Game Quotes: Cavaliers at Golden State Warriors - June 4

(Coach, can you just tell us what you know about Kyrie so far?):
COACH BLATT: He's with the doctors right now being evaluated. I can't give you any specifics yet. I just don't know.

(What happened in overtime? You guys just stalled out. What did you see?):
COACH BLATT: I thought we came out of the regulation flat and without the kind of energy that we had displayed throughout the game. They made a few plays. I mean, the first minute or minute and a half no one scored, and it seemed like once they got a basket or two we kind of dropped and they took the momentum and obviously continued throughout the overtime. We sort of dropped off the map a little bit.

(Was that maybe fatigue?):
COACH BLATT: Could have been. Yes, definitely could have been.

(You guys had a big rebounding advantages in the first and third quarters, if I'm not mistaken. It kind of went back and forth. I was curious if you had kind of a reason why they outrebounded you so badly in the fourth?):
COACH BLATT: Honestly, no, not at this time. I'll have to look at the tape and give you a more intelligent answer. But, obviously, that's very important. It was a possession game. A basket here and a basket there.
So part of that certainly is securing the basketball, and we didn't do a good enough job of it in that respect in the fourth quarter.

(I know you can't quite provide a status update on Kyrie, but was the contact with Barnes' knee? Is that how it occurred? Do you know how the aggravation occurred?):
COACH BLATT: I don't think so, but I haven't really seen the tape yet, so it's hard for me to tell you. But I don't think it was a contact injury, no.

(First of all, did you feel as if the game was in your hands after that great start in the first quarter? Secondly, if you can say something to your viewers in Israel, tens of thousands woke up in the middle of the night to watch your game.):
COACH BLATT: Well, we did start extremely well. We were prepared, and we had a game plan that we followed well early. But the NBA game is a long game. A 48 minute game is a long game, lot of stops, lot of changes in momentum. You know, a tough away game.
Teams are going to make their runs. They did. We ran back. They did, we ran back. But still we were in a position to win that game in a very tough and hard fought game by both sides.
To the tens of thousands or more that woke up in the middle of the night in Israel, I'm sorry. But I hope you enjoyed it, and you certainly saw a good game, and I appreciate the fact that they follow us the way they do.

(Coach, did you expect such a great offensive performance from LeBron tonight, him being so aggressive? Forgetting about the assists and rebounds and just keep scoring and being aggressive for you guys?):
COACH BLATT: Well, first of all, he did attack and play and perform at the highest level on the biggest stage in the game, which is appropriate for him.
We've got to do more around him.

(Your bench and some of your role players have been so big, especially the last couple of rounds. Tonight their bench, 34 points, Iguodala and Speights off the bench. Was that kind of the difference tonight you think their bench versus maybe the contributions just not coming from you guys?):
COACH BLATT: I think that was a pretty significant factor, obviously. In terms of numbers and in terms of the lift that they got. But our bench has been good throughout the playoffs, as you know and, and as you stated, tonight less so. We missed their contribution.

(Coach, J.R. Smith, following up on that he request, J.R. Smith, 3 for 13, seven misses from three. Were there some possessions you'd like to get back? It just seemed that he was releasing too quickly in the 24 clock?):
COACH BLATT: No. Actually, I'd like to see us frame up for some more shots, you know, to get him good looks. He's a shot maker and a tough shot maker. But the more open looks that we can get for him, the better for us. That's what he does for us. That's what he's supposed to do. We just need to get him better shots.

(Are you going to try and get your bench more minutes in the next game, get more guys in? Can you do that?):
COACH BLATT: Certainly we can, but at the end of the day, people, it was a one shot game. You're there in the first game of the NBA Finals on an away floor, and we were in position to win that game. So in retrospect, yes, would have liked to have done that.
Realistically, we put ourselves in position to win that game the way we played it. But like every other game, you look, and you see, and you adjust. When and if necessary, you change tactic.

