Game Quotes: Cavaliers at Golden State Warriors - June 7

Q. Could you talk about the contribution of Dellavedova?
COACH BLATT: You know, he did what he has been doing every time that we've put him in that position. He's a courageous kid that plays right. There was a lot of nonsense swirling around about his style of play. I think anyone that really looks at him objectively and fairly recognizes someone that just plays hard, heartfelt, and tough basketball.
Always there for his teammate. Teammates always there for his team. And he played big tonight, and we needed him to.

Q. Do you guys have a master plan to cause us all heart attacks?
COACH BLATT: Well, you know, we are playing a pretty good team, and it's not going to be easy. I don't know that we'll see any easy games in this series. I suppose it could happen, but the two teams are really battling and playing the game hard, I think, playing it right.
Today's situation was not all that together different than last game, because they had the last shot to win the game today.

Q. But could you elaborate about the difference between this game and the last game, the adjustments you guys made?
COACH BLATT: Well, I mean, there is the obvious that suddenly we were in a situation where we had to play without Kyrie. I thought we were stronger and fresher at the end of the game. Maybe we did a little bit better job of distributing, not so much distributing the minutes, but spreading them out and giving guys a chance to rest here and there.
On the other hand, because of the fact that our roster is shorter or our rotation is shorter, we're asking a lot of our guys to be able to play significant minutes and give us what we need them to give us, and they're doing it.
I thought we played well enough to win the last game, too, to be honest with you. Today the ball just bounced our way at the right time, and that's why today we won and the other day we lost.

Q. You've mentioned what Matthew was able to accomplish on the court tonight. But defensively as a team you hold Steph Curry to 5-for-23 shooting, and Delly was on him a lot. Did you have to do anything to prep him mentally for that challenge, the reigning MVP, defensively?
COACH BLATT: You know, we've got a good game plan in place for how we want to defend. I think our coaches, all of them, have done a great job helping the guys prepare and know how we want to handle different situations and different players.
A player of Steph's magnitude is not one that you can really go out there and stop the guy. What you try to do is make his life difficult and hope that perhaps that particular day he's not making some of the really, really tough shots that he does make. Because he's a shot maker and a tough shot maker.
And I thought today we kept most of his shots tough, and a lot of them didn't fall. That's really the only thing. We just tried to be attached and we tried to be close and tried to disturb. And fortunately fewer of his tough shots went in.

Q. You guys had great success feeding on a steady diet to the Warriors in the paint tonight. 26 points, but all of it came in the first half. Could you talk about what happened the second half? Was it defensive adjustments that made the difference where the Cavs were not able to be successful again in the second half of the game in that critical part?
COACH BLATT: Yeah, we did go away from it a little bit. We recognized something else that we wanted to play on, and we played on that. But baskets aren't coming easy in this series, no matter where you're shooting them from or what you're playing. And we're playing against a very good defensive team.
Like you said, we had some success, some good success in the first half getting it inside, and much less so in the second, and it's something that we'll look at.

Q. Mozgov, why didn't he play in the end? Was that just going small against the Warriors?
COACH BLATT: Well, first of all, Moz played great. He played extremely well the in first game too. We played the lineup we thought we needed to play to match up properly with them and at the same time not lose an advantage at the other end.
As you guys know, we've played different lineups and used different lineups throughout the course of the year. But the lineup to finish the game is one that's been a winning lineup for us, and that's why we played it.

Q. LeBron didn't have an efficient shooting night, but it seemed like he really willed your team and did a lot of different things for you. Can you comment on what you thought of his performance tonight?
COACH BLATT: Geez, you'd be hard pressed to find a guy anywhere, anytime -- I can think of a name or two, but that's the whole history of basketball -- that can give you the kind of all-around performance and all-around leadership that LeBron does for his group.
And I think you said it the right way, he really willed his guys to win that game. That's what a champion does, and obviously he's a champion.

