? Obviously, since that team meeting, he talked about being more of a leader for you guys since Game 7, especially. What did you see from him when Steph went down?

07:05 I wouldn't say he's been more of a leader. He's been leading all season, in all playoffs. He's been — whatever he's been doing, whatever is asked for him to do, I think, for him, just more focusing just on us and the game and the game plan probably just took more stress off him. He don't feel like he gotta talk to the ref. He don't gotta talk to the crowd. He don't gotta talk to everybody around him. I think he just controlled our team and I think that's giving him more energy, but he's been a leader all year. He's been great for us. He's been whatever we need, play center and guard the best guy, get a stop, guard a shooting guard, get a stop. Steph goes out, I need to make some threes, I'm gonna make a three. Whatever we ask him to do, he's gonna show up and do it. That's why that's who he is and we all kind of follow his lead.

07:50 What did you and him learn about playing without Steph in the playoffs? I mean, you had Klay and Kevin back then, but you guys went 9-3 without him.

07:59 That was a long time ago, a totally different team, but I think for Draymond, he knows that he has to be more aggressive. He always ended up turning more into the point guard, getting us into our sets, getting everybody into their spots. For me, just trying to get more extra possessions, attacking the offensive glass even more. The way I screen is a little bit different, focusing who I'm trying to get open and kind of following Draymond lead of who needs a shot at the time and just trying to be that calming spirit for us on the court.

08:34 For a veteran like yourself, how do you make sure a younger player of like someone like Brandin doesn't apply more pressure on himself without Steph?

08:43 BP always put pressure on himself. He feels like he supposed to dominate every game he gets out there and so, for me, just make sure that he keeps his confidence, that he don't let missed shots or a couple bad plays affect the way he goes out there. But I think he lives for moments like this. He wants to be a great player and he wants to step up and you know how much he loves Steph and how much he wanna make sure that we can be in a great spot when he gets back, so just making sure that I just bring confidence to them to know, play their game, you don't gotta be nobody. You don't gotta be him. You don't gotta be nobody else. You just be the best version of yourself and the best version of yourself is gonna be great for us.

09:21 What are the keys to running efficient offense through Jimmy?

09:25 It's all about spacing for us. He has spots that he wants us to be in, to help him, create shots for himself and others, so as long as we in the right spots and making the right cuts, he's gonna do all the hard part for us. And all we gotta do is finish the shot or make the open shot, so it's pretty easy playing with him. We gotta make sure we get into our spots.

00:00 How you feeling, Steph?

00:01 STEPH CURRY, MORNING SHOOTAROUND BEFORE G2-GSW-MIN: Feeling great. Sarcasm.

00:05 Can you — are you sure how it happened? I mean, it just —

00:08 You said what?

00:09 How did it happen? I mean, it looked like we just sort of looked up at one point and you were reaching for it, but was it on defense? Was it — ?

00:16 That defense possession it's hard to really predict this stuff, is what I'm learning. There were no warning signs or any weird feelings. I felt great the whole game up until that point and then I made like a little pivot move on defense and felt something, didn't think it was nothing — or anything. I felt like I could just go get it released and would be able to come back out, but with soft tissue, stuff like that, it was one of those situations I could have done more damage if I tried to go back out, so obviously a tough break, but hopefully I'll be back soon.

00:58 Do you have a target in your mind or how are you kind of viewing this?

01:01 This is new and from all that I've — or all that I'm learning about how quickly you can get back, there has to be a healing process that is just the way the body works. You can't accelerate it more than what it's telling you, so it'll be one of those, after a week, really reevaluating every day to kind of understand when it's safe just to even think about playing, let alone how much can you push it?

01:34 You've ever had any type of hamstring issues in your life?

01:38 First one.

01:40 Even like tightened hamstring or — ?

01:43 Nah.

01:45 Steph, I mean, you're gonna be — you're clearly around the team. You're here today. Have you talked to the guys or do you need to talk to them or any kind of just like, "Hey, I'm here. I'm still around."

01:56 No, they talked to me. It was just a great vibe in our locker room in terms of them trying to hold the fort down. We have a lot of confidence that we can still win the series and guys step up, no matter how it looks and it's, obviously, a situation where you want to think positively and optimistically that we can win games and buy me some time to get back and stretch — hopefully have another series after this and be able to be in a position where I can get back out there safely where I'm not putting too much risk on the body, if it's not ready. So I think they understand the task. We all are in it together and I love the feedback I got from my guys of understanding what the challenge is.

02:51 Are you too much — are you able to get any stationary shots up or anything like that?

02:53 Say what?

02:53 Are you still able to get like stationary shots up or anything?

02:55 No, I'm a little ways away from that.

02:57 You say not too much risk, Steph. I mean, is there gonna be a temptation where it's like, "Okay, there's a chance I could reinjure, but I'm still gonna play." Or do you have to fight that?

03:08 There will be eventually. There'll be conversations like that. I'm not even anywhere close to that right now, so I don't — I'm not rushing it 'cause like I said, there has to be a natural healing process that happens and the body will tell you, even if you're able to do normal basketball movements pain-free and all that stuff and I know how tricky hamstrings can be, where they can fool you and think that it's healed even if you don't feel anything. And so that gray area is a little — will be confusing, I'm sure, but I'll do everything in my power to get back as soon as possible.

03:47 And what the — how is it for you to see the team the way they played in the second half without you?

03:53 That's the strength in what we can do we have, obviously, Jimmy, Draymond quarterbacking both sides of the ball. Buddy's playing at a high level and then the committee of of guys who are gonna fill in the rotation and we're gonna rely on our defense. We know that and even if I'm out there, that's our calling card, but there's a lot of confidence that the guys can maintain and sustain that level. Minnesota's gonna come back motivated to get get a win on their home floor, but over the course of this series, we feel like we're in good shape.

04:39 Steph, because you said that it can — the nature of this injury can be — can kind of fool you at times. What would it take for you to feel comfortable when you finally come back? What's the bar for you to have to pass, if you can get back to court?

04:50 I have no idea 'cause I've never dealt with this before, so if it was my ankles or anything else, I'd be able to tell you pretty quickly. I'd know by said date, I'll be good. This one, I have no clue, so I'm not trying to put any expectations other than I wanna feel better each day as I go, obviously, working with Rick (Celebrini) and his expertise on, again, doing everything that we can to get me back out there as soon as possible. That's the mission and then whenever that time comes, I should have all the answers.

05:24 And then is it like 24 hours of stem or anything like that treatment? Is it --?

05:29 It's a lot. Yeah, it's a little bit of everything.

05:31 Steph, does it make it more difficult because of the way that you play? There's a lot of torque, there's a lot of back-and-forth cutting and that seems to put, theoretically, pressure on it. Does that make it even more paramount that you're ready when you go back out there?

05:46 Maybe, but I don't think so because I was like, I've never had this before and I've played this way my whole life and the way that it happened, it wasn't like a crazy volatile move or such a dynamic move. So I'm hoping that back end will be as smooth as possible when that happens or when I get there. I don't know.

06:10 Steph, given that you haven't had this before, have you talked to Gary or someone on the team who has, because, I mean, obviously several — that's a very uncommon injury.

06:18 I will for sure. I haven't — I've been in my feelings a little bit.

06:23 Considering you went through this in 2016, something similar, not hamstring, but an injury in the playoffs, does that make it more comforting or more frustrating?

06:34 More frustrating because when you're 27 you feel like you're, obviously, in your prime. Every opportunity I have now, you don't want it to be wasted on an injury. I'm thankful it wasn't worse and I'm very aware of and appreciative that I have even a chance to come back. There's been injuries around the league that you've seen guys don't have that option, so I'm just trying to stay in that mind frame and hopefully things work out where I can come back and we have a chance to keep doing something special, but injuries are always hard emotionally just 'cause none of this is guaranteed, to be back in this environment or in the playoffs experience and have an opportunity like that, so when you get hurt you have to be intentional about what you focus on.

07:27 Last one.

07:28 Are you able more able to manage that part of it because you know what's coming, how it's gonna feel watching games?

07:37 I think it made it worse at the beginning because fight through a last two months of the season, a hard first round, you get through a Game 7, the way that we were playing and I was playing, individually, that first half, I was starting to feel really, really good about where we were at and then you kind of get a gut punch like that. So it was really emotional at first. I think it has helped to have a little bit of an experience that I can stay engaged, keep your skillset right so that when the body says it's ready to go, I can pick up where I left off and also embrace the work that goes into it 'cause it's — rehab is hard and you go through it plenty of times to understand how hard it really is, but you have to do it in order to be ready for playoff intensity right when you come back.