LeBron James,
Tristan Thompson

(LeBron, I wanted to ask you about your mindset on the final possession in regulation? You obviously made jumpers throughout the game, but you had great success getting in the paint. I was just wondering if you were anticipating a double coming, and you might have to give up the ball and not be able to take the last shot yourself? Is that why you shot a jumper?):
LEBRON JAMES: No, my mindset was we're either going to go out of here with a win or going into overtime. I'm going to get the last shot. Actually, Shumpert was able to get another look at it, but I got to where I wanted to get, step back, made them before. We had our chances.

(In the overtime, what happened in the overtime? You got just two points?):
LEBRON JAMES: I mean, you just said it. We couldn't get a good look. We couldn't get nothing to drop, including myself. J.R. had a really good look on the three at one point, but they just ramped it up a little bit. They got to the free throw line, and we didn't get it. I mean, we really only had zero points, and I got the lay up at the end, but that didn't mean much because they did a good job closing it in overtime.

(Last time you guys lost in the playoffs was in Chicago Game 3, reeled off seven wins since then. Do you think you guys learned anything from that experience, and can you lean on it in this situation?):
LEBRON JAMES: Well, I mean, we had a lot of miscues tonight. I think they would say the same. We had a lot of breakdowns, a couple of transition threes they made that we kind of pinpointed on saying we don't want to give those up. But at the end of the day, we gave ourselves a chance, man. I missed a tough one. But we had so many opportunities to win this game, and we didn't. It's up to us now to look at the film, watch and make some adjustments, what you need to do and be ready for Sunday.

(Up until that final minute, Kyrie had had such a good game. How tough was it to see him go down, and how concerned are you about him?):
LEBRON JAMES: It was very tough to see. I just see how hard he worked these last eight days just to get himself to play at this level tonight. Seeing him walk out of the locker room on crutches just now, that's a tough blow for our team.

(Adding to that, LeBron, if Kyrie is limited at all and he can't do what you need him to do, the bench numbers were so lopsided, do you have enough you can find without him?):
LEBRON JAMES: Well, I mean, it's the next man up. If Kyrie can't go, Delly's number is going to be called and everyone else has to pick each other up. They outscored us 35 9 on bench points. But, you know, we still had a chance to win. We had a few miscues defensively. Had a couple of turnovers offensively, but we were right there. Like I said, they just made a couple more plays than we made.

(Coach Blatt said that you had a great performance, obviously, 44 points. But the guys around you are going to need to be better. Your thoughts on how your teammate played tonight?):
LEBRON JAMES: We all have to be better, including myself. I don't think I was great. I've got to do better things out on the floor to help us be more precise offensively. I've got to communicate a little bit more defensively to help our team get over the hump.
It's not about me. It's not about the next guy. It's about all of us. We have to we're going to watch the film and get better for Game 2.

(Was there a fatigue factor towards the end of the fourth quarter?):
LEBRON JAMES: What do you mean?

(Were your guys getting tired?):
LEBRON JAMES: I mean, I think everyone was out there just playing through it, just trying to fight through it. Both teams have been off for so many days that fatigue may have set in. But both teams were fighting and both teams wanted to win really bad.

(Do you think the fact that you were in your beast mode in the last quarter sort of affected the other guys and they were expecting you to make the shots and win the game?):
LEBRON JAMES: Well, they expect for me to make plays. It's nothing I did tonight. It's nothing different than what I've been doing all postseason. That's just been our game plan. Guys have been able to step up and make shots and make plays. So it has nothing to do about beast mode or whatever the case. It's our game plan, and our game plan worked. We put ourselves in a position to win, we just didn't come through.

(Tristan, 47 minutes tonight, maybe the most you've ever played in your career. Can you talk about the experience, but you still looked fresh down the stretch as well even during the difficult period over the last seven minutes of the game?):
TRISTAN THOMPSON: Just got to be prepared for whatever Coach wants me to do. Whether it's playing 25 minutes, 35 minutes, I've just got to be able to come out and be productive and do my job, which is to defend, rebound, and play hard.