Q. You're up 11 with 3:00-plus left. What was going through your mind as that lead was disappearing very rapidly? What were you saying during the timeouts, and what did you say right before overtime to your players?
COACH BLATT: Well, the people in Israel are up at 6:00 o'clock in the morning. I've got to give them something to do. I can't just make it easy. 7 million people watching the game, it's got to be exciting.
No, really, honestly, the thing is that particularly in this game, the NBA game, nobody's ever out of it unless they're playing badly and have quit. Obviously Golden State was doing neither. They were going to make a run at some point. It came at that stage, and they made plays and they made shots, and their crowd got into it there in the end.
And we had everything -- we had to do everything we could just to hold on, and fortunately we did.

Q. You spoke to us before the game and spoke of a confidence level within the team. But as you know, after Game 1 with what happened to Kyrie, a lot of people wrote the Cavs off for this series. How important is confidence in what happened tonight and going forward for the series?
COACH BLATT: Well, first of all, I told you before the game, all that writing off and underdog title and little chances, that's a good thing. This team has nothing on their mind but trying to win the championship. And the fact that Kyrie went down, the fact that Kevin went down earlier has not changed our resolve in any way, has not caused us to look for some particular break or sympathy because it's not coming. It hasn't come to us all year. We've dealt with adversity from day one this year.
These situations only make us stronger. And I thought the guys played a very heartful game tonight.

Q. What could you say about the defensive effort especially on Stephen Curry?
COACH BLATT: Well, to hold Golden State under a hundred points or under 95 points, you're doing something on defense. And our guys are really, really, really locked in and defending and making an effort and making multiple efforts on every single play.
And that is the only way to play against the Warriors, because they're so potent offensively and they can put up points so quickly and in a multitude of ways that you have no choice but to be aware or get beat.
And I thought we were aware, and I thought we were locked in on almost every play. That's what it took.

Q. Your bench just got nine points in Game 1 and got 21 points today. What do you think about that?
LEBRON JAMES: Well, our bench was big for us tonight. We needed everything that we got from them. They came in and did an excellent job of contributing offensively and defensively. They were pretty good.

Q. LeBron, what is the next day and a half or so going to be like for you thinking about playing an NBA Finals game back in Cleveland?
LEBRON JAMES: Well, it's going to be the same as it has been being out here. Round-the-clock treatment, get my body, get my mind ready for the game.
I get an opportunity to go home. I haven't seen my wife, seen my kids in four or five days. Give them some big hugs, big kisses, and then I'm going to lock back in. So it's the same thing for me.

Q. What did you do after the shock of losing Game 1 and the news about Kyrie to get the team's spirits up heading into this game?
LEBRON JAMES: Just letting them understand and telling them about the moment, the moment that we're in, not about the game. I think the game is such a small thing, when you think about the moment and compare it to the moment. We have a chance to be a part of history, but it's the small steps that you take to get to that point.
So mentally, physically, just having those guys ready, throwing things in their ears to try to let them understand what this is all about, and they responded very well.

Q. Have you ever played with a guy like Matthew Dellavedova before? And what was going through your mind when he was at the free-throw line?
LEBRON JAMES: No, I think he's unique in his own way. Obviously he's a guy that's been counted out his whole life. Probably people have been telling him he's too small, he's not fast enough, can't shoot it enough, can't handle it good enough, and he's beat the odds so many times.
The confidence that we have in him allows him to be confident in himself. He goes out and he just plays his tail off, and when a guy like that does that, he gets great results.

Q. And about the free throws?
LEBRON JAMES: Well, he was very calm. Before you get to the free throws, just to follow up on the missed three by J.J., usually when J.J., J.R. and Mike Miller shoot, we don't rebound, because most of the time they make them. So for us, for Delly to be able to crash in and get that and go up there and knock two free throws down, that was huge.

