Q. Today Timofey Mozgov only played 9 minutes, had zero points. What made you match Golden State's small lineup during this game?
COACH BLATT: The way we needed to play tonight to give ourselves a chance to win.
Q. Do you feel like that gave you an advantage and kept you close for most of today's game?
COACH BLATT: It looked like that. It sure did.
Q. The first half was incredibly physical, starting with the big hit between J.R. Smith and Draymond Green. Was that part of your strategy today, to get into a more physical brand of basketball, or is that just the flow of the game, and how do you think that impacted the proceedings?
COACH BLATT: I thought that was the flow of the game. We've tried and we should be physical, as does the other team.
Q. The rebounding in the playoffs for you has been a pretty telling stat. I think you've only lost one game where you outrebounded the opponent --
COACH BLATT: Do you want to say that again? I don't think that came out right. We've only lost one game that we've outrebounded the opponent. Okay. I didn't hear you properly. I'm sorry. Excuse me. I'm sorry.
Q. So with that said, how much do you think the late-game offensive rebounding by Golden State contributed to the outcome?
COACH BLATT: I thought all game we needed to rebound better, not just the last minutes to be honest with you. No question that we needed to rebound the ball better.
Q. When Steph Curry gets hot like he did, what more can you do to stop him?
COACH BLATT: That's a good question. That was really a good question.
Q. Thank you.
COACH BLATT: Not a lot you can do, honestly. He made some terrific shots. Now there were a few that we made mistakes and we went under or we didn't stay connected, and that's on us.
But there are a few that he made, more than a few that were extremely difficult shots, high, high-level shots by a high-level player. Sometimes you've got to take your hat off to the other guy. He made some tremendous shots. That's respect.
Q. I was just hoping you could elaborate on the way they got those offensive rebounds in the fourth quarter.
COACH BLATT: I don't know. I've got to look at it. I don't know. You know. I can't -- I can actually remember every play, but I can't sum it all up. It seems like when you force long, hard shots, the ball falls far from the basket. It doesn't fall necessarily within a close distance to the basket, and sometimes you're just not prepared and locked in at the same level to get those balls that fall between the dotted line and the three-point line, and you need to be.
It seemed like we weren't, and if there's any explanation, that is the best I can do for you.
Q. You got creative with some lineups in the first half that you hadn't used before. How much of that is flow of the game, and how much of that did you talk about preparing for going in and using some looks that you hadn't really used in the regular season or the postseason?
COACH BLATT: Well, I felt we needed to respond to the last game. I thought for the most part our guys did it well and handled it well. Without question we were in that game. I don't know what the final -- game finished 10-plus points, but it wasn't a 10-plus points game. That was the reason we played it that way.
Q. You talked about how you needed more rebounding today. And not to go back to the Mozgov question, but last game he had 28 points, 10 rebounds, seemed very effective against Golden State's small lineup. Today limited ten minutes. Could you explain what your philosophy was there?
COACH BLATT: Well, we were in the game the way we were playing. We were right there. So that's the way that we played it.
Q. Obviously, everyone can play better all the time, but how much more can you get from LeBron? What do you expect out of him in the next game?
COACH BLATT: Listen, LeBron has been tremendous is even an understatement for how he's played in the series. And he had another one of those days today. Under the current set of circumstances, that's what we've got to get, and he's bringing it.
You don't see that every day, what he's doing. You've got to take your hat off to him too.
Q. What do you expect out of him Tuesday night at your place?
COACH BLATT: Well, should I expect more than 40 and a triple-double? (Laughing). I don't know. You tell me.
Q. Is there any reason other than a professional one for you not using Shawn Marion?
COACH BLATT: No, of course not. Only professional. What would even give you the --
Q. Because it seemed to us that you could have used those five, six more minutes of rest at the end.
COACH BLATT: That's something different. You should have said it seems to me that you could have done that, and then I could have responded differently to you. But absolutely only on a professional basis. Shawn's a tremendous guy and a terrific player. That's just a professional decision. That's all.
Q. Steve Kerr just told us this is not a series for big guys. And going again to the Timofey Mozgov thing, are you going to stay playing not big basketball, or after the circumstances and the result of the game, are you trying to do something different? Because it didn't pay much result tonight, if you think?
COACH BLATT: And how did it do the game before?
Q. He was the best scorer, but you didn't use him tonight.
COACH BLATT: What was the score of the game?
Q. You guys lost the game again.
COACH BLATT: Yeah, by more.
Q. Can could you explain why you didn't use him? 28 points last game, and no points tonight?
COACH BLATT: I thought I was pretty clear I thought that was our best chance to win the game, and we were definitely in the game with a chance to win. So that's the way we played it. So I thought I was pretty clear with that.
Q. Do you think you're going to repeat the same game plan again?
COACH BLATT: Not necessarily. Not necessarily.
Q. All right. That was the question. Thanks.
Q. I'm going to ask you about Mozgov again. It looks like you guys have lost -- after losing Kyrie, losing Anderson Varejao and Kevin Love, it looks like you have lost another guy. I mean, Timo's not playing and that's the way you played. I'm not precise on that, but how does that make you feel that you have lost another guy with still a short bench? And the fact that you have started Timo all the way, does it mean that you have made a mistake? I mean, you have sat him when you were down 2-8?
COACH BLATT: I don't think we've lost him by any means, first of all. I think that's inaccurate. Did I make a mistake? Listen, when you're coaching a game, you've got to make decisions. I felt that the best chance for us to stay in the game and to have a chance to win was to play it the way that we played it. It's no disrespect to anyone, certainly not to Timo who has done a great job for us.
That's just the way that we played it tonight, and Timo will be back and he will not lose his way or lose his head just because he didn't play a lot tonight. He'll be back playing like he always can, I'm sure, because he's got character and he doesn't listen to a lot of you guys (smiling).
Q. LeBron, there was a play in the stretch you guys -- the Warriors were at the charity stripe, they got a couple offensive rebounds at that point. I remember you motioned over and it seemed like you asked to get a big in that situation. Can you talk about how difficult that was for you guys to play small and those offensive rebound?
LEBRON JAMES: No, I mean, at the end of the day no matter who is on the floor, we have to come up with that rebound. That's what it is. We just have to come up with the rebound no matter if Double T or Mozzy are not in the game. We've got to come up with those rebounds. That just can't happen at the free-throw line.
Q. J.R. got off to a good start. I think he had four of his first seven threes there and then he went quiet again. What do you think happened with him? Was that just the game kind of flowed away from him, or what did you see happen with him?
LEBRON JAMES: I don't know what happened with him. I mean, we kept going to him. He just missed some shots. He came out aggressive, which we wanted him to do. We kept finding him. He started off well, he just cooled down. It's just a make-or-miss league.
He took some great shots. Some of them was in a rhythm, and some of them -- after he hit a few, he loves to go to the heat check, and we're all okay with that, and he just missed them.
Q. LeBron and Tristan, LeBron, you gave, I would say, everything you had there, 40, 14, and 11, and you still come up short. For both of you, how do you cope with that, when you have games like that that you guys usually win?
LEBRON JAMES: Well, you cope with it by understanding it's just one game and looking at the opportunity we have on Tuesday to force a Game 7. Obviously, for myself, I want to do whatever it takes to help our team win, and I haven't been able to do that the last two.
So hopefully I can do a better job coming in on Tuesday. We all as a unit can do a better job, and we'll be fine.
TRISTAN THOMPSON: Piggyback on what LeBron said, just watch film and figure out areas we can do better at. For me, rebound a little better, guard my man a little better, and just don't have mental breakdowns.
But like he said, we've got to go home and get a win and force a Game 7.
Q. Obviously, like you just said, you guys will be on the cusp of elimination on Tuesday. But obviously you don't want the Warriors celebrating on your home floor. So how do you rally your teammates, and what will be your message to them before Game 6?
LEBRON JAMES: Well, we don't want them celebrating at all, no matter if it's on our home floor or their home floor. We've come this far, and we've been very good at home. We have to understand why we weren't good in Game 4. We had a lack of energy. We had a lack of effort in a lot of areas in Game 4, and we can't repeat that or they'll raise the trophy for sure.
Q. LeBron and Tristan, you guys had pretty much avoided a Stephen Curry explosion until tonight, and really kind of the fourth quarter, anything you guys could have done? Or just talk about what it's like when he kind of heats up like that?
TRISTAN THOMPSON: He's one of the best shooters in our league. Coach preach to us every night, have a high hand, he's going to make tough shots. He took a couple shots he made on me. Couple tough threes. But we've got to contest and we've got to be at half court and make it physical for him and make it tough for him.
I guess your word, I guess he exploded, quote/unquote, but we've just got to do better. It's not just Delly, it's all of us. We've all got to help him. The bigs got to help him and just get it out of his hands.
LEBRON JAMES: I thought he was great. You tip your hat off to a guy like that. He made seven threes. I don't know, were any of them not contested, hand in his face, falling, stepback off the dribble? I'm okay with that. We're okay with that. I mean, you tip your hat to a guy who makes shots like that, and he's the guy that can do it in our league. He's the best shooter in our league.
But that's not why we lost. We gave up 18 fast breakpoints. We gave up 15 second-chance points. Steph was special, obviously, but him hitting those stepback threes is not why we lost the game.
Q. The fourth quarter has gone their way pretty well the last two games. Is it fatigue, the depth thing, or is it just execution problems? What's going on in those last couple nights?
LEBRON JAMES: I think tonight, obviously, Steph got it going. He hit some huge shots which kept us at bay. They got a couple of offensive rebounds that didn't work to our favor. You know, we needed our best defensive quarter tonight in the fourth quarter, and we didn't get it. We gave up 31 points in the fourth. Some of them were free throws, but a lot of them were them just breaking us down. So we've got to do a better job of that.
Q. You said hopefully you can do a little more the next game out. How much more can you possibly do given what you've been putting in in this series, and do you ever recall having to extend yourself this far in a series?
LEBRON JAMES: I don't know. I don't put a ceiling on what I can do. I don't know. I mean, tonight I gave up two offensive rebounds -- one to Barbosa in the first half, one to Harrison Barnes, which allowed him to get an and-one with Iguodala with the left-hand trick shot.
I had a couple turnovers, a couple miscues defensively, and I've got to be better. I don't know. Like I said, I don't put a ceiling on what I'm capable of doing. I know I'm shouldering a lot of the burden, but it is what it is.
Q. You seem to be playing a lot more comfortable this Finals series. There was a play I think you had a behind-the-back lay-up where you went up and you're making crazy threes. Do you feel a lot less pressure this Finals run just because you are undermanned and you had some injuries as opposed to previous years?
LEBRON JAMES: No. No, I feel confident because I'm the best player in the world. It's that simple.
Q. In regards to pressure with the games playing, do you feel as if this Finals team, it's a little less?
LEBRON JAMES: No, I mean, it's The Finals. It's something you dream of when you're a kid. For me, I put the work in. I put the work in every single day, either when you guys are there, either when you're not there. Some of our beat writers see me. They know how much work I put into it, and I give everything to my teammates.
When you're true to the game, it doesn't matter if it's a regular season game or a Finals game, you just go out and trust what you put into the game and you live with the results. So shouldn't be crazy when I make threes, though. It's just a shot.
Q. In particular, the half court one, the almost half court one, that was somewhat crazy?
LEBRON JAMES: Okay.
Q. Would you agree?
LEBRON JAMES: All right (laughing).
Q. You mentioned giving up some offensive rebounds and the second-chance points that they got as a team. You guys usually are doing that to other teams. Was there any sort of a deflating feeling when they were able to keep coming up with those offensive rebounds?
LEBRON JAMES: When you're going up against a high-offensive-power team like this, to get them to miss, it's very deflating when they get a second-chance point or a second-chance crack. Even when they don't make it, they're looking for those three pointers, they're looking for Klay and Steph when they get offensive rebounds. So those are very deflating.
But we've got to do a better job of hitting bodies, coming over the ball. They're going to get offensive rebounds because they shoot a lot of jump shots and a lot of long rebounds, but when that happens, we've got to match up very quickly and not allow them to make shots.
Q. Tristan, what's it like being on the other end of that, because usually you're doing that to other teams?
TRISTAN THOMPSON: Yeah, like LeBron said, it's definitely deflating to our defense. But like he said, they take some tough shots that you don't see too often, so we've got to find our man, box him out. If it's not the bigs grabbing rebounds, guards come, so we've just got to all collectively grab rebounds and push it back on them in transition.
Q. LeBron, do you feel that at this moment of this series, this roster, the roster you guys have right now, do you remember like those Cavaliers X teams where you had to do it all but it wasn't enough, your previous Cavaliers teams?
LEBRON JAMES: Nope. Nope we're going home with a Game 6, and we've got enough to win it. We protect home we come here. We'll worry about Tuesday first. But if we protect home like we're capable of doing, we force a Game 7.
Q. So this is different?
LEBRON JAMES: I feel confident.
Q. LeBron, do you feel like the smaller lineup hurt you guys defensively tonight? The Golden State Warriors shot 48 percent against you guys?
LEBRON JAMES: Well, there are a lot of things that hurt us tonight. Steph being one of them. That had nothing to do with going small. I think we were much more active tonight than we were in Game 4.
And some of the shots that they made, like I said, some of the shots that Steph made, you've got to tip your hat to a guy like that. I mean, he's between, behind, crossover, stepback threes, with a contest, you're okay with that. That had nothing to do with us being small.
When we don't get back in transition, those are things we can clean up. When we get offensive rebounds on free throws, those are things we can clean up. Those are things that can hurt you. But it had nothing to do with us being small. Whoever's in the game needs to do their job and do it at a high level, do it to the best of their ability and you live with the aftermath after that.
Q. I know you always wanted to come out of the flow of the offense, but did it seem to you that Steph kind of took it upon himself there for three or four possessions at the end of the game, and was that okay with you, the way it turned out?
COACH KERR: I called all those plays. Those were my genius inventions. No, that was just Steph taking over the game. But it was a different game, you know, because they decided to go smaller, and so the floor was more open.
I thought from the very beginning when they went small, had their shooters out there, I thought this is Steph's night. This is going to be a big one for him because he has all that room. He took over the game down the stretch and was fantastic.
Q. Do you think it's going to be tough to keep your team focused and in the moment, one win away from something you worked really hard to get to?
COACH KERR: Well, the closeout game is always the hardest game in every series, but particularly in The Finals. What I'm excited about is I think we can play a lot better, and that's what I told our team, and I think we can do much better.
I thought we were a little scattered at times, a little rushed. We had 17 turnovers compared to 7 the other night. We can be a little more organized offensively.
But all in all I loved the defensive intensity. We made a few mistakes here and there, but our guys are competing like crazy, and that's what it takes.
Q. You had Iguodala last game and then this game again, and then Barbosa. Two guys have been around really gave you a veteran stability, didn't they?
COACH KERR: Oh, L.B. was fantastic. He gives us 13 points and 17 minutes when we had a little foul trouble early on, and his defense was good. But not surprising, really. L.B. has been around a long time. He's got a lot of playoff experience, and he's had an excellent series for us.
Q. Steve, why is the closeout game in The Finals the toughest? What makes it the toughest?
COACH KERR: It just is. There is a lot of emotion. You're right there on the cusp of something, but you still have to get the job done, and in this case we'll be on the road against a great team.
It's going to be hard. It's just the way it is. So we've got to get better. We've got to play better next game than we did tonight.
Q. In the level of confidence your players are right now, do you feel as if they can take themselves out of any hole no matter what the adjustments are?
COACH KERR: Well, it's a very confident group. They've had a heck of a season, and they're playing, obviously, at a high level. So they feel very confident. Sometimes we're a little too confident and we get a little carried away.
But they believe in what they're doing and they believe in each other. We've got to get on the plane tomorrow and get our mindset right.
There's a long way to go. The only thought is how can we improve tomorrow? What can we do better next game?
Q. After Game 4, Coach Blatt felt his team wore down in the fourth period. Do you feel like you wore them down today?
COACH KERR: I don't know about that. I thought David did a great job mixing and matching off of his bench. He got guys a little more rest tonight. He got good minutes off the bench from Mike Miller, and J.R. got going early.
But you never know if you're wearing anybody down. You just want to keep playing. Obviously, we want to play as fast as we can. We want to put pressure on. And if that happens, then that happens. But it's hard to tell right now.
Q. Steve, you said that Andre has been your best player through this series. I'm wondering what you think of his performance tonight, and also that hack a Iggy strategy at the end, what did you think about that?
COACH KERR: Andre was brilliant again tonight. He does everything for us. He's our best defender on LeBron. He's an incredible decision maker. I mean, 7 assists, no turnovers. He rebounds. He guards everybody. When he's off LeBron, he goes on to a shooter and stays at home with the shooters and challenges shots. He's a brilliant defensive player.
The free throws, it happens. He missed some down the stretch. It didn't matter. It didn't hurt us, and we were able to close the game out anyway.
Q. Did you like the Draymond running to kind of block for him there at the end?
COACH KERR: I didn't see it.
Q. You didn't see it?
COACH KERR: No, somebody mentioned that to me when I was walking over here, and I didn't even know what they were talking about.
Q. The minutes that you gave Ezeli tonight, were you tempted to give those to Bogut, or did you just like that match up better?
COACH KERR: I liked the match up. We're trying to play faster, we're trying to get up and down the floor, and Festus gives us a little more push. But it's just not it's not a series for bigs right now the way that everything has unfolded.
I think I gave Bogs four minutes the other night. I gave Festus three. But the reality is this is a small series, and it works well for us. We're comfortable with this style.
But you never know how every game is going to unfold, and things could be different in Game 6.
Q. You know, the first three games it seemed like they were making all the hustle plays. Do you feel like your team has taken it up another level in terms of getting to those 50 50 balls and doing the little things that make a big difference at the end of a game?
COACH KERR: Yeah, I mean, that was a big point of emphasis for us after Game 3. We felt like we were being outhustled, outcompeted. And I think the last two games we've been much better with that.
You saw Andre make a great dive at half court early in the game and get Klay a dunk. That's what it takes. It's the highest level of basketball in the world. It's the NBA Finals, and everybody wants to win badly, but you better want to win bad enough to get on the floor and get after every loose ball and every rebound.
Q. In the midst of your strategizing and the intensity of a Finals game, are there moments when you can kind of just marvel at LeBron James and what he's doing?
COACH KERR: Yeah, but it's not that much fun (laughing). Yeah, he's phenomenal. He does everything. But I'm not enjoying the marveling, yeah.
Q. We have seen the different stages of Steph Curry during the series since Game 1. What type of adjustments has he made to be at the level of defensive play that you guys were expecting so far?
COACH KERR: I don't think he made an adjustment at all. I just think sooner or later Steph's going to get going. He had a tough first couple of games. He got going at the end of Game 3 in the fourth quarter, and that's all it takes. Steph makes a couple shots. He feels like he's got it rolling, and he's been great ever since.
So it's not really an adjustment. It's just the law of averages are that Steph's going to make some shots.
Q. Can you talk about what Draymond Green is doing? I know he's battling Tristan down there and helping out on LeBron. What's he giving you guys in the paint?
COACH KERR: Draymond is just doing what he does. He's done this all year. He battles and rebounds. He plays a lot bigger than he is, but he has the speed and quickness to stay with guards on switches and that kind of thing.
Just his overall hustle and intensity and passion. I've said all year he's kind of our heartbeat. And his play the last two games is a big reason why we've been able to get this back in our favor.
Q. You were already asked about LeBron once, but are there times in the game where you're wondering no matter what we do is he just going to keep coming at us?
COACH KERR: No, I don't wonder about that at all. I know he's going to come at us. I wonder how to stop him. But he's going to attack. He's going to have the ball in his hands almost every play, particularly with Kyrie out, and that's the trick, right? How do you slow him down? How do you keep him from dominating the game? Scoring himself or finding three point shooters? And there is a balance in there somewhere that we're trying to find, and it's pretty hard.
So he was able to get to the free-throw line and get us some easy points and I was able to attack when they were kind of in between, not really knowing what they wanted to do in the pick-and-roll, and gave me some open looks from three too.
Q. Draymond, after Game 3 in Cleveland, some of the guys were kind of playing it cool, but you were the one guy that came out and said you were really angry about what was going on, and you declared you were going to do something about it. Why did you do that, number one? Number two, are you less angry now? And number three, what was happening there at the end when you were kind of looking like you were doing some police work when they were going to hack and you stepped in?
DRAYMOND GREEN: No, I just -- I knew it was only two seconds left that they could do the foul. So I just kind of blocked them a little bit and channelled my inner football skills. As far as the Game 3, I was upset, and the reason I came out and said it is because in playing with Coach Izzo, one thing he always taught me was if you're going to be a leader, you sometimes have to take the blame on yourself. And if you're going to call somebody out, you got to call yourself out too.
And I know I was pathetic in the first three games, but yet I also knew that there were some things that a lot of guys on our team, all of us, needed to do better, and that was fight. But I wasn't bringing any fight to the game. So how could I call anybody else on our team out and I wasn't bringing any fight?
That's kind of my role on this team. Part of my role is to bring that fight to the game, bring that toughness, and I wasn't doing it. So I couldn't necessarily blame them for not bringing it. But at the same time I knew we all needed to bring it. So I needed to be heard.
I just felt the need that if we're going to win and we're going to turn this series around, that that needed to be stated not only to the team, but to the world, because we were completely getting outworked, outhustled, outdogged, however you want to put it. They were doing that.
In order to win games at this level in the NBA Finals, that can't happen. And we've done that all year, so we can't let up now, and that was my motive.
Q. Are you still angry?
DRAYMOND GREEN: Yes, I am still angry (laughing). I'm an angry person (laughing).
Q. You were asked yesterday if you wanted a signature moment in the NBA Finals and you said you just want to win a championship. Do you think behind-the-back, crossover-back fadeaway three over Dellavedova and Thompson, pick-and-roll, maybe is your signature moment? Draymond, if you want to add too? Is that something you're going to remember personally from this series possibly?
STEPHEN CURRY: I mean, it was a fun moment, but it only means something, and I'll probably have a better answer for that question after we win the championship because signature moments only come for players who are holding the trophy at the end of the day. So I can sit here and talk about what a great play it was and what a turning moment it might have been, but we have to be able to back it up and finish the job.
It helped us win this game, and hopefully after our next win we can talk about all the great moments in the series.
Q. Draymond, your thoughts on that play?
DRAYMOND GREEN: I'm not going to go into signature for the reasons that Steph just gave, but it was an incredible play, and I enjoyed watching it from my front row seat.
Q. Andre spent a lot of time on LeBron and several other guys, including yourself, did too. Steve Kerr thought you guys worked really hard against him. Is he so good that you guys can play well defensively and he still gets 40?
DRAYMOND GREEN: Yeah, that's the player he is. He's been there for years now, so you're not going to shut him down. But if you continue to make him work hard for each and every bucket that he gets, it takes a toll on his body. He does a lot for this ballclub, on top of he's not a guy who takes the defensive end of the court off.
He's constantly working, constantly working. You just want to make him take tough shots and make him work for those baskets that he gets. If he gets 40, he gets 40. Like I said, that's why he's LeBron James. You can go throw a triple-team at him, and he'll probably still get 40, but as long as you make him work for those 40, then you've got to be satisfied with what you do.
He took 34 shots and got 40. I mean, 15 for 34 is still a great percentage, but that's kind of what it's been this entire series. He's going to be aggressive and score. Especially with some of the guys they have out, and we understand that. If he's hitting shots, he's hitting shots. You've got to live with it and continue to make him take tough ones.
Q. There was that moment in the second quarter where you got fouled by Dellavedova, and it looked like Andrew kind of calmed you down and maybe kept you from maybe even getting ejected. Could you talk about that moment? I mean, you said you've been playing angry. Were you angry at that point?
DRAYMOND GREEN: I was a little angry at what took place. I mean, I'm really not going to get into it. It is what it is. The play happened. I thought something went on on the play. But, hey, it is what it is.
We've got one more game, hopefully, to try to close this series out, and that's my focus. I'm not really going to worry about that play that happened in the second quarter, although I was upset when it happened.
Q. And did Andrew calm you down a little bit?
DRAYMOND GREEN: Yeah, he did. Because I was upset. And just wanted to be heard, but he didn't allow me to be heard. So I eventually knew I just had to let it go.
Q. In the last minute you embraced Steph and said something to him. Can you share with us what you were saying?
DRAYMOND GREEN: I told him if he ever steals my rebound again, we're going to have to fight. You may think I'm lying, but that's what I told him. Don't come steal my rebounds, bro'.
STEPHEN CURRY: I thought it was a heady play. A fouling situation. He did tell me -- well, we won't go into that. But I think I -- two shots I'll knock them down, he'll probably knock them down too. But I need to get that ball.
DRAYMOND GREEN: Oh, I mean, it was going to be a hot potato anyway. He was right there, but, yeah. (Laughing).
Andre IGUODALAQ. Hey, Andre, it was a physical, even chippy game, and maybe that's what Cleveland wants. How do you straddle that fine line between matching their intensity but not getting drawn into the type of game you guys don't want to play?
ANDRE IGUODALA: Well, I think this team going back to when Steph first got in the league and he first started establishing himself as that guy, he'd seen it a lot. Even when I played against him in the playoffs when I was in Denver there was talk of let's get into him, let's hit him and see how he responds to being physical.
So I think he's seen it a lot throughout his career. We've seen it this year a lot, even in the regular season. So we know how to adjust, stay physical, but not let it take us away from who we really are.
Q. Take us through the end of the game when you're in there and you're watching superstar versus superstar make amazing shot after amazing shot. What's being called in the huddle? Are there plays being called or just is the coach asking the chef to cook something up there?
ANDRE IGUODALA: We're just in a flow. I think that's what makes both teams great is that every player understands their role. Guys on this team understand Steph is a great player. He's going to make everyone else on the team great, and at the same time, we're going to help him be great. That is setting picks for him, getting the ball to him in the spots he likes, setting up flair-up screens for him, they double team him, being an outlet for him.
So we're just all feeding off each other, and we know when it's crunch time and we need a big shot, we know where to get him the ball.
Q. Have you seen him get better in the past couple of games?
ANDRE IGUODALA: Oh, for sure. Small things, and the average fan wouldn't see it, but I'm watching him come out of pick-and-rolls and using his jump stop, something we drew every single day when he always had a problem with floating passes out of a pick-and-roll and getting turnovers. He had one or two tonight. But he's consistently gotten better at pivoting out of those double teams, hitting the right guy. Letting the game flow, taking better shots. His mind is getting better and better, and he has even more room to improve.
Q. Were you surprised with the hack-a-Iggy tactic, and do you intend to change anything?
ANDRE IGUODALA: No, I'm not surprised at all. But going forward you've got to expect it and you've got to prepare for it. So got a day tomorrow when we get to Cleveland to prepare for it. And it's a challenge. Just like any other challenge, you want to meet it head on and you want to be ready for it.
Q. Andre, with the hacking strategy, did you see at the end there when Draymond came in to block Iman when he was coming over to foul you?
ANDRE IGUODALA: No, I didn't see it. I think we called timeout, and it was just so much going on, so I didn't get a chance to see it.
Q. Also, how physically are you holding up after these pretty epic battles with LeBron?
ANDRE IGUODALA: Well, it's just mentally more than anything. The mental challenge is you're not going to give up no matter what. You might feel some fatigue. I felt like there were some moments when he got the best of me on a low block, made some tough shots. But mentally you've got to say you're going to get a stop every opportunity you get, and you've got to keep just grinding it out.
Q. Andre, I think we've all been waiting for Steph Curry to have a signature moment in these Finals. Did he have one tonight, and was it that crossover play that he made late in the game?
ANDRE IGUODALA: Yeah, it was the crossover play on the right wing, and he hit him with the bop-bop, and guy leaves his feet but he's also trying to slide on defense. He almost falls back, and Steph had that rhythm about him when he shot it, and you know it's going in as soon as it's leaving his hands.
Steph's been really smart this whole series of not overreacting to everything that's around the game. He's always stayed in that zone of what's on his basketball court and how I can help my team win it any way possible and not getting out of myself or getting away from what the team needs to do to win.
He's just been an MVP for us, and we're going to try to have another MVP performance next game.
Q. What did you make of the narrative that's threaded through these Finals about Dellavedova sort of getting the better of him, harassing him, being too physical for him to get his shot?
ANDRE IGUODALA: The interesting thing is we haven't had many discussions about it. We said we know who Steph Curry is. When guys get to that elite level, they're going to get point guards coming at them every single night or whatever position that superstar may be. You see it across the league. LeBron gets it night-in and night-out. Guys want to make a name by going up against the best.
Steph's going to have that, and I think he's used to it. Tonight he did an awesome job of sticking to who he was and having a great game.
Q. Andre you were at the free-throw line and there were some MVP chants in the building. You often talk about how defense doesn't get the attention that offense does. But did you see that tending to shift a little bit with the way you're playing these Finals?
ANDRE IGUODALA: When I hear MVP I'm thinking they're talking about Steph. So until reach the ultimate goal, who knows when it will ever be, it could happen in two days, it could happen in five days, it may never happen, my whole focus is to do my job as best as possible for this team and to try to help us win every single night we play.
Q. You're one game away from an NBA Championship. How do you keep your feet on the ground over the next 48 hours?
ANDRE IGUODALA: I think just being in the league for 11 years and never being in this moment and knowing how hard it is, I'm just excited to get back on the court and just playing as hard as possible. Win, lose or draw, just knowing I gave it my all throughout the whole process. I don't think a trophy or a ring can really signify who you are as a person, but the work you put in kind of says it all.
I've just been through a lot this year. A lot about what happened early in the year I think was blown out of proportion. I've just enjoyed my teammates, and they've been working really hard. We've got this goal in mind, and we've just been fighting trying to get it. And every opportunity we get here going forward, we're going to play hard.