Kyrie Irving

J.R. Smith

Head Coach Steve Kerr

(Coach, what made you switch to the small lineup when you did, and how do you think it worked, because clearly it worked well?):
COACH KERR: Well, we put Festus in to jump the overtime tip to try to get possession, but I put Harrison I told Harrison you're going to get him in the next dead ball. And then there wasn't a dead ball for two minutes, and Festus did really well.
So then he had a couple of defensive plays and a couple of boards, so we were debating as a staff, do we still want to go small. We decided to do it just to change the look a little bit, spread the floor.
You have to kind of try to keep doing some different things with LeBron because he's I mean, he's just so talented and can score in so many ways. So we just decided to change the look a little bit.
Whether that worked or not, I mean, it worked on the scoreboard. He may have missed a couple shots that he had been hitting earlier, but it was just something we did.

(You've talked many times about Andre and his defense, but when you get some offense from him, what kind of contribution is that? Also, LeBron obviously put up huge numbers tonight, but what did you think of Andre's job on LeBron tonight?):
COACH KERR: I thought he was fantastic. Andre is one of the smartest defenders I've ever seen. I mean, he understands angles, he understands where everybody is on the floor. You know, it's funny to say when a guy gets 44 points that the defender did a really good job, but I thought Andre did extremely well. Made LeBron take some tough shots.
Then offensively, you know, he got going. He made a big three in the corner late in the game. I think it was mid fourth quarter or so. But Andre has been fantastic all year. The numbers don't always show it, but he's a great player for us.

(You've had a few anxious days over the weekend when you didn't know what Klay's status was. How did you think he played tonight? It looked like a little bit of a slow start for him. Didn't really get a rhythm in the first half, and then he got going a little bit.):
COACH KERR: Yeah, it was a slow start for all of us. You know, I just felt like the first quarter we looked nervous. Klay didn't get anything going for a while, but I thought he was great in the second half. You know, he got to the free throw line, he defended well. He made Kyrie work really hard.
Kyrie was great. He had a stretch there where he was really tough to stop, but I thought Klay kept after him and, as I said, gave us some offense in the second half. So it was a really good effort from Klay.

(Can you just talk about, I know this is a dream overtime for you when everything was going well. Describe what it was like when everything's going that well? And how would you describe that overtime?):
COACH KERR: I don't know. It's you just want to keep going play by play. I mean, I didn't even think we were going to have overtime because I thought Iman's follow was going in. It looked good the whole way. It was right on line. It was maybe a few inches short. But I thought the whole bench thought it was going in.
So we were lucky to get overtime. I do believe in our depth. You know, we played ten people. Mo Speights was fantastic tonight. We play a lot of people and we feel like over the course of a game and maybe in overtime we can keep fighting and good things will happen.

(LeBron only had six assists. He wasn't as involved as a passer despite playing 46 minutes. What do you think went into stopping him from facilitating?):
COACH KERR: Well, he did have 44 points (laughing). It's pick your poison with him. He's a great player. I mean, everybody knows that, and he does so many things for them. You know, he's difficult to stop. They're posting him up a ton. I think when Kevin Love went out they had to change some things based on just the geometry on the floor. So they're going to him a lot on the post. He's gotten really good down there, and he's tough to stop.
But you pick your poison, and you see what happens.

(First of all, medical question, how close were you to getting a heart attack in that Shumpert shot last second?):
COACH KERR: I think I was okay. I think I maybe held my breath for a second, but no heart palpitations.

(Secondly, how did it feel for you first game of a first final as a coach?):
COACH KERR: It was great. This is so much fun. This is what we all dream of in the NBA, to play in The Finals, to coach in The Finals, to be part of all of this, two great teams. The crowd was fantastic. It's obviously more fun to win than it is to lose. But to be part of it, to feel it, I think all our players are excited about what's ahead here in the next couple weeks.