Q. Your coach said that you guys were the underdog and you were written off. You guys were written off coming into this game. How much is that a personal motivation for you and how important, how good does it feel to get a rare -- to get a loss -- to get a win in Golden State?
LEBRON JAMES: Well, I mean, I don't need any extra motivation. I think our guys love it. Our guys love the fact that we've been counted out and come into the series being an underdog. They're pretty much saying that especially after Kyrie got hurt and the series was over. I think our guys are using that as motivation. I use a little bit of it, but I have a lot of motivation already to just be a part of greatness and be a part of this and be a part of this atmosphere.
My motivation is to make sure my guys are ready and prepared every night we step on the floor. And I have some other motivation that I won't talk about right now, but I have so many different things to worry about than being an underdog or guys counting us out.

Q. LeBron, just take us through Delly's performance on Steph Curry. It's one of Steph's probably worst shooting performances in his career.
LEBRON JAMES: It had everything to do with Delly. He just kept a body on Steph. He made Steph work. He was spectacular, man, defensively. We needed everything from him. When Steph shoots the ball, you just automatically think it's going in because he shoots the ball so well. I mean, he stunned me on one in the fourth quarter where he just took an in-and-out dribble and raised for a three and he nailed it and that wasn't on Delly.
He just did a great job. Just trying to make it tough on Steph. That's all you can do. You make it tough on him. You get a contest, and you live with the results, and I think Delly did that.

Q. You've talked about different versions of this team this year. What is the identity of the team right now, and when did you discover that maybe it could be a grittier team than you had anticipated?
LEBRON JAMES: Yeah, that's what it is, it's the grit squad that we have. It's not cute at all. If you're looking for us to play sexy, cute basketball, then that's not us. That's not us right now. Everything is tough. You know, we're going to come in with an aggressive mindset defensively and offensively.
And for us to win a Finals game shooting 32 percent from the field, it's just a testament of how gritty we can be. It has to be that for the rest of the series, no matter how many games it takes.

Q. If you go back and look through just at all your games, all your performances, I don't think, especially in the playoffs, you've ever done what you've pulled off personally the last two games. There are a number of different ways you can answer this, but where is it coming from?
LEBRON JAMES: (Laughing). It just comes from the work ethic. When the 20,000-plus fans aren't there and you guys aren't there, I mean, you see it because you're probably with me every day and some of your other guys or some of our other beat writers, you guys see how much work I put into my craft every day, before, after practice.
When you put that much work in there, you live with the results. For me to be able to go out on the biggest stage and to be able to make plays happen for my teammates is the ultimate feeling for myself. That's why I take my profession, I take my craft very seriously.

Q. You mentioned I believe yesterday, you said you could play 41, 42 minutes. You played well over that tonight and still played -- you were a force each and every minute on the court. The next question everybody's going to ask is can this continue? Are you built for this?
LEBRON JAMES: Well, am I built for it? Well, of course I'm built for it (laughing). I mean, it's a maximum of five games left in the NBA season. So I'm ready for whatever.

Q. Just piggybacking on that, two overtime games, 90-something minutes for you. How much are you feeling it right now? And did you come into tonight's game with a little bit different edge knowing you didn't have Kyrie to lean on a little?
LEBRON JAMES: Did you see how I walked in here? I'm feeling it. I'm feeling it right now for sure. That's why I've got one of the best trainers in the world in Mike Mancias who will make sure I'm ready for Game 3. We already have started on my rehab. Already started on my session. I will get rehab on the plane. We've got a five-hour flight back home, and we've got all-around-the-clock treatment tomorrow and get ready for Game 3. I'll be ready.

Q. Byron Scott used to talk about the injured dog theory; that an injured dog is the most frightening dog. Do you guys feel like that's where you're at right now?
LEBRON JAMES: I mean, all we can do is go out and play hard. We're undermanned. I mean, we're without two All-Stars, and I don't know any other team in this league that would be able to do that, to be able to be without two All-Stars on their team and compete the way we compete and be a force. So the guys are taking that very personal.
For us mentally we can't allow -- the one thing we can't allow is what everyone is saying about us affect what we need to do out on the floor, because that's just smoke and mirrors of what everybody else says about us or what they think is going to happen with the series. What truly matters is what we have as a game plan and how we go out and execute it. That's all that matters.