00:00 Pat, what are some of the main adjustments you expect from them after Game 1?

00:07 PAT SPENCER, MORNING SHOOTAROUND BEFORE G2-GSW-MIN: I think they'll come out more aggressive. Obviously, they didn't make a ton of threes first game. Totally different ball game, though, without Steph, so yeah, can't give too much away game plan-wise, but obviously we expect them to come out swinging.

00:22 How do you guys survive offensively without Steph?

00:25 Yeah, I mean, obviously we're losing 30-plus points and a ton of gravity, but we feel like we have the ability to play pretty fast even without him. Fortunately at the trade deadline, we traded for one of the better players in the game, so we've got Jimmy, who we can play through. We got a lot of guys that are knocking down shots right now, knock on wood, but he's gonna keep it going and it'll be a collective effort, for sure.

00:49 You mentioned the gravity, I mean, beyond 30 points, how does sort of just the geometry of the game change without him around?

00:55 Yeah, a hundred percent changes, but we scored 99 last game and got it done, so I think we still have to lock up and hang our hat on defense and, obviously, hopefully, that translates a little bit of easier offense getting out and running. And then half court, like I said, won't give too much away game plan-wise, but I feel like we've got a good game plan and can get after it.

01:19 Steve said that when he was talking about Jimmy, he said kind of nobody in the league controls the game, controls the tempo, sees the pictures kind of like he does. Where do you see that kind of show up?

01:31 Yeah, I think he's just so poised. I think you see it in the games where we have limited turnovers. We talked about it in the Rockets series and we don't turn the ball over. We're a damn tough team to beat and I think we like our chances in the half court against these guys as well, so as long as we take care of the rock, Jimmy is unreal at that. We're gonna play through him. Obviously, that's no secret, but just elite in terms of controlling the pace, getting to where he wants on the floor and, quite frankly, probably a little bit underappreciated in terms of getting other guys shots.

02:01 Where is your game growing the most this season?

02:04 I think confidence. I've always believed in myself, but just having the confidence to just get in there and make something happen. Early on in the year, was getting two-to three-minute spurts and you talk to anybody around the league, it's really tough to get a flow in that kind of environment, but that's what the team needed of me. I came in and tried to be an energy spark plug guy when we were 12-deep. I don't blame Steve. He's not gonna play 14 guys, so finally have a little opportunity here to play, get a rhythm in the playoffs and play eight to 12-plus minutes. Way easier to get into a flow and get a rhythm with the guys that are out there, so confidence, but it was never wavering. It was just more so about getting the opportunity.

02:44 And how much do you maybe credit your Santa Cruz experience for that?

02:47 Oh, huge. Yeah man, I think people are excited about the hook shot, but that started down in Santa Cruz. Working with Nick (Kerr), getting on the court and realizing that I'm able to explode and get to the rim down there. Probably gonna have to do a little bit less of that up here and find ways to be effective, so yeah, this is probably the best continuity across the league in terms of G League to NBA from a system standpoint, from development top to bottom. You've seen it time and time again with Juan (Toscano-Anderson), with Damion Lee, all those guys, so yeah, beyond thankful for that group,

03:19 There's already a lot of talk about the physicality of this series. How did the Houston series prepare you and how do you think it compares to what you saw in Houston?

03:26 Yeah, it was a dog fight. We felt like — I think they had some words after the first game that it was — we were being a little bit physical, but to be honest with you, we didn't feel like we were being that physical at all. Houston was a dog fight and, yeah, I mean, people would say the ref are letting you get away with more. I think it's just everyone's turning it up a notch a little bit defensively and guys are locking in the game plans that much tighter, so probably a little bit less of a whistle, but also just the attention to detail picks up quite a bit more.

03:57 Pat, you're no stranger to competing in the month of May. Of course, you're a ways away from Ridley and playing lacrosse there, but regardless of sport, how much do you savor the opportunity to make impact plays in the playoffs, in scenarios?

04:06 I just like competing, man, whatever it is. Competing in corn hole, ping pong, you name it. I grew up in a household with two other brothers and we competed everything, so this is nothing new, just the environment's a little bit heightened, but that's what I live for.

04:24 You're definitely becoming a fan favorite. Are you getting that vibe? I mean, I don't know. You, you're in a bubble here. Can you tell that people back in the Bay Area are talking about you?

04:34 It's made its way to me. I'm not on social media, but it's made its way back to me. I got a lot of people and my inner circle supporting me and sometimes they send me some funny clips and stuff too.

04:45 What do you think — How much of that is (inaudible re: Draymond) it might not look like a player and the No. 61 doesn't help.

04:52 Yeah, I mean it looks like an offensive lineman number out there, I'll give him that. It just has a real special meaning to me, so I'm rocking it, but honestly, anytime you get a compliment, like a guy from that — from a guy like that, just Hall-of-Famer, elite best defensive player to do it. So, gives you a ton of confidence when you step on the floor, especially on that defensive side of the ball knowing he's back there.

05:16 Alright, I'm gonna put Quinten down here for a couple minutes. Thank you, Pat. Appreciate that.

05:19 Sticking with it.

05:20 What is the meaning of 61?

05:22 So, six and one is seven. I wore seven during my lacrosse run and then 60 spots in the NBA Draft, 61 just signifies me making my own journey.

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05:37 How'd you feel about the physicality Game 1, maybe compared to the Rockets series 'cause I know that was a big talking point.

05:42 QUINTEN POST: Ah, it felt like we came out of a war with the Rockets. I mean, they put up a hell of a fight, obviously, and I think we were ready for any physicality they brought. They're obviously a good team, but I thought we took the fight to them.

05:56 Getting through that, does that maybe make you feel like you can withstand any kind of physicality going forward?

06:01 In a way, I think it was a great challenge for us in the first round. Rockets is obviously a very good team, played very physical, so like you said, I think it's a great challenge for us in the first round.

06:12 What's the mood of the team, just knowing you're not gonna have your superstar Steph?

06:16 I mean, we've had some games throughout the season where we didn't have either Steph or Jimmy. We've played games without Dray, so I feel like we like we're used to these things. Now, it's just up to the other guys to step up and make an impact.

06:31 How does the offensive flow change going through Jimmy, compared to the speed and pace of Steph maybe?

06:37 Yeah, it's like — so Steph brings organized chaos, in a way, and Jimmy is a little more of a structured setup where you need great spacing because he's such a threat one-on-one. So in a way, it's a little different, but we've played this the second half of the regular season plus the first series of the playoffs with both Jimmy and Steph, so we kind of know how to play either way.

07:04 And for you as a rookie, obviously, you've had playing experience now in the playoffs, but even on the bench, you see Draymond talking. How valuable is it even learning from the bench as well?

07:14 Yeah, no, a hundred percent. I think what I'm seeing is just veteran leadership is a real valuable thing in the NBA. Guys have been through it. They know what needs to happen for us to win these games and it shows.

07:27 What's it like seeing Steph the way he's dealing with the injury, especially during this time of the year and, obviously, him here with the team at shootaround? What's that been like?

07:36 I mean, it, it sucks to see him go through this, right? He's obviously somebody that really wants this more than anybody, probably, but I mean, I've seen him in the treatment room every time I'm in there getting something done on my body. He's also in there working on the hamstring. I mean, we got one of the best staffs in the whole league, so I know he's doing everything to get back to it.

00:00 Steve, what is — over here — what's the mindset of the team heading into a game like tonight where some guys who might not normally play much could get some chances?

00:09 STEVE KERR, PREGAME G2-GSW-MIN: The mindset is, get after it. Go compete for 48 and we'll mix and match the lineups and see if we can figure some things out and find some groups that connect and go compete.

00:27 No surprise, but Steph was clearly there at shoot around. He was smiling, involved with things, obviously not shooting or anything, but what does that mean, just have him around, have that vibe still, that Steph's gonna be with the team, he's not just going home and watching on TV, that kind thing?

00:42 Yeah. Yeah, no, I mean, the guys obviously revere Steph and they love his presence and that'll matter to us tonight during the game. And I'm sure he'll be talking to guys on the sidelines and giving some thoughts. He may come into our huddle and can make a suggestion, which I always welcome, so it's good to have him here for sure.

01:10 We saw Spencer get those kind of blowout minutes in a couple games and put points up, saw him produce. How important are those minutes, whether it's — certainly in the playoffs — but in other games where you see guys who never play put points up (inaudible) garbage time. Do those matter to you?

01:28 Every minute matters. Every minute. You never know how that translates to the next game or the game after that, but if a guy gets some minutes in a blowout and he makes the most of them, it gives that player confidence, it gives the coaches confidence in that player, so those are meaningful minutes, for sure.

01:49 Steve, you were pretty candid about Draymond sort of losing his poise in Game 6 against the Rockets and, obviously, came back with an extraordinary Game 7 and played again very well in Game 1, here. As much as you've seen him over the years, these last two games, how has he sort of elevated his — both offensively and defensively — it seems like it's about as good as he's played in quite a while.

02:12 Yeah, I mean, that series was very frustrating for him throughout and for him to win Game 7 on the road with a brilliant performance, it just speaks to who he is. There's a reason he's Draymond Green and a four-time champion and Defensive Player of the Year. All that goes way beyond his talent or his skill. It's his motivation, it's his competitive desire, his need to win. And I think he's gotten himself into a really good place the last couple games emotionally, which has helped his play for sure.

02:47 And does he — do you see, I mean, Steph's been out at times over the years — do you see — what does Draymond do in these situations? Does he sharpen his focus? Does he take on more leadership? I know he is a leader anyway, but how is he different, if at all, when Steph is out?

03:01 I don't think he's really any different. He's still the same guy. He's gonna lead, he's gonna advise, he's gonna yell at people. He's gonna yell at the refs. He might yell at me. He just wants to win so badly and that's one of the things that I am just thoroughly enjoying about this run, is watching Steph and Jimmy and Loon and Dray, these guys who have been there and done so much and won championships or, in Jimmy's case, led two different teams to the Finals, undermanned teams. And yet at 37, 36, 35, it just matters. It's always going to matter, and that's kind of the secret to it all.

03:49 Steve, over here. Steve, Jimmy always talks about wanting to make the right play, no matter what, but in a game where Steph's not gonna be playing, do you talk to him about, "Hey, maybe the right play is taking more shots," or has anything changed?

04:00 Nope. No, I don't need to. Yeah, Jimmy knows the circumstances. If he needs to score more, he recognizes that and he doesn't — I don't even need to say a word.

04:11 Any other questions?

04:15 Rudy Gobert and Naz Reid present very different offensive challenges. They do very different things. What is that like, to kind of need to make a defensive game plan against kind of very polarizing styles of offensive play for the Wolves' centers?

04:31 Yeah, I mean, one guy's gonna be diving to the rim, the other guy's gonna be popping for threes, so it impacts matchups, who you want to have guard each guy, what the coverages are, and then if they play together, you factor that in, but it's all kind of routine stuff for us and every other NBA team. Every team poses different problems, different personnel and you just game plan for it and you try to execute.

05:03 Every team and every series is different, obviously, but it seems like more and more teams are playing a lot of zone defense, this playoffs. Why do you think that might be?

05:14 That's a good question. I mean, I think we've done a lot of it, sometimes just to take teams out of their rhythm, their patterns that they like. I think that's probably part of why you're seeing it. It's not easy with all the shooting that every team seems to have now, but it does change the chess board and so if a team gets into a good rhythm and they're running high ball-screens and you're rotating and you're flying around and they're swing-swing and open threes, those are rhythm plays, so sometimes if you can play an effective zone, it just disrupts that rhythm and that pattern.

05:56 You put Draymond on Gobert. Is that — would have you mainly put Draymond on Randle in this matchup or is that a little bit of change and is that maybe a kind of a focus on what Randle can do to a defense, the kinda way he'd been scoring?

06:12 Yeah, I mean, we have a lot of respect for both of them and right now, we like that matchup. Draymond has guarded Randle over the years and it's just something you think through and you look at their patterns and how is it gonna look if Draymond's guarding Gobert versus him guarding Randle and vice-versa with Jimmy? And you try to picture it all and the those are the decisions you make, but it doesn't mean that stays that way the whole series.

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TRANSCRIPT FOR CHRIS FINCH NOT AVAILABLE DUE TO TIME CONSTRAINTS

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