(Coach, can you talk about that 72 second sequence to open the fourth quarter? Three possessions, finally getting that big bucket that breaks the tie? Up to that time with the exception of that 24 7 run in the second quarter, that evened the game up. It was just a slow, a slog, just a plodding affair. But that one seemed to ignite the team to some extent.):
COACH KERR: Yeah, it's always a game of runs. Our team, we like to play fast. We try to rely on our defense to get stops so we can get out and run. And there are going to be runs both ways, especially when you get to The Finals. You're going to be playing against a great team. So you just have to stay with it. You just keep staying with it and the runs will come as long as you continue to fight and compete and execute.
I thought for the most part it wasn't our best game, but we did a lot of things well. We only turned it over 12 times. After that slow start, we started to move the ball better. And we fought. That was the biggest thing. We just competed and stayed with it.

(Did you come close to maybe trapping LeBron or trying to take the ball out of his hands? I know that's not what you normally do. But was there ever a thought of we've got to change it up to take the ball out of his hands?):
COACH KERR: If I tell you, would you promise to keep it between us?

(Absolutely.):
COACH KERR: You're always debating things on the bench as a staff. What do we do here? What do we think here? Whether it's a rotation, who is going to guard whom. So there is always debate going on, and we chose to stay with what we were doing. Like I said, sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.

(Kyrie looked like he was pretty healthy until all of a sudden in that last minute when he got hurt again. How much does this series change if Kyrie's hurt and isn't able to go or is less than a hundred percent?):
COACH KERR: Yeah, it's something I hate to see. I never like to see anybody get injured on either team. I want everybody healthy. And I hope he can play. I mean that. You probably don't believe me, but I mean that. You want everybody healthy. You want everybody playing. This is the dream of every player, to come to the NBA Finals and perform and compete. So I hope he's okay.
As far as what happens, obviously there are injuries all the time and everyone adapts and you just go from there. But I hope he's okay for the rest of the series.

(You know, Iguodala was the guy that you chose at the end of the game and quite a long time to be the primary defender on LeBron. Why did you choose him? And at 6'6", 215, how does he manage to even stay in the game against a guy that strong?):
COACH KERR: Well, Andre is as I mentioned earlier, he's one of the smartest defenders in the league, and he's stronger or he is very strong. He's not stronger than LeBron, but he is very strong. He may not have the same weight. You know, he's giving up 50 pounds or so. But Andre knows what he's doing.
A big thing guarding LeBron is angles, right? It's trying to figure out where he's going, because he's looking for teammates. He's looking to score. There is a lot going on. So we have several guys who are capable of spending time guarding LeBron, whether it's Draymond or Andre, Harrison, Klay.
So we've got some options, but we feel like Andre has guarded him the most. He's been in the league for 10, 11 years. He's guarded him an awful lot, so we stayed with him.

Andre Iguodala,
Stephen Curry

(Andre, so often banging with LeBron for an extended period of time can take all your energy away at the offensive end. Somehow you seem to be energized by it. Can you explain what it was like, and how you even were able to make a one foot one shoe off three pointer during the fourth quarter?):
ANDRE IGUODALA: Well, the adrenaline was flowing, but it was a nice flow. It wasn't too high, and it kind of stayed with me the whole night. But we have a lot of bodies. A lot of guys we threw at LeBron tonight. He made some tough shots, and that's what we're going to try to do throughout the whole series is make him take tough shots.
Just try to wear teams down, and that's what we've done all year. When you get into a flow, as a kid, you play in socks. You play in socks all the time in your room, so you go back to those days and just playing ball.

(After seeing the good things and the bad things you guys did as a team tonight, what type of adjustments do you have to do before Game 2, specifically on LeBron James? This question is for both of you.):
STEPHEN CURRY: We've got to start the game better, get settled into the game a lot quicker than we did tonight. We only had 12 turnovers, but it seemed like there were some timely ones that killed a little bit of momentum for us, and we'll look at that on film.
But, I mean, over the course of the game I felt like we stuck to the game plan. LeBron's going to dominate the ball and make plays. We have to just make it hard on him every possession. Don't give him any easy buckets, and not let anybody else get a rhythm, and that's what we're going to try to do every game we play against them.
Obviously, there are going to be adjustments here and there, and we'll figure that out, but you've got to compete, and that is the bottom line.