Q. LeBron, I think you would prefer not to have to shoot 38 or 34 shots a game. What's it like for you to play this way and know that you do have to go out there and do this?
LEBRON JAMES: Well, the good thing about tonight, I took 34 shots, but I had my 11 assists. Once again, I was knocking on the 40 door again. So they let me score 40 again. That felt pretty -- I'm happy I'm able to do that in a win. So just to go out -- I'm not a high-volume shooter. I've never been in my career. But things have changed on our team where the shots that Kevin and Kyrie would have has now been placed on myself and the rest of the guys as well.
It's what needs to be done to help our team win. Am I going to be in the 30s every game or things of that nature? I'm not sure. I would not like to. But if that's what the case has to be to help us win, then I don't have a choice.

Q. You obviously won four of these, but this is the first Finals win in Cavaliers history. You obviously are a man of history. What's this mean to you?
LEBRON JAMES: It means everything. It means everything to be able to be a part of history and to get this win for this franchise, for our city, for all the Cavs fans all over the world.
And if I can leave my fans with something, these fans here are pretty loud, pretty good, really good. I'm looking forward to seeing our fans and I can't wait to see our fans. I've heard our fans pretty loud before. A couple instances my first postseason appearance was really loud, and me coming home against the Knicks at the start of the season was pretty good. But I know we can be much, much louder than any fan base in this league.
I know they're getting ready, and I can't wait to see them.

Q. What was your key to stop the best shooter in the NBA tonight?
MATTHEW DELLAVEDOVA: I think it's just a team defensive cover. Everybody has to be alert the whole game because if you lose him for a second, he's going to get a good look. Even if you play good defense, he's going to hit some tough shots, so you've just got to keep defending him and just make it as hard as possible.

Q. Delly, as you continue to play well in these Finals in the playoff series, there are a lot of critics and skeptics out there who doubt your game. Is that a part of the motivation for you to prove them wrong?
MATTHEW DELLAVEDOVA: I mean, I don't really pay attention to anything outside of the locker room because none of that stuff really matters. As for the motivation part, it's the NBA Finals, and if you need to be looking for extra motivation, you probably shouldn't be playing.

Q. Can you take me through, first of all, you got the offensive rebound, big in traffic. Then you get two free throws and you nail them. Hostile environment, everything just rattling in the arena. Can you describe what that was like and if you've ever felt anything like that before at the line?
MATTHEW DELLAVEDOVA: I mean, that is a classic thing you practice as a kid growing up: down one, you need to make both free throws. So I felt like I've been in that situation a million times before.
As for the play, LeBron made a really good pass, and you're going to bet him to make that 99 times out of a hundred, and just crush the boards and it just fell to me. So I was pretty lucky.

Q. LeBron said that his confidence and his teammates' confidence in you gives you so much confidence. What's it like to go against Steph Curry, the MVP, on the biggest stage of all and hold him without a basket, without a point, when you're his primary defender?
MATTHEW DELLAVEDOVA: I mean, I think as a team we have a collective confidence that we can still win and still get the job done. I think we developed that at the end of the Chicago series, and then the Atlanta series. So I think we have good cohesiveness on offense and especially on the defensive end.

Q. There were a couple plays that kind of had echoed from previous stuff that you went through this season. Of course the free throws, you missed the free throws in Philly earlier in the year, and then the loose ball you picked up on the floor, you went through that whole situation in Atlanta and there was a lot of speculation about the way you play the game. Do you feel like the experience that you've had this year have culminated to allow you to be performing the way you are now?
MATTHEW DELLAVEDOVA: I think all of your experiences, this season, last season, at St. Mary's, at the Institute of Sport, growing up in Maryborough, everything, you want to learn from everything that you do and have gone through. So you just want to continually keep trying to get better.

Q. Certainly your role changed from Game 1 to Game 2 with Kyrie Irving being injured. Did your preparation over the last two games change with the assertion of the starting role?
MATTHEW DELLAVEDOVA: My preparation didn't really change that much, I just tried to make sure I was really hydrated. That was probably the main thing.

Q. You mentioned J.J. being such a great shooter. You expect him to make that shot, and LeBron even said a lot of times with those kinds of shooters that you guys don't crash the boards because you almost expect it to go in. So why did you crash there? What told you -- what instinct told you to crash?
MATTHEW DELLAVEDOVA: Time and score, down 1 with -- I'm not even sure how much was left. But we would have to foul if he didn't make it, so you don't want to leave anything to chance.

Q. I know that Kyrie left a message on Instagram to encourage you. Was he able to talk to you in person maybe through a call before the game to talk about how to stay calm and stay positive in the game?
MATTHEW DELLAVEDOVA: I spoke to Kyrie when Shum was Facetiming him after his surgery. Just said what's up to him and hope he has a speedy recovery. But we're looking forward to hopefully catching up with him when we're back in Cleveland.

Q. LeBron said Curry's struggles had everything to do with you. Curry said you played hard and followed the game plan, but nothing particularly special, he just missed shots. How do you evaluate whether you actually stopped the guy or whether he just didn't have his normal night?
MATTHEW DELLAVEDOVA: I mean, I don't think anyone can really stop Steph Curry. He can get his shot off pretty much whenever he wants and can get hot in a second. So we'll watch the tape and see what we need to do for Game 3.

Q. In that, can you talk about that emotion when that shot that Steph Curry took at the end there fell short and you had that fist pump and that emotion going through you?
MATTHEW DELLAVEDOVA: I mean, if they hit that, they're up one, and LeBron got the rebound and got to the line, so I was just pretty excited about getting the stop.

Q. What sort of confidence does this give you now that you have homecourt advantage going into Game 3?
MATTHEW DELLAVEDOVA: I mean, we know it's going to be a tough Game 3. Every game against this team is going to be tough. So while it's nice to be going back home, yeah, we're still going to have to do it out there on the court and, yeah, get ready to go.

Q. The funny thing for us in Israel is LeBron just sat here and we haven't heard the name David Blatt mentioned even one time. And now after becoming the first coach in Cavaliers history to win a game in NBA Finals, how much credit do you think he deserves for this win?
MATTHEW DELLAVEDOVA: Coach Blatt deserves a lot of credit. We've got a good game plan going into the game, and I'm sure the coaches will continue to make adjustments. But I think he's done a really good job all year.
Yeah, I enjoy playing for him, and I've learned a lot so far. So, yeah, looking forward to continuing that.

Q. It took you a while to break your Finals duck. It took you to last quarter. What gave you the confidence to keep shooting and you pulled up big in the last breaks?
MATTHEW DELLAVEDOVA: I think I maybe rushed a couple early on, but I had good looks, they just didn't go down. But the team and the coaches still had confidence in me and were telling me to look for my shots. So it was nice to knock a couple down in the end.

James Jones

Timofey Mozgov

Iman Shumpert

Head Coach Steve Kerr

Q. It just didn't look like you ever got going offensively except maybe in that last three-minute run in the fourth quarter. What explains that in your mind? What happened offensively? Was it just Cleveland getting a little more physical on every play?
COACH KERR: Yeah, their defense was great. I think they deserve a lot of credit for the way they played. They got into the passing lanes. They took our rhythm away. Then we've got to do a better job ourselves of trying to create that pace and rhythm.
We'll look at the tape. We've got to put our guys in a better position to get good looks. I thought sometimes you get open shots that aren't rhythm shots, so you're not flowing, you're not playing well, and you haven't created anything offensively. Then all of a sudden you do get an open look, but you're not in the flow, in the groove. And I thought there was some of that tonight.
So we've got to do a better job, and, like I said, we'll watch the tape and figure it out.

Q. Stephen Curry had an unusual game for him tonight. Could you explain at all what you understand about it? What happened and why?
COACH KERR: It happens. It happens to everybody, whether you're the MVP or a role player. Sometimes the shots don't go in. Sometimes things don't go your way. Steph will bounce back. He's a great player. We'll help him. We'll try to see if we can get him into a better groove. But he'll be fine.

Q. Was it just that he was having an off night or was it the Cavaliers doing something to him?
COACH KERR: It's always both. It's always both. The defense has a big impact, and I thought their defense was very good. Then there's other stuff that you have to be able to do to combat that, and we didn't do that.

Q. Steph was good last game, but he's had a few off nights shooting the ball lately in I think the last four or five games. Is it just a bad trend at the wrong time or are you seeing anything in particular going on with his shooting?
COACH KERR: No, I'm not seeing anything like that. I mean, the guy's been phenomenal in the playoffs. So sometimes the ball doesn't bounce your way, it doesn't go in, it's fine. You keep playing.
I've seen it with everybody. I've seen it with Michael Jordan, Tim Duncan. It doesn't matter who you are. Nobody is immune from a tough night.
So Steph has been phenomenal throughout the playoffs. Doesn't mean he's going to light it up every single night. So you chalk it up to a bad night and see what you can do to try to free him up and maybe get him some open looks.

Q. Much was made of Kyrie Irving being out of the series. Matthew Dellavedova certainly doesn't have the pedigree Kyrie does. But in this game he played a major role. Steph didn't hit a shot while he was guarding him on some of those hustle plays. What kind of impact did you see from Dellavedova and why do you think he was able to play such a role here?
COACH KERR: Well, he's a good player. They won a couple games against Atlanta, the East Finals, without Kyrie, so this was no surprise. This is what we expected. Tough game. Great defensive teams. Both teams I thought defended like crazy out there. It was a grind-out, kind of old-school game. That's the style that it's going to be when you get this deep in the playoffs. It's rarely a track meet.

Q. Do you think there is an element that Dellavedova gives them that even a great player like Kyrie does not?
COACH KERR: They're different. It's like anything else. You replace one guy with another. Everybody's a little different. You have strengths, weaknesses, whatever. So it's all part of it, and you just adapt accordingly, and you move on.

Q. You sound like you're in a patient mood, and I know this year sometimes you go back and forth between being patient and letting them have it when you need to. Why are you taking this tactic now?
COACH KERR: How do you know I'm not just being patient with you? Maybe I did light into them in the locker room. Look, this is The Finals. I mean, it's hard. It's supposed to be hard. We had a tough night. So you have to move on. You've got to learn from it and get better.
And that's what we're going to do. We were in the same position against Memphis. Every series is a little different. It's something you have to work through, look at match-ups, look at things you have to adapt to and adjust to, and you've got to continually get better as you go. That's our goal.

Q. Andrew Bogut pretty much invisible offensively tonight. Just a couple points. He only took one shot, missed it. And down the stretch was he benched because they weren't putting Mozgov in? Or was it vice versa and he was cold and you weren't going to go to him?
COACH KERR: Well, we went to our small group with about three minutes left in the game. Or maybe it was more than that. That group was the one that got us into overtime. So once you get to overtime with a group that's clicking, you generally don't make a move. So we just stayed with the group that was playing well.

Q. Steph, did it just feel not great for you shooting-wise all game long? Is there an explanation for what happened to you with the field goals?
STEPHEN CURRY: No, it didn't feel right, but there is no time to really worry about that. You've got to keep shooting and try to figure it out.
I don't expect to shoot like this. I've got to play better, find better shots and be more in a rhythm throughout the course of the game for us to really assert ourselves as a team. Klay did a great job of keeping us in it all night when our offense was struggling and we still had a chance to win.
So just got to play better, move past this game, and keep the confidence.

Q. Steph, did you feel like towards the end of regulation that you got something clicking? Also, did Dellavedova do anything that you didn't expect?
STEPHEN CURRY: No, he played hard and stuck to the game plan. Early in the game I thought I was a little hesitant when I had an open shot, kind of pausing for a second and then trying to raise up and shoot it, and you just don't get a rhythm that way.
I was able to get to the paint a little bit more in the second half. I didn't finish many of them, but I was able to get in there and either make a play or try to -- especially that last shot down the stretch in overtime -- I mean of regulation.
But I'll look at the film and try to figure out exactly what adjustments they made, specifically on ball screens, and I'll be ready for Game 3.

Q. You said your shot didn't feel right. What, in particular, didn't feel right? What didn't seem to be working for you? And is it just tonight or has it been a few games now that your shot has been off?
STEPHEN CURRY: No, just tonight. Shots I normally make I knew as soon as they left my hand that they were off. That doesn't usually happen. I mean, mechanically I don't know if there is an explanation for it, just didn't have a rhythm and didn't find one the whole game.
I'm not going to let one game kind of alter my confidence. I know as a team we're not going to let one team alter our belief that we're going to win the series. So nothing we can do about tonight. We've got to move on and be ready to play a good team that's ready to go home.

Q. What do you think that Dellavedova did tonight that really hurt your game? Would this happen again?
STEPHEN CURRY: Nothing really just besides playing their game plan and playing defense like every pro is supposed to. Not giving up on any possession.
But I doubt this will happen again, with the adjustments I'll make once I'll look at the film. And like I said, one game is not going to make me stop shooting or alter my confidence at all.

Q. Steph, you win an overtime game. You lose now an overtime game. Do you look at it like you should be up 2-0 or do you look at it like you almost could be down 0-2?
STEPHEN CURRY: I think both teams are probably thinking we both should be up 2-0. Shumpert's shot goes in and then tonight happens and they're up 2. If you look at little play after Draymond made the huge block, Andre gets the loose ball, I can't get my hands down quick enough to catch the pass, and we maybe get to the free-throw line to finish off the game.
Obviously we're going to look at it as a positive. We haven't played well offensively in two games. We've made some plays when it counted and when it mattered to keep ourselves in it or, like we did in Game 1, win the game. But we haven't really clicked.
You credit their defense. They've done something that maybe has taken us out of our rhythm, and we have to figure out what that is specifically. But I think we're still confident. We still believe that we're going to win the series.

Q. You were hedging and switching off on LeBron. What did that do towards the end for the defense for you guys to be more aggressive especially with him out there on the three-point line?
STEPHEN CURRY: That's their bread-and-butter play when they need to try to get a mismatch and need a shot. They free LeBron up on the perimeter. They set a 1-3 pick-and-roll, and we knew that coming in. We had a game plan to attack that play. They hit two. Dellavedova hit a three, and to start overtime Shumpert hit a three out of that play that we don't want to give up.
That's something we'll have to figure out before Game 3. But for the most part, our defense shot 33 percent from the field. Obviously we were under 100, but we kept them under 100, too, so we can take some positives out of that on our defense, but offensively we've just got to be better.

Q. Steph, are the Cavaliers the best defensive team you've faced all season?
STEPHEN CURRY: I mean, they're up there. That's why they're here. They don't get to The Finals without some sort of defensive presence. Having that mentality, that's what's going to help you win. So they have talent on that end. They hustle. They work hard, and they have athleticism that helps them in the situation. So they're a great defensive team.
I think they relied on that, obviously, in the playoffs to get them to this level. We're a great offensive team when we click, and we've got to get to that point.

Q. Considering the stakes, Steph, is this about as frustrating a game as perhaps you've had in your career?
STEPHEN CURRY: Yeah, my first Finals appearance and my first Finals loss, so it's definitely tough. Dealing with the emotions of it and the highs and lows of this game, you try to leave it on the floor because it's a long series and you know we can come back Game 3 and really take control of the series right back.
But it's frustrating because we're at home. We're supposed to win. Once we got into overtime, we had all the confidence in the world that we were going to get it done, but fell a little bit short.
Just got to handle it the right way and get ready for Tuesday.

Q. With all the injuries the Cavaliers have, I saw you guys attacking Delly. How are you going to utilize that as an advantage because the Cavaliers are really shorthanded?
STEPHEN CURRY: We have to use our depth and our versatility in whatever lineup we throw out there. We've got to keep the pace up. Every game your legs get a little heavier as you go through the series and the amount of effort that you have to put into it.
You want to rely on the -- we go ten, we could go 11 deep, and we want to use that to our advantage. The only way we can do it, though, is if we push the pace, push the tempo, and get stops and turn it into offense. We did it at times tonight, but not for 48 minutes and overtime.

Klay Thompson

Q. You got off to a better start today, and as a result you finished with 34 points. Was that part of the game plan, to get you going early tonight?
KLAY THOMPSON: No, I just let the offense come to me and tried to play as aggressive as I can. But in the end, 34 points is meaningless.

Q. This game was very different than the last game. How are you feeling physically coming off of the concussion? Was the last game tougher for you to get into a rhythm, and do you feel a hundred percent healthy now?
KLAY THOMPSON: I feel a hundred percent. I don't think -- I mean, last game I had some great shots that just didn't go in. That's just basketball. But I honestly don't even really remember. I was just trying to take it one game at a time.

Q. You got off to a good start shooting the ball, but as a team obviously it was not your guys' night. How tough was it on this stage to kind of see Steph have a night like he had and just overall the team not be able to get the shots to go down?
KLAY THOMPSON: Well, we have all the confidence in the world in Steph. We know he's going to bounce back with a great night, a few great nights. Without him we wouldn't have been in the game there at the end. So this is on no one's shoulders. It's a collective effort. It's a team sport, and obviously it really stings right now, but we've been in this situation before and we're not going to let it deflate us.

Q. You guys did a great job defensively against LeBron. It seemed like he didn't shoot a high percentage, yet he gets 39, 16, and 11. Is there anything more you could do against him and how good was he tonight when they needed him?
KLAY THOMPSON: He played really well. He did a good job finding people. In the end we put ourselves in a great position to win. That's why it hurts even more. I'm really proud of the way we all fought.
There are going to be a lot of what-ifs tonight, and that just comes with basketball, and just got to regroup tomorrow, and we'll be all right.

Q. Klay, can you assess the impact that Matthew Dellavedova, a guy who doesn't usually play a lot, had on this game?
KLAY THOMPSON: He had a good few plays there at the end, some big shots as well. I forgot to box him out on that last possession where he got the foul, and I'm going to think about that for a long time. I shouldn't have tracked the ball. I should have found my man. So it's tough, but you've got to give him credit. He made big plays.

Q. Obviously you exploded tonight. But what is it about the Cavs' defense that frustrates you so much and stops you in both your first games with under 100 points at the end of regulation?
KLAY THOMPSON: They're a long, athletic team. They are playing good defense, but I think a lot of it is on us. We're not playing like ourselves. We're not moving the ball like we should. We only had 16 assists. That's not us, man. We usually get 20, 25 when we're playing great.
So we've got to move the ball better and trust each other. But they are playing well on the defensive end. But it's more on us. We've got to play with a better rhythm.

Q. You seem very frustrated. I understand it was obviously a very hard loss here at home. Do you think your focus as a group didn't last like it has to? Are you guys overconfident with all that Kyrie Irving stuff and you didn't start playing the way you guys needed to play tonight?
KLAY THOMPSON: No, I don't think so. We got off to a great start. Kyrie being out, it didn't affect us because we know they're still a really good team. They've won a lot of postseason games without him.
We played great defense, man. It's just we've got to play better on the offensive end and trust each other. It's nobody's fault. It's a team effort, and we'll bounce back. We've been in this position before.

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