(Steph, could you talk about when things go right what it was like in that overtime when things were just working for your team? I'm sure that's the way you wanted the overtime to go?):
STEPHEN CURRY: Yeah, they only scored two points, and it was at the very end. Andre, Draymond, Klay, Harrison, Festus, when he was in there in that overtime period, all competed. We were kind of small and we had to defend the glass and rebound the ball. Everybody sacrificed their body and made it work.
I think we just forced them into tough shots the whole overtime, and we were able to get stops with that lineup that we had. We were able to push in transition, get to the free throw line, which got some momentum on our side. It was just a classic five minutes that we needed to get that win.

(What's it mean to win this first game and get off to the good start? You're at home, and you want to win especially at home?):
STEPHEN CURRY: If we win every game at home we'll be all right in the series, so that is a start. You have to come in ready to compete and kind of just, especially in the first game, kind of feel it out because it's our fourth team we're playing in the playoffs, and they've got a different style, and you've got to adjust, and we need to be able to do that.

(The first minute and a half in overtime nobody scored. You come down and twice draw fouls to get to the free throw line. I don't think you shot a free throw at that point. Was that a calculated thing on your part to try to get those plays, get those calls and get to the line?):
STEPHEN CURRY: Yeah, just reading the situation. They had switched a couple pick and rolls, and you just go into your move and make a read, and thankfully he bit on the pump fake and I was able to kind of slow the game down and get to the free throw line. Did it again right after that. But after that, it all doesn't work if we don't get stops, so that's what fuelled all of that.

(Steph, most of the game you guys were going single coverage on LeBron. Late you came in and helped and got that steal and went the other way. Was that a tactical thing? Were you told to wait until later for that, or was it a defensive audible on your part?):
STEPHEN CURRY: It was just a read. Andre had him bodied up at the free throw line, and they had made a pass and kind of short distance, so I didn't have to run very far to get a hand in there. I got a deflection, but Andre chased it down. Used his length and speed to get to the ball, which I had no chance to get to it after I deflected it.
He was the only one that had a chance to get it, and we were able to lock it down. He gets fouled, and we have control of the game at that point. So just a read that thankfully worked out.

(Could you talk about the last play of regulation when you had LeBron on the left post there and where he wound up shooting the ball? I would imagine that's exactly where you want him to be in that situation.):
ANDRE IGUODALA: You would like to think that, but last year he beat us on a shot similar to that at home in the regular season. So you kind of get a feel for guys, what they want to do, and you want to make them take tough jump shots, but you don't want to let them get into a good rhythm.
I kind of knew what play he wanted to get into. Just going left, step back, and I was right there on him, and he was still able to get off the shot. So at that point you just want percentages to kick in and help you out.

(Is there an extra sense of anticipation, maybe even excitement when you go into a series knowing that the opponent's best player is probably going to be your match up?):
ANDRE IGUODALA: I don't know if it's excitement. I've been in the league 11 years, and it's always something interesting. My years in Philly, I always had to guard the best players, and then I had to try to create on offense as well. But it was always those nights when it was kind of I shouldn't say second tier, but those second tier guys that gave me problems because I'm so used to having so much energy on the defensive end guarding the elite guys.
You play against other guys who are right underneath them and they seem to bite me a little bit. So pause. But it was just playing in the league a long time. Playing against a great player for a long time, you look forward to the match up. Not just because you're in The Finals, but you're playing against a great player.

(Follow up on that question, how do you prevent yourself from becoming depressed when he gets in that beast mode and just goes to the basket every single time?):
ANDRE IGUODALA: Well, I had a really good vet. I'll never forget the information my vets gave me. Aaron McKie, when I was a rookie, he was walking me through it, because I was starting and guarding a lot of those guys. He always said make it hard for them. NBA is about scoring. You've got a lot of talented players, guys are going to score the points. You've got to get stops. The thing to do is make it hard for them. Don't foul them. Make them take tough shots and the routes hard. He kind of just gave me the ins and outs of how to be a good defender in this league.

(During the overtime you guys caught on fire. Did Kyrie's absence help that?):
STEPHEN CURRY: If I remember correctly he went out later in the overtime, so it was about three minutes where you were just out there playing and you have to adjust to his play making that he was doing all game.
But at that point I felt like we had control of the overtime, and just about finishing out. So I don't know if it had a huge impact or not.

(Where's Riley?):
STEPHEN CURRY: She's here. Don't worry. She's here.

(Will we see her again in The Finals press conferences?):
ANDRE IGUODALA: You nosy.
STEPHEN CURRY: I know. Probably, but who knows.

Klay Thompson

(I know that you expected to play all along after the concussion last week. But you weren't cleared until like Tuesday or so and maybe Wednesday. How did you feel tonight, and how do you think you played?):
KLAY THOMPSON: I thought I played well. I felt great, honestly. It's obviously a dream to be here, and it was fun to embrace the moment. We all had nerves that first quarter, you could tell just how we were throwing the ball around. It was good to calm down and play our style of ball. Like I said, it just felt great to get the win.

(Obviously, it was a long game. How was the week off? Do you think I know you needed it for your situation, but for both teams, do you think that it played a part maybe in fatigue? Maybe too much rest or threw guys out of sync?):
KLAY THOMPSON: I think we might have been rusty initially, but I think it was good for both teams just to get back healthy. Both teams have wounded players. For us to come out and play with the energy we did, I mean, that is the easiest, NBA Finals. But it was good for both teams to get the week off. Now we're right back in the swing of things and it feels great.

(What makes it so difficult to cover, to defend Kyrie, and how much will it change this series if he can't play or is limited by his injury?):
KLAY THOMPSON: Well, I mean, you saw how great he was on one knee. He's an All NBA type of talent. He's tough to guard because he can go both ways. He can finish with his right, his left, shoot the three, shoot the mid range, and just plays at his own pace. So he's going to be a challenge for us. And I look forward to embracing the challenge of guarding him, and I think everybody does.

(Andre Iguodala wound up with the short straw defending LeBron for the last, seemed like, half hour. Talk about the difficulty in doing that, and what his greatest contributions were to you tonight?):
KLAY THOMPSON: Well, Andre, he's one of the best defenders in the league, and obviously LeBron had a great game. But he made it so tough on him that last quarter and a half. He's got long arms. He's very active. Some of the best hands I've ever seen, and he did it on both ends.
So that's going to be pivotal in this series, is our bench play, and they played great tonight. We're one of the deepest teams I've ever been on. That's what we're doing all year is just wearing on teams, and Andre was an example of that tonight. He played both ends like a champion, and really stepped up for us. And that's what we expect for him. He's such a great player.

(First of all, congratulations on the victory. Can you explain why it happened to be, again, the rough start, and the fact that you looked very bad in the beginning?):
KLAY THOMPSON: Wow. Don't hold back (smiling). It might have just been nerves a little bit. Rushed my shot a little bit. It's the biggest stage I've obviously been on.

(Not you personally. The team?):
KLAY THOMPSON: That's all right. I didn't play well in the beginning, so that's okay.
We were just a little rusty. After the first six minutes I feel like we started moving the ball a lot better, and our bench unit did a great job establishing the ball movement and playing in a great flow, and we learned that from our starters on the bench, we saw how effective that was, and we did a better job of that.
But we can't come out Game 2 with the same we can't get down 14. We have to come out and play with a ton of fire and look at it as a must win, because that would be huge to go into Cleveland 2 0?

(Being down 14 and then that foul was a 24 7 run. Can you talk about how that really re energized the ballclub, and you were back in this game, and the cobwebs are gone, the eight days are behind us, and just the feeling that you had in the huddle coming back out after those timeouts?):
KLAY THOMPSON: Well, we've done a great job all year not panicking. We know how talented our roster is. We've been down 20, 25, we still come back and win. So we're never out of it. And Steve told us, it's going to be a long game, and he was right. We have plenty of opportunities to get back into it, and our bench did such a great job by coming back in and playing with great energy and increasing the tempo.
So we went down 14, we didn't panic. We came to the huddle, and we understood it's going to be a long game, we've just got to take it a possession at a time.

CAVALIERS NOTES: