Your Golden State Warriors just pulled off a back-to-back sweep of three of the all-time great playmakers of the history of the NBA. To throw off LeBron James and Luka Doncic just enough, Dubs assistant coach and defensive coordinator Jerry Stackhouse threw a zone out on the floor. Then against the well-oiled machine of the Denver Nuggets, “Stack” went with a box-and-1 on the massive Nikola Jokic with 6’8” wing Jonathan Kuminga as the one guarding Jokic.
Wow.
Now, I’m not a stats-obsessed and I don’t need to peruse box scores to enjoy this game — much like when I coached my Asian-Am traveling tournament teams; you play the right way for a few minutes, you look up at the scoreboard, you should see it reflected up there with the results — but I know from my play-by-play on the YouTube watch parties that the Lakers and Jokic still scored a ton of points against those zones. One of the first times Kuminga was on Jokic, Denver scored easily. But that’s not really the point (pun intended).
The point is to throw these veteran teams off balance just a little bit, get them out of their comfort zone (no pun intended), realize they need to get buckets in different ways than what they want, what they usually demand.
It’s kind of a macrocosm of Draymond Green and what he does individually on the defensive side — and I’m quite certain he’s already won the DPOY this year in the minds of the media voters, having gotten a huge boost with an endorsement tweet from Kendrick Perkins, who I presume is one of the media members who gets to vote on that award.
Sure, Austin Reaves shot lights out and countered with a splash here, a splash there. And I would have to watch the tape again, but I’m pretty sure Stack and Steve Kerr stubbornly kept at it with that zone, as I noted during my play-by-play. At least those scores weren’t ending with a demoralizing dunk and taking the ball out after a made three by AR still kept the offensive pace going.
The zone was deployed when needed and with the surprise factor on their side, even as Reaves went nuclear and conventional wisdom would tell you to default back to man (at times).
Of course, the Warriors’ switching defense in the man-to-man was still superb, but when you’ve got not one, but two all-time playmakers at 6’8”-ish 235-ish on the floor at the same time, you’ve got to mix it up. At least Luka succumbed to the overall strategy and had an off-night.
Postgame, Lakers head coach JJ Redick wanted the narrative to stay on the side of LA needing to play better, and again, I’d have to watch the tape again to see the specific details of whether or not it was indeed the zone that affected their usual spacing, but I’ll interpret his words as a tip of the hat to the Warriors’ defense, too:
It was not what they were doing. It was what we were doing and we showed them at halftime, the spacing alignments and having the wrong guy in the dunker spot, the wrong guy in the corner. It’s not, again, the structure of what we are trying to do against reds (switching) — and what every team tries to do against reds is create the proper spacing and create the proper next guy and create the proper guys in the corners. And we just didn’t have that and you end up with turnovers and you end up with a bunch of non-rims.
Aside from my observations above, there’s two huge indications to me so far that Stack deserves some freakin’ credit:
-
As the closing unit subbed out against the Nuggets, I noticed that Green stopped for an extended hug/shoutout sesh with Stack (see embedded video above). Knowing Dray, you’d have to assume it was a moment where he gave his props to Stackhouse for a chess grandmaster-level deployment and timing of his strategies on two consecutive nights against Hall-of-Famers. I’m hoping Draymond gets to talk about Jerry at some point on his great podcast, which has, to me, become the No. 1 essential Warriors podcast for any fan (other than our livestreams 😜).
-
Moses Moody. His individual improvement from not really being able to stay in front of a defender to now showing flashes of Andrew Wiggins’ point-of-attack physicality with the ability to track down a drive and block from behind, has been immensely impressive. And Stack deserves credit for that. Moody talked about this at length way back a month ago, but I didn’t have an opportunity to post it until when Moses finally spoke again after that, postgame in San Antonio where I attached the old interview to that one:
Here are the relevant parts (originally from postgame New York Knicks at Chase Center, 3/15/2025 and thanks to the inquisitive probing of Chris Sasaki of Japan, apparently credentialed for the game for Rakuten, GSW’s top corporate sponsor from there):
I’ve been working on technique, so the way that you move laterally, footwork, stance, knowing when you can be more aggressive. So I think it’s been more figuring things out than even as much hard work…
I try to focus on the hips because you can move, you can do fake moves or whatever, but whatever your hips say you’re going, that’s where you’re going. Also try to time your dribble sometimes because you kind of pick up on the rhythm and the cadence, so that’s how you can get some of them pokes and steals, when you just reading when the ball is hitting the floor, when it’s in it hand, so you can read the cadence on that…
It’s more figuring stuff out than even hard work. Watching other guys, Stack has been talking to me a lot, as well as AD (Anthony Darmiento) and Rick (Celebrini) on the strength staff, but just figuring out if your feet are too wide, then sometimes it’s harder to move laterally, even though that’s — you wouldn’t think that, but if you’re closer together, then you can step faster, you can move faster, but figuring things out like that, I think has been the biggest difference, rather than doing a million defensive slides.
Without De’Anthony Melton and especially whenever Wiggins or Gary Payton II missed a game, we on the livechat lamented the lack of point-of-attack (“POA”) defense as the franchise became mired around .500. But now, I feel like there’s an in-house POA development program — if Mo can do it in-season and despite not really learning any of that stuff in high school and college, so can anybody we bring in.
This is especially helpful in this modern pace of the NBA where point-of-attack has become really hard to do, as I discussed and got confirmation from Santa Cruz head coach Nicholas Kerr recently (I’ll post the interview on the YouTube channel after Game 82).
I’m looking forward to seeing if my theory proves correct this July in Summer League as we’ll hopefully get closer looks at Taran Armstrong, whom Kerr told me has really solid defense, and Braxton Key, who Kerr described as “incredible” on man-to-man D. Btw, Key won G League Defensive Player of the Year last week.
Here’s the behind-the-scenes stuff from LA which included squad’s trip, probably spearheaded by Jimmy Butler, to meet David Beckham at an LAFC vs Inter Miami (a franchise that Beckham co-owns) CONCACAF quarterfinal match, as well as the celebs of Hollywood courtside at Crypto, and one Wardell Stephen Curry picking apart Doncic on multiple pick-switches called on by Kerr and Terry Stotts.
I’m sure if we play the Lakers again in the playoffs, Redick will adjust, but that was just masterpiece in coaching by Steve, Terry and Jerry, both ends of the floor:
Below are the Q&As and transcripts from the Lakers and Nuggets back-to-back (chronological order starting with LA postgame):
00:00 Steph, when you get production like that out of Brandin and out of Kuminga, what does that do to the ceiling of this team?
00:10 STEPH CURRY: I mean, we’ll find out. We love seeing those guys play confidently, make plays, shoot the ball, be aggressive, have a presence on defense. You look at a game like this where BP is just on fire in the first half, taking shots that he’s stepping into, he knows he can make and he’s just making his presence felt. JK was so decisive on both ends. When he had the lane, he took it to the basket. If he didn’t, he was moving it to the open guy, so that’s our offense, that’s our whole team. Jimmy’s done a great job elevating our whole team, but I think he’s instilled confidence in all those guys to just be themselves.
01:02 What were some things that you liked the most about this trip?
01:08 I mean, we got some wins. It was a rough start. What’d we go, 4-2?
01:13 4-2, yeah.
01:15 Obviously, rough start, the first two, close out the rest of these games. I think we got better each game and took advantage of opportunities to give ourselves a good chance down the stretch to — I don’t know how far we can climb, but just to — we just wanna guarantee a playoff series and we got work to do, but we’re in good shape.
01:47 When you take into account his effort defensively and then also what he did on offense, passing the ball, scoring, obviously, was this the best game you’ve ever seen JK play?
01:58 I think we need to kind of just let this guy play basketball. We don’t have to have a declaration after every game. We don’t have to be in a situation where we’re judging every minute he’s out there. I understand he’s the next in line to come into his own as an NBA player, but I wish my fourth year wasn’t, “It was the greatest game ever, it was a bad game ever, how was his rotation?’ Like, he’s figuring it out. If we’re gonna win at the highest level, he has to be a part of it, so keep doing what he’s doing.
02:33 Steph, sorry if this was asked earlier, saw you took a spill and you were grabbing your tailbone. How’s it feel? Obviously you were able to finish.
02:40 Yeah, the pad helped it. I slid across and it got exposed a little bit, but I was able to finish and I don’t think it’ll be a problem. It’s just the question how long I need to wear that thing. It’ll be pretty much the rest of the year.
02:57 Steph, one of your favorite things this time of year is to say, you always like to say you just want a chance. You guys just want to be involved in the playoffs and just have a chance to go get your fifth ring. With Jimmy, with the way the young guys like Kuminga and Brandin is playing mentality-wise, the starter, franchise player, how do you feel like your chances are this year to try to get that fifth ring?
03:17 Step one is get a playoff series. Step two is to try to win four games and then figure it out from there, so where we were two months ago, 11th seed and really struggling to find an identity, that’s where that kind of comment comes out, ’cause the way that we’re playing right now is reflective of what Jimmy’s brought to us, but to the question of BP, Moses, JK, Looney, Gui, Buddy, everybody — QP, who’s in the rotation and really helping us — all those guys are understanding what winning basketball is and how it doesn’t matter what it looks like. Just compete, have confidence when you’re out there on the floor and I think we’ve understood, with a shorter rotation and more consistent rotation, that we — how the pieces fit. So it’s, yeah, again, a lot of work to do, but I like where we’re at right now.
04:14 Hey, Steph, after the trade went down, besides just relying on your guys’ talent, what do you think you and Jimmy did to make the chemistry as good as it can be?
04:24 I wish I had something sexier to tell you other than we just played basketball. It wasn’t really hard. Styles are very complementary. It is interesting. You learn somebody who you’ve watched from afar played against for a long time. You understand why they’ve won and how they’ve elevated teams everywhere they’ve been. It doesn’t matter what the stat sheet looks like. He’s such connector, has an amazing presence on both ends of the floor, makes the right play and the vibe of what our team is right now is not what he’s done — not only what he’s done for me, Draymond, in terms of, superstar doing what he does, but he’s elevated everybody else and that’s a big deal.
05:13 Steph, how would — what’s one thing that you’ve kind of learned since being teammates with Jimmy and also — whether it’s on or off the court — and then also how have you seen him affect the identity of the team as you kind of mentioned?
05:27 I know he had a wild year, how it started and where it is now, but when he’s, as he said, got his joy and when he is playing motivated basketball, he’s a dog. And that point of it, it can look a lot of different ways from game to game. I mean, it’s just a matter of what it takes to win and I think he’s so comfortable in that space and it’s been fun just trying to figure it out on the fly. This is — the trade just increases the sense of urgency and it also has been great watching just the chemistry off the court and we’re all so different, but we have a good time.
06:11 Do you think you’ll play tomorrow?
06:14 I’m not sure.
06:16 Steph, back here. Okay, so basketball careers are finite and with you having the outbursts in Memphis and then tonight, what does that–
06:26 The what?
06:27 The outbursts that you had, like, the 52-point outburst.
06:30 Oh, my bad. I just, I heard something different. Keep going.
06:33 All good. But when it comes to those kind of games, what does that tell you about yourself? Does it tell you I can keep going for another four or five years, maybe even 10? Or is it just one of those things where you’re just living in the moment and just kind of taking it as it comes?
06:47 B, the second part, that is how I live, for sure. Just enjoying myself.
06:56 Any more outbursts?
06:57 That part.
06:59 Scoring outbursts.
07:00 That was nice. I know, I thought I was like —
07:03 Last one.
07:04 Thought I did something.
07:07 Hi, steph. I think you’re kind of used to, wherever you go, people are giving you MVP chances, but being in the Lakers arena tonight and this is like a very important game, do you even realize that? And can you share some thoughts when you were standing in a line, like, at the line in the last minute and the arena was going crazy and giving you all these MVP chants?
07:29 I appreciate the way our fans travel. Obviously, the Bay Area, all of Dub Nation, SoCal things. It’s in every sport. It’s a vibe for sure. You love the competitiveness on the court and in the stands. I remember my first couple years when we used to chant, “Beat LA” in the Bay at Oracle, but the Laker fans were way louder when Kobe came in. So it was kind of a weird dynamic seeing the one side of it, seeing what it is now. It’s sports. It’s fun. We embrace it all.
08:14 NBA basketball’s not that common — I mean, I’m from Germany, it’s very common, soccer games that have those two sides. Normally you don’t have that in a match, so it’s pretty crazy to see how they (inaudible).
08:29 Yeah, there’s a lot of talk about — I don’t know how deep you wanna get into it — but fan engagement, viewership in the league and all that type of stuff. Like, when you get in an arena like this, basketball is in a very good place because of that, so I love playing, I love the atmosphere. Watching this game tonight, hopefully it was entertaining across the board. Basketball’s in a really good place.
00:00 What’s that version of Kuminga do for y’all?
00:04 DRAYMOND GREEN: Takes his team to another level. He was so patient, let the game come to him. He got going a little bit, getting downhill as soon as he got in there, but I thought the biggest play he made was when he got in the middle of the paint and kicked it out to Moses. That just shows growth. He can take that shot, he can make that shot and he does often, but to go in there, take that shot and have the shot, but kick it out for an even better shot and get someone else going, that’s what stars do, so it’s just good to see that next level of growth from him and we need him to continue playing the way he played tonight. Every night’s not gonna look the same for him. That’s just the way this league works when an offense isn’t built around you, but if he plays with — we always need him getting downhill and him playing with the patience that he played with tonight was huge.
01:07 On the other side, Dray, what’d you think about the way he took on the challenge of guarding Luka?
01:11 Luka, LeBron, everybody. He got on Austin Reaves at times. He was asking for those matchups. It says a lot. We challenged him in private, we challenged him publicly to step up on the defensive end and he did that. He was great offensively, but he was even better defensively.
01:33 Hey, Draymond, your big play on Luka, late in the game, what was key in pulling off the steal?
01:40 Well, Jimmy did a great job of standing in front of him, forcing him into a tough situation and he drove him right down to me. Only pass he really got is to my guy in the dunker (spot) and that guy gotta either shoot a floater, it gotta go through my chest to get the layup. So I was — I felt comfortable enough to go for it. He put the ball out there, so — and at worst, I’m gonna foul him, but he ain’t getting the and-one and it’s two free throws, so just taking advantage of an opportunity to make a play.
02:12 Did you have any idea that it looked like Jimmy was playing hurt with something wrong with his left forearm?
02:18 Yeah, I saw, I think it happened when he fell with Rui on that play, but Jimmy’s tough as hell and we needed him to come back in to close that game out. He came back and he was exactly who he’s been and who we needed him to be.
02:35 Hey, Dray, we saw your reaction during the Olympics. We saw it the other night when Steph scored 52. What’s it like to share the court with him when he’s having one of those unconscious flurries?
02:46 It’s easy, but honestly, it’s just, it’s a joy. Like, we’re out there with him, we’re in awe as y’all are, or anyone else in the world, just the shot-making ability. Like, he’s guarded differently than anyone in the NBA. The amount of schemes that he sees on a nightly basis and the shot-making ability is incredible, but he does it while getting everyone else involved, never dominating the ball, letting everybody touch the ball and still getting off. And so it makes it a lot easier for us. Sometimes you get guys that are star players and they get on those runs and no one touches the ball for five minutes and it’s hard to have a rhythm. It’s not him. He’ll get off the ball and keep running and go find the ball again and so it’s really easy. 89 points over two games ain’t half bad.
03:56 Draymond, last time you were here, the Lakers jumped out early and you yourself in the post game was not happy with the defense at all. It seemed like since that point, you’ve taken it personally to get back to the old Defensive Player of the Year. You’re probably gonna win it again this year. Just at this point in your career, late in the season, being able to lock up, there’s a moment where you had LeBron missed a shot. You did the lockup sign to the crowd and stuff, but just speak to that mentality where you were still probably one of the best on-ball defenders in the league and what it does for your team.
04:20 That was a fun moment. My wife and Fara (Leff) sitting court side, so I did it to them. Then he hit the three on me in the corner and he looked back at them, so it was a very fun moment, but, I mean, I knew — I think that game was right at the next game after we got Jimmy, same thing. And I knew that this team was changing with getting him and so it lifted the level and Steph said he just wanna play meaningful basketball and they gave us — our ownership group and our general manager gave us the opportunity to do that. You can’t be one of the pillars of a franchise and they give you that opportunity at the points that we are in our career and you don’t give them everything that you have. And I think you can see that outta me. I think you can see that outta Steph and, in turn, if we do that, obviously we knew what Jimmy was bringing, but if in turn if we can do that, then everyone else has to. And I think, from that point, everybody’s just raised a level and I’ve tried to take it upon myself to be the anchor of our defense on that side of the ball, especially starting at the 5 and everybody else is doing their job. Defense is never about what one person can do. I like to, like I said, I like to anchor it. I like to be a disruptor, but at the end of the day, you need your teammates on that side of the ball and my teammates have been incredible.
05:53 How important was it to see, Podziemski hit those shots early and just for him to have this kind of game at this stage, late in the season?
06:03 It was, it is, well, he got going in that San Antonio game and he’s kind of continued it since, but it’s huge because, again, I’m gonna say the term again: “meaningful basketball.” Unfortunately, he hasn’t had the opportunity to play much meaningful basketball at this level and so for us, we plan on doing that and with him, we need these games to prepare him for what’s to come and for him, Moses, JK — those guys, Moses and JK, won a championship, but they didn’t play a ton of minutes. They are key pieces to what we’re trying to do now and so getting these guys, these games right now, that means something and seeing them step up the way they are is huge. It’s the growth that you hope you have from second-, and third-, and fourth-year guys and they’re doing it.
07:02 This Lakers team is a team you might see again, down the line. How different was it playing them tonight with Luka and how do you feel like you match up, generally?
07:11 It’s very different playing them with Luka because we’ve had our battles with Bron over the years. He can make any pass, any play at any time and now they got two guys that can make any pass, any play at any time. And so it just changes things. It changes how much you can help. It changes kind of your cat-and-mouse game. When you got two stars and like they have, and Bron and Luka, I think that’s tough for anybody. And now let’s talk about Austin Reaves because he’s been playing like a star over the last 15 games or so and it makes them a tough, tough team to beat, but I think we executed our game plan tonight pretty well, was able to come out with the win, but I think this is a team we’ll see sometime soon down the road.
08:03 Steve said you guys got on Brandin recently when he didn’t take one of those half-courters. I believe you got on him, particularly.
08:10 Absolutely.
08:11 He hit one tonight. I guess, what was your message to him?
08:17 Well, him and Steph shoot half court shots against each other every day and night. I know you’d imagine that the standard is like Steph, I’m not sure what their count is, but BP could be possibly leading. Like, he hits those shots very frequently and so we get in the game at San Antonio and he had one at the buzzer and he threw it to Jimmy and we all like, “What are you doing?” Like, “No, you have to take that shot.” He took it tonight and he made it and so that’s why you kind of seen everybody reaction from the bench going crazy. And he’s running off yelling, “Gimme my money,” because we shoot half court shots when someone’s late, for money. And he’s yelling, running, yelling, “Gimme my money, gimme my money.” So it was a great moment, but it’s good to see him make that shot. It was a huge shot. They had just, I think, they had just hit a three or — and so it was a huge shot, completely shifted the momentum going into the half back to us and so, but the stickler on taking those shots is Steph, he talked about it before. He’s always the one, like, “Hey man, like, don’t just dribble the ball, dribble the clock out, then throw it up.” Like, he hates that and so it kind of creates this culture on this team where you gotta take that shot and if you don’t want to, then don’t go grab the ball. Give the ball to somebody who’s gonna take it. But BP stepped up. He took the shot, he made it. It was a huge play.
09:41 You’ve mentioned how there’s kind of been a level of additional urgency and you guys have seen the growth in this team since acquiring Jimmy Butler. What have you seen in terms of, if at all, a shift in culture, identity and how he’s added to that?
09:56 It is just really the shift in belief. I think our culture has been here. A bunch of people did a great incredible job of creating that, but what he’s changed is the belief in this group. It’s no surprise. I’m in Year 13, I think. Steph’s in year what, 16?
10:15 16.
10:16 We’re on the wrong side of our downside, but we still got a lot left in the tank and we all knew. We kind of all felt like, and you heard us all saying all year, like, “Man, we think we right there, just can’t get over the hump, but we right there.” And so when we got that guy, Jimmy, I think that helped us get over the hump and we’re still a long ways away from what we ultimately wanna do, but we’re headed in the right direction, so I think the biggest thing he’s changed is, obviously, the skill on the court and what we’re capable of doing, but he’s just brought this belief to this group that we feel like we can win again and we’re playing like that.
10:55 Draymond, on that note, since Jimmy’s arrival, how have you seen him and Steph approach their dynamic together?
11:02 It’s pretty simple. They both have the utmost respect for each other. They both have a huge appreciation for each other’s game and we, the rest of us, just kind of fall in line after that. They got this great chemistry, this great communication amongst them and when your two top dogs got chemistry and great communication, everybody else better fall in line, so that’s what we try to do.
00:00 Brandin, I think, had eight threes. Just how big was just his shot-making?
00:11 STEVE KERR: Yeah, I mean, he carried us in the first half and made a big one from just inside half court and we were all over him last week. He turned down a half court shot in a game. I think it was maybe New Orleans and so he was, he took that to heart and took that shot and obviously made a lot of big ones and, yeah, Brandin was amazing.
00:36 What did you like most about JK’s game tonight?
00:38 I liked that he played the role that we really needed from him. His defense was good. He had nine rebounds, took care of the ball, no turnovers, four assists and it was a switching game. We switched a lot and he was great, defensively, staying in front and just played a really, really solid game, did exactly what we needed to help us win the game.
01:03 Steve, what happened with Jimmy’s — looked like his left forearm and how’d he come out of it?
01:07 Yeah, I think he — yeah, he reached or something and got a little stretched out in his forearm or something, but hopefully he’s okay.
01:17 Hey, Steve, aside from the actual Jimmy trade, was there a moment when you realized that this team really started to believe that this team really started to believe in themselves?
01:27 You mean after the trade?
01:28 Mm-hmm.
01:29 Yeah, pretty quickly after Jimmy arrived, I mean, we obviously started winning as soon as he got here and as I mentioned early before the game, just everybody’s roles were very defined once Jimmy got here, so the roster became just cleaner. The decision-making for us as coaches became much easier. BP and Moses instantly became better players playing next to Jimmy and everything just kind of made sense, so I think the whole team felt that and so pretty early on, there was a sense of belief and Jimmy is one of the best players in the league for a reason. And the best players impact the rest of the team in a dramatic way. It’s not just about scoring points, it’s about making everybody else better and that’s what Jimmy’s doing.
02:26 What did you make of the way the closing lineup performed tonight?
02:29 They did a good job. I thought the Lakers were amazing. I mean, Austin Reaves and LeBron, they had to hit five or six threes in the last five minutes that were just incredible shots and they kept them in it, but our guys stayed poised, did what they needed to do to win the game.
02:52 You were able to hold Luka to a pretty inefficient night. What were you guys doing that was making his life so difficult?
02:57 Nothing. I mean, we just were trying to stay in front of him. I liked that they only shot 23 free throws and I think nine of them were on plays where we just got our hand in and they drew them and so it wasn’t like we were out of position. We played really good position defense, tried to stay in front. He missed some shots that he’ll make, I’m sure, next game or next time we play them, but you just try to stay in front. He’s an amazing player and there’s not a whole lot you can do.
03:28 You mentioned switching a lot. They also switched a ton, defensively and it seemed like you guys had a lot of success hunting certain matchups. How valuable is it to be able to toggle your offense and have success in that manner?
03:41 Yeah, it’s just freeing Steph up with screens, getting him downhill. He got to the line 14 times tonight, which might be a season high. I don’t know, but that’s a lot for him, but being able to play both through Steph and through Jimmy and attack switches with different guys in different circumstance was really key.
04:06 You mentioned Kuminga playing kind of the way y’all need him to. You haven’t had him in this specific role, really, since Jimmy’s been here. How significant does he bump up, maybe, what you guys can be if he can do that, specifically?
04:20 Yeah, I mean, I just think that with his talent, his ability to get us some easy baskets and, if you can rebound like he did tonight, it’s huge for us and I think every game is going to be different and every game, we just have to figure out what we need to do to win. And that’s his job. It’s every player’s individual job and it’s our job collectively to do that, to figure it out and to go do it. And that’s what I’m really enjoying watching right now is just the collective sense of, just win. Just go out and win and nothing else matters.
05:00 Stephen, LeBron performing again at the top level. Just what’s it like to be a part of these matchups for the last ten years now?
05:05 Pretty special to watch those guys and watch watching them this summer as teammates gave me an even greater appreciation for their greatness and, really, how much alike they are in terms of their work ethic, passion for the game, respect for the game and respect for each other. So these are pretty incredible matchups and we should all savor them while they’re still happening.
05:32 Coach, speaking of Steph Curry, 52 points two nights ago after taking a really bad fall that ended up not being much, but just to watch him, once again, do it this time of year in April, down the clutch, being the leader. Just speak to like, what it means to have a guy like that leader in franchise.
05:47 Just never gets old watching Steph play basketball. He’s just such a beautiful athlete. The fluidity, the beauty of his motion, the skill, the confidence. It’s something to watch and we get to do that every night, so we’re very lucky.
06:04 Steve, the point you made about Jimmy, big picture, but you specifically on the dynamic with him and Steph, beyond the talent, why has it been such a perfect fit right from the jump between those two?
06:14 Well, Jimmy is, he is a great, great, all-around basketball player. He does everything well and he makes winning plays over and over again. And he’s interesting to watch because he doesn’t jump out of the gym, he doesn’t rain three-pointers and he’s not an obvious superstar. You have to watch him for a little bit. I know, seeing him for a couple of weeks when he got here gave me a much greater appreciation than I had for him before, because you realize how big of an impact every single solid play that he makes, makes on us. I mean, the impact is dramatic and he’s got this great presence. I mean, everybody in the gym knows who he is and, how good he is and so he’s given us a lot of bravado and confidence and, as I said, he’s just made everybody else a lot better.
07:09 Is it the plan to play all your veterans tomorrow?
07:11 Oh yeah. Yeah.
—
07:15 LEBRON JAMES: I mean, I’ve been a part of them making big acquisitions to change their dynamic of their team before. I’ve had to go against them when they added Kevin Durant, so I mean, Jimmy is, he’s great and he adds a toughness to him. He adds a championship DNA type of guy, but it’s always the same. They always figure it out. They always add somebody to the mix.
07:46 I have no idea (how the Warriors will do). I can’t answer that question. I gotta worry about us. I can’t be worried about other teams and it ain’t my job. Thanks y’all.
00:00 Draymond was talking about how important this stretch of meaningful games are for you, for Moses, for JK, just to get your feet wet and prepare you guys for what’s to come. Is that how you view this stretch and how important is it to feel this type of intense basketball?
00:18 BRANDIN PODZIEMSKI: Yeah, from the Memphis game and from that point to the next four games, every game’s a playoff game to us. That’s how I prepare for it. I know that’s how everybody else is preparing for it and so, for me, Moses and JK to play well, specifically tonight, and then me and Moses obviously having two clutch plays in Memphis, it gives the ultimate confidence to just go out there and understand what the game is, but also just understand it’s just a basketball game, at the end of the day. It just holds a little bit more magnitude and so, obviously, we, all three of us, played well and it helped us win.
00:52 Brandin, first of all, great game tonight. Playing with a guy like Steph Curry here, you guys shoot these half court shots and all this fun in practice, but when you get in the game like tonight where you’re just in a zone, just speak to how that’s able to help this team out, especially you being such a young player and they know they can go to the young guy’s. Draymond was giving you your props when he was in here and you don’t have to lean on the veterans. You’re a young guy that can step in and produce for the team, too.
01:15 Yeah, I think the first part, me and Steph shooting competitions, half court competitions all the time. We’re actually tied 24-24 right now, the half court competition, so just a few shootarounds left, but I think we just try to make fun of it and I understand that Steph’s the best shooter that’s ever stepped foot on the Earth and so to pick his brain, not only shooting, but just that flow state that he gets into when he’s shooting the lights out, kind of how we saw in Memphis, just trying to pick his brain on that. And then just getting that kind of rhythm yourself. Obviously, I’ve had two good shooting games on this trip and so just continue that, to lean on that. And then to your second question, as a a young player, having that confidence from the older guys that you can be leaned on and you’re not just out there, it’s super special, especially as a young player. You got so many things you want to accomplish. To have that confidence from your vets is amazing.
02:18 What’s the format of these half court shooting contests, is it best-out-of-ten, best-out-of-five? How do you determine a winner?
02:25 Yeah, so we each just shoot one shot after practice, during shootaround and then we both shoot one pre-game and so if we both miss, nothing counts, if we both make nothing counts. And so you get one shot a day and we’re tied right now.
02:40 Hello, Brandin. Congratulations first and when you was kids, have you ever thought that you can have the performance and stand on the Lakers court, play the game like this?
02:51 Yeah, I think me being a confident person myself, understanding what the team needs, but also what I’m capable of — this is a big game for us ’cause if we lost, we would’ve dropped to 8th. And so understanding that we can’t just rely on Jimmy, Steph and Dray every night. There’s gonna be other pieces in the playoffs that — other players in the playoffs that gotta step up and I think I’m more than capable of doing that. And I was able to do that tonight in a high stakes game.
03:18 And how much did you enjoy the game tonight?
03:22 Yeah, I mean, playing in LA is always fun, playing against the Lakers in this historic building. Obviously at one point, probably five Hall-of-Famers on the floor together and so just to be on the same team as them, but also going up against guys like LeBron, Luka, Austin Reaves, it’s special when you look back on it.
03:42 Since Jimmy’s been here with you guys, what’s the most important piece of advice that he’s given you, personally?
03:47 I mean, he’s always just making sure I’m being aggressive, especially when Steph comes out at the three-minute mark of each half or first quarter and third quarter and it’s me and Jimmy in there. He doesn’t just want the ball to always to go through him and some stars want that, but he always constantly reminded me to be aggressive and shoot my shots, too, and not just have everything go through him which is, like I said to his point earlier, from a veteran saying that, that’s been to the Finals, that’s done so well, that’s just more confidence to the confidence I already have.
04:21 Hey Brandin, also congrats on the game. I’m kind of curious in the last minute when Steph was on the line and we are here at the Lakers’ arena. The people were starting to give these MVP chants for Steph. Like, out of your perspective, did you realize that and how crazy is that to be at the home game for the Lakers and then everyone was giving Steph the chants?
04:47 I definitely heard it and, of late, we’ve been hearing it kind of everywhere we’ve been. And deservedly so. He’s been playing so well at 37, playing heavy minutes all the time and producing at a high level and he’s our guy. Obviously, we’re gonna rock with him, but he deserves the MVP chants ’cause he is playing like it.
—
05:07 JJ, after what seemed like a pretty good first five, six minutes in terms of shot quality, what did you see from kind of midway through the first, through the rest of the half, defensively, and what your team was doing against it?
05:19 JJ REDICK: I thought our first shot defense was great throughout the first half. They had 7 offensive rebounds for 12 points in the second quarter, then we we couldn’t score for six-and-a-half minutes and I think — not surprised that they switched everything. We expected that, scored 69 points in the second half against the same defense. I think we just got a little stagnant and didn’t want to move and you gotta move, you gotta play with force, you gotta get to the next thing. Sometimes, I — you’ll have to ask the guys this — I think sometimes the expenditure of energy on one end and you don’t have it for the other end, I thought our guys were playing hard on defense in the first half and then just the second opportunities and that continued during our comeback. There were a number of possessions where got a stop, but they ended up getting an offensive rebound and ended up scoring on it, or there’s a loose ball, they get the loose ball. Just, there was a few plays there, the 88-80 to start the fourth and we get two wide-open threes. And maybe that’s a momentum change. We just, the big momentum-changing sort of stretch, we just couldn’t muster and a lot of that had to do with just the second opportunities.
06:55 JJ, Luka, just 6-for-17 tonight and then defensively, it felt like they were targeting him a lot in pick-and-rolls and even when you guys had maybe put him on someone else, they’d find a way to bring him into the action. What did you make of his night on both sides?
07:08 Wasn’t his night.
07:12 JJ, in the first half when you guys weren’t scoring, it seemed like. a lot of that was missed threes, but it was like your shot profile seemed to change, like, I want to say eight-or nine-foot 2s, stuff like that. What were they doing on that? Was that anything?
07:27 It was not what they were doing. It was what we were doing and we showed them at halftime, the spacing alignments and having the wrong guy in the dunker spot, the wrong guy in the corner. It’s not, again, the structure of what we are trying to do against reds (switching) — and what every team tries to do against reds is create the proper spacing and create the proper next guy and create the proper guys in the corners. And we just didn’t have that and you end up with turnovers and you end up with a bunch of non-rims.
07:58 Is that disappointing, considering kind of the mentality that you would kind of ask your team to have in terms of, like, we need to play — like, we need to build playoff mentality now and that’s focus and stuff like that?
08:09 Yeah, we’re still building it. We’re not there.
08:13 You mentioned weeks ago — don’t remember how long ago — but you mentioned that before the trade in February, you guys were really good against switching. Then you guys went through maybe a little bit of a lull against it. Were you surprised by how much you guys struggled against their switching, at least early on before you guys seemed to recover and had the second half you did have offensively?
08:32 Not surprised, I wouldn’t say surprised.
00:00 Steph, when you get production like that out of Brandin and out of Kuminga, what does that do to the ceiling of this team?
00:10 STEPH CURRY: I mean, we’ll find out. We love seeing those guys play confidently, make plays, shoot the ball, be aggressive, have a presence on defense. You look at a game like this where BP is just on fire in the first half, taking shots that he’s stepping into, he knows he can make and he’s just making his presence felt. JK was so decisive on both ends. When he had the lane, he took it to the basket. If he didn’t, he was moving it to the open guy, so that’s our offense, that’s our whole team. Jimmy’s done a great job elevating our whole team, but I think he’s instilled confidence in all those guys to just be themselves.
01:02 What were some things that you liked the most about this trip?
01:08 I mean, we got some wins. It was a rough start. What’d we go, 4-2?
01:13 4-2, yeah.
01:15 Obviously, rough start, the first two, close out the rest of these games. I think we got better each game and took advantage of opportunities to give ourselves a good chance down the stretch to — I don’t know how far we can climb, but just to — we just wanna guarantee a playoff series and we got work to do, but we’re in good shape.
01:47 When you take into account his effort defensively and then also what he did on offense, passing the ball, scoring, obviously, was this the best game you’ve ever seen JK play?
01:58 I think we need to kind of just let this guy play basketball. We don’t have to have a declaration after every game. We don’t have to be in a situation where we’re judging every minute he’s out there. I understand he’s the next in line to come into his own as an NBA player, but I wish my fourth year wasn’t, “It was the greatest game ever, it was a bad game ever, how was his rotation?’ Like, he’s figuring it out. If we’re gonna win at the highest level, he has to be a part of it, so keep doing what he’s doing.
02:33 Steph, sorry if this was asked earlier, saw you took a spill and you were grabbing your tailbone. How’s it feel? Obviously you were able to finish.
02:40 Yeah, the pad helped it. I slid across and it got exposed a little bit, but I was able to finish and I don’t think it’ll be a problem. It’s just the question how long I need to wear that thing. It’ll be pretty much the rest of the year.
02:57 Steph, one of your favorite things this time of year is to say, you always like to say you just want a chance. You guys just want to be involved in the playoffs and just have a chance to go get your fifth ring. With Jimmy, with the way the young guys like Kuminga and Brandin is playing mentality-wise, the starter, franchise player, how do you feel like your chances are this year to try to get that fifth ring?
03:17 Step one is get a playoff series. Step two is to try to win four games and then figure it out from there, so where we were two months ago, 11th seed and really struggling to find an identity, that’s where that kind of comment comes out, ’cause the way that we’re playing right now is reflective of what Jimmy’s brought to us, but to the question of BP, Moses, JK, Looney, Gui, Buddy, everybody — QP, who’s in the rotation and really helping us — all those guys are understanding what winning basketball is and how it doesn’t matter what it looks like. Just compete, have confidence when you’re out there on the floor and I think we’ve understood, with a shorter rotation and more consistent rotation, that we — how the pieces fit. So it’s, yeah, again, a lot of work to do, but I like where we’re at right now.
04:14 Hey, Steph, after the trade went down, besides just relying on your guys’ talent, what do you think you and Jimmy did to make the chemistry as good as it can be?
04:24 I wish I had something sexier to tell you other than we just played basketball. It wasn’t really hard. Styles are very complementary. It is interesting. You learn somebody who you’ve watched from afar played against for a long time. You understand why they’ve won and how they’ve elevated teams everywhere they’ve been. It doesn’t matter what the stat sheet looks like. He’s such connector, has an amazing presence on both ends of the floor, makes the right play and the vibe of what our team is right now is not what he’s done — not only what he’s done for me, Draymond, in terms of, superstar doing what he does, but he’s elevated everybody else and that’s a big deal.
05:13 Steph, how would — what’s one thing that you’ve kind of learned since being teammates with Jimmy and also — whether it’s on or off the court — and then also how have you seen him affect the identity of the team as you kind of mentioned?
05:27 I know he had a wild year, how it started and where it is now, but when he’s, as he said, got his joy and when he is playing motivated basketball, he’s a dog. And that point of it, it can look a lot of different ways from game to game. I mean, it’s just a matter of what it takes to win and I think he’s so comfortable in that space and it’s been fun just trying to figure it out on the fly. This is — the trade just increases the sense of urgency and it also has been great watching just the chemistry off the court and we’re all so different, but we have a good time.
06:11 Do you think you’ll play tomorrow?
06:14 I’m not sure.
06:16 Steph, back here. Okay, so basketball careers are finite and with you having the outbursts in Memphis and then tonight, what does that–
06:26 The what?
06:27 The outbursts that you had, like, the 52-point outburst.
06:30 Oh, my bad. I just, I heard something different. Keep going.
06:33 All good. But when it comes to those kind of games, what does that tell you about yourself? Does it tell you I can keep going for another four or five years, maybe even 10? Or is it just one of those things where you’re just living in the moment and just kind of taking it as it comes?
06:47 B, the second part, that is how I live, for sure. Just enjoying myself.
06:56 Any more outbursts?
06:57 That part.
06:59 Scoring outbursts.
07:00 That was nice. I know, I thought I was like —
07:03 Last one.
07:04 Thought I did something.
07:07 Hi, steph. I think you’re kind of used to, wherever you go, people are giving you MVP chances, but being in the Lakers arena tonight and this is like a very important game, do you even realize that? And can you share some thoughts when you were standing in a line, like, at the line in the last minute and the arena was going crazy and giving you all these MVP chants?
07:29 I appreciate the way our fans travel. Obviously, the Bay Area, all of Dub Nation, SoCal things. It’s in every sport. It’s a vibe for sure. You love the competitiveness on the court and in the stands. I remember my first couple years when we used to chant, “Beat LA” in the Bay at Oracle, but the Laker fans were way louder when Kobe came in. So it was kind of a weird dynamic seeing the one side of it, seeing what it is now. It’s sports. It’s fun. We embrace it all.
08:14 NBA basketball’s not that common — I mean, I’m from Germany, it’s very common, soccer games that have those two sides. Normally you don’t have that in a match, so it’s pretty crazy to see how they (inaudible).
08:29 Yeah, there’s a lot of talk about — I don’t know how deep you wanna get into it — but fan engagement, viewership in the league and all that type of stuff. Like, when you get in an arena like this, basketball is in a very good place because of that, so I love playing, I love the atmosphere. Watching this game tonight, hopefully it was entertaining across the board. Basketball’s in a really good place.
00:00 What’s that version of Kuminga do for y’all?
00:04 DRAYMOND GREEN: Takes his team to another level. He was so patient, let the game come to him. He got going a little bit, getting downhill as soon as he got in there, but I thought the biggest play he made was when he got in the middle of the paint and kicked it out to Moses. That just shows growth. He can take that shot, he can make that shot and he does often, but to go in there, take that shot and have the shot, but kick it out for an even better shot and get someone else going, that’s what stars do, so it’s just good to see that next level of growth from him and we need him to continue playing the way he played tonight. Every night’s not gonna look the same for him. That’s just the way this league works when an offense isn’t built around you, but if he plays with — we always need him getting downhill and him playing with the patience that he played with tonight was huge.
01:07 On the other side, Dray, what’d you think about the way he took on the challenge of guarding Luka?
01:11 Luka, LeBron, everybody. He got on Austin Reaves at times. He was asking for those matchups. It says a lot. We challenged him in private, we challenged him publicly to step up on the defensive end and he did that. He was great offensively, but he was even better defensively.
01:33 Hey, Draymond, your big play on Luka, late in the game, what was key in pulling off the steal?
01:40 Well, Jimmy did a great job of standing in front of him, forcing him into a tough situation and he drove him right down to me. Only pass he really got is to my guy in the dunker (spot) and that guy gotta either shoot a floater, it gotta go through my chest to get the layup. So I was — I felt comfortable enough to go for it. He put the ball out there, so — and at worst, I’m gonna foul him, but he ain’t getting the and-one and it’s two free throws, so just taking advantage of an opportunity to make a play.
02:12 Did you have any idea that it looked like Jimmy was playing hurt with something wrong with his left forearm?
02:18 Yeah, I saw, I think it happened when he fell with Rui on that play, but Jimmy’s tough as hell and we needed him to come back in to close that game out. He came back and he was exactly who he’s been and who we needed him to be.
02:35 Hey, Dray, we saw your reaction during the Olympics. We saw it the other night when Steph scored 52. What’s it like to share the court with him when he’s having one of those unconscious flurries?
02:46 It’s easy, but honestly, it’s just, it’s a joy. Like, we’re out there with him, we’re in awe as y’all are, or anyone else in the world, just the shot-making ability. Like, he’s guarded differently than anyone in the NBA. The amount of schemes that he sees on a nightly basis and the shot-making ability is incredible, but he does it while getting everyone else involved, never dominating the ball, letting everybody touch the ball and still getting off. And so it makes it a lot easier for us. Sometimes you get guys that are star players and they get on those runs and no one touches the ball for five minutes and it’s hard to have a rhythm. It’s not him. He’ll get off the ball and keep running and go find the ball again and so it’s really easy. 89 points over two games ain’t half bad.
03:56 Draymond, last time you were here, the Lakers jumped out early and you yourself in the post game was not happy with the defense at all. It seemed like since that point, you’ve taken it personally to get back to the old Defensive Player of the Year. You’re probably gonna win it again this year. Just at this point in your career, late in the season, being able to lock up, there’s a moment where you had LeBron missed a shot. You did the lockup sign to the crowd and stuff, but just speak to that mentality where you were still probably one of the best on-ball defenders in the league and what it does for your team.
04:20 That was a fun moment. My wife and Fara (Leff) sitting court side, so I did it to them. Then he hit the three on me in the corner and he looked back at them, so it was a very fun moment, but, I mean, I knew — I think that game was right at the next game after we got Jimmy, same thing. And I knew that this team was changing with getting him and so it lifted the level and Steph said he just wanna play meaningful basketball and they gave us — our ownership group and our general manager gave us the opportunity to do that. You can’t be one of the pillars of a franchise and they give you that opportunity at the points that we are in our career and you don’t give them everything that you have. And I think you can see that outta me. I think you can see that outta Steph and, in turn, if we do that, obviously we knew what Jimmy was bringing, but if in turn if we can do that, then everyone else has to. And I think, from that point, everybody’s just raised a level and I’ve tried to take it upon myself to be the anchor of our defense on that side of the ball, especially starting at the 5 and everybody else is doing their job. Defense is never about what one person can do. I like to, like I said, I like to anchor it. I like to be a disruptor, but at the end of the day, you need your teammates on that side of the ball and my teammates have been incredible.
05:53 How important was it to see, Podziemski hit those shots early and just for him to have this kind of game at this stage, late in the season?
06:03 It was, it is, well, he got going in that San Antonio game and he’s kind of continued it since, but it’s huge because, again, I’m gonna say the term again: “meaningful basketball.” Unfortunately, he hasn’t had the opportunity to play much meaningful basketball at this level and so for us, we plan on doing that and with him, we need these games to prepare him for what’s to come and for him, Moses, JK — those guys, Moses and JK, won a championship, but they didn’t play a ton of minutes. They are key pieces to what we’re trying to do now and so getting these guys, these games right now, that means something and seeing them step up the way they are is huge. It’s the growth that you hope you have from second-, and third-, and fourth-year guys and they’re doing it.
07:02 This Lakers team is a team you might see again, down the line. How different was it playing them tonight with Luka and how do you feel like you match up, generally?
07:11 It’s very different playing them with Luka because we’ve had our battles with Bron over the years. He can make any pass, any play at any time and now they got two guys that can make any pass, any play at any time. And so it just changes things. It changes how much you can help. It changes kind of your cat-and-mouse game. When you got two stars and like they have, and Bron and Luka, I think that’s tough for anybody. And now let’s talk about Austin Reaves because he’s been playing like a star over the last 15 games or so and it makes them a tough, tough team to beat, but I think we executed our game plan tonight pretty well, was able to come out with the win, but I think this is a team we’ll see sometime soon down the road.
08:03 Steve said you guys got on Brandin recently when he didn’t take one of those half-courters. I believe you got on him, particularly.
08:10 Absolutely.
08:11 He hit one tonight. I guess, what was your message to him?
08:17 Well, him and Steph shoot half court shots against each other every day and night. I know you’d imagine that the standard is like Steph, I’m not sure what their count is, but BP could be possibly leading. Like, he hits those shots very frequently and so we get in the game at San Antonio and he had one at the buzzer and he threw it to Jimmy and we all like, “What are you doing?” Like, “No, you have to take that shot.” He took it tonight and he made it and so that’s why you kind of seen everybody reaction from the bench going crazy. And he’s running off yelling, “Gimme my money,” because we shoot half court shots when someone’s late, for money. And he’s yelling, running, yelling, “Gimme my money, gimme my money.” So it was a great moment, but it’s good to see him make that shot. It was a huge shot. They had just, I think, they had just hit a three or — and so it was a huge shot, completely shifted the momentum going into the half back to us and so, but the stickler on taking those shots is Steph, he talked about it before. He’s always the one, like, “Hey man, like, don’t just dribble the ball, dribble the clock out, then throw it up.” Like, he hates that and so it kind of creates this culture on this team where you gotta take that shot and if you don’t want to, then don’t go grab the ball. Give the ball to somebody who’s gonna take it. But BP stepped up. He took the shot, he made it. It was a huge play.
09:41 You’ve mentioned how there’s kind of been a level of additional urgency and you guys have seen the growth in this team since acquiring Jimmy Butler. What have you seen in terms of, if at all, a shift in culture, identity and how he’s added to that?
09:56 It is just really the shift in belief. I think our culture has been here. A bunch of people did a great incredible job of creating that, but what he’s changed is the belief in this group. It’s no surprise. I’m in Year 13, I think. Steph’s in year what, 16?
10:15 16.
10:16 We’re on the wrong side of our downside, but we still got a lot left in the tank and we all knew. We kind of all felt like, and you heard us all saying all year, like, “Man, we think we right there, just can’t get over the hump, but we right there.” And so when we got that guy, Jimmy, I think that helped us get over the hump and we’re still a long ways away from what we ultimately wanna do, but we’re headed in the right direction, so I think the biggest thing he’s changed is, obviously, the skill on the court and what we’re capable of doing, but he’s just brought this belief to this group that we feel like we can win again and we’re playing like that.
10:55 Draymond, on that note, since Jimmy’s arrival, how have you seen him and Steph approach their dynamic together?
11:02 It’s pretty simple. They both have the utmost respect for each other. They both have a huge appreciation for each other’s game and we, the rest of us, just kind of fall in line after that. They got this great chemistry, this great communication amongst them and when your two top dogs got chemistry and great communication, everybody else better fall in line, so that’s what we try to do.
00:00 Brandin, I think, had eight threes. Just how big was just his shot-making?
00:11 STEVE KERR: Yeah, I mean, he carried us in the first half and made a big one from just inside half court and we were all over him last week. He turned down a half court shot in a game. I think it was maybe New Orleans and so he was, he took that to heart and took that shot and obviously made a lot of big ones and, yeah, Brandin was amazing.
00:36 What did you like most about JK’s game tonight?
00:38 I liked that he played the role that we really needed from him. His defense was good. He had nine rebounds, took care of the ball, no turnovers, four assists and it was a switching game. We switched a lot and he was great, defensively, staying in front and just played a really, really solid game, did exactly what we needed to help us win the game.
01:03 Steve, what happened with Jimmy’s — looked like his left forearm and how’d he come out of it?
01:07 Yeah, I think he — yeah, he reached or something and got a little stretched out in his forearm or something, but hopefully he’s okay.
01:17 Hey, Steve, aside from the actual Jimmy trade, was there a moment when you realized that this team really started to believe that this team really started to believe in themselves?
01:27 You mean after the trade?
01:28 Mm-hmm.
01:29 Yeah, pretty quickly after Jimmy arrived, I mean, we obviously started winning as soon as he got here and as I mentioned early before the game, just everybody’s roles were very defined once Jimmy got here, so the roster became just cleaner. The decision-making for us as coaches became much easier. BP and Moses instantly became better players playing next to Jimmy and everything just kind of made sense, so I think the whole team felt that and so pretty early on, there was a sense of belief and Jimmy is one of the best players in the league for a reason. And the best players impact the rest of the team in a dramatic way. It’s not just about scoring points, it’s about making everybody else better and that’s what Jimmy’s doing.
02:26 What did you make of the way the closing lineup performed tonight?
02:29 They did a good job. I thought the Lakers were amazing. I mean, Austin Reaves and LeBron, they had to hit five or six threes in the last five minutes that were just incredible shots and they kept them in it, but our guys stayed poised, did what they needed to do to win the game.
02:52 You were able to hold Luka to a pretty inefficient night. What were you guys doing that was making his life so difficult?
02:57 Nothing. I mean, we just were trying to stay in front of him. I liked that they only shot 23 free throws and I think nine of them were on plays where we just got our hand in and they drew them and so it wasn’t like we were out of position. We played really good position defense, tried to stay in front. He missed some shots that he’ll make, I’m sure, next game or next time we play them, but you just try to stay in front. He’s an amazing player and there’s not a whole lot you can do.
03:28 You mentioned switching a lot. They also switched a ton, defensively and it seemed like you guys had a lot of success hunting certain matchups. How valuable is it to be able to toggle your offense and have success in that manner?
03:41 Yeah, it’s just freeing Steph up with screens, getting him downhill. He got to the line 14 times tonight, which might be a season high. I don’t know, but that’s a lot for him, but being able to play both through Steph and through Jimmy and attack switches with different guys in different circumstance was really key.
04:06 You mentioned Kuminga playing kind of the way y’all need him to. You haven’t had him in this specific role, really, since Jimmy’s been here. How significant does he bump up, maybe, what you guys can be if he can do that, specifically?
04:20 Yeah, I mean, I just think that with his talent, his ability to get us some easy baskets and, if you can rebound like he did tonight, it’s huge for us and I think every game is going to be different and every game, we just have to figure out what we need to do to win. And that’s his job. It’s every player’s individual job and it’s our job collectively to do that, to figure it out and to go do it. And that’s what I’m really enjoying watching right now is just the collective sense of, just win. Just go out and win and nothing else matters.
05:00 Stephen, LeBron performing again at the top level. Just what’s it like to be a part of these matchups for the last ten years now?
05:05 Pretty special to watch those guys and watch watching them this summer as teammates gave me an even greater appreciation for their greatness and, really, how much alike they are in terms of their work ethic, passion for the game, respect for the game and respect for each other. So these are pretty incredible matchups and we should all savor them while they’re still happening.
05:32 Coach, speaking of Steph Curry, 52 points two nights ago after taking a really bad fall that ended up not being much, but just to watch him, once again, do it this time of year in April, down the clutch, being the leader. Just speak to like, what it means to have a guy like that leader in franchise.
05:47 Just never gets old watching Steph play basketball. He’s just such a beautiful athlete. The fluidity, the beauty of his motion, the skill, the confidence. It’s something to watch and we get to do that every night, so we’re very lucky.
06:04 Steve, the point you made about Jimmy, big picture, but you specifically on the dynamic with him and Steph, beyond the talent, why has it been such a perfect fit right from the jump between those two?
06:14 Well, Jimmy is, he is a great, great, all-around basketball player. He does everything well and he makes winning plays over and over again. And he’s interesting to watch because he doesn’t jump out of the gym, he doesn’t rain three-pointers and he’s not an obvious superstar. You have to watch him for a little bit. I know, seeing him for a couple of weeks when he got here gave me a much greater appreciation than I had for him before, because you realize how big of an impact every single solid play that he makes, makes on us. I mean, the impact is dramatic and he’s got this great presence. I mean, everybody in the gym knows who he is and, how good he is and so he’s given us a lot of bravado and confidence and, as I said, he’s just made everybody else a lot better.
07:09 Is it the plan to play all your veterans tomorrow?
07:11 Oh yeah. Yeah.
—
07:15 LEBRON JAMES: I mean, I’ve been a part of them making big acquisitions to change their dynamic of their team before. I’ve had to go against them when they added Kevin Durant, so I mean, Jimmy is, he’s great and he adds a toughness to him. He adds a championship DNA type of guy, but it’s always the same. They always figure it out. They always add somebody to the mix.
07:46 I have no idea (how the Warriors will do). I can’t answer that question. I gotta worry about us. I can’t be worried about other teams and it ain’t my job. Thanks y’all.
00:00 Draymond was talking about how important this stretch of meaningful games are for you, for Moses, for JK, just to get your feet wet and prepare you guys for what’s to come. Is that how you view this stretch and how important is it to feel this type of intense basketball?
00:18 BRANDIN PODZIEMSKI: Yeah, from the Memphis game and from that point to the next four games, every game’s a playoff game to us. That’s how I prepare for it. I know that’s how everybody else is preparing for it and so, for me, Moses and JK to play well, specifically tonight, and then me and Moses obviously having two clutch plays in Memphis, it gives the ultimate confidence to just go out there and understand what the game is, but also just understand it’s just a basketball game, at the end of the day. It just holds a little bit more magnitude and so, obviously, we, all three of us, played well and it helped us win.
00:52 Brandin, first of all, great game tonight. Playing with a guy like Steph Curry here, you guys shoot these half court shots and all this fun in practice, but when you get in the game like tonight where you’re just in a zone, just speak to how that’s able to help this team out, especially you being such a young player and they know they can go to the young guy’s. Draymond was giving you your props when he was in here and you don’t have to lean on the veterans. You’re a young guy that can step in and produce for the team, too.
01:15 Yeah, I think the first part, me and Steph shooting competitions, half court competitions all the time. We’re actually tied 24-24 right now, the half court competition, so just a few shootarounds left, but I think we just try to make fun of it and I understand that Steph’s the best shooter that’s ever stepped foot on the Earth and so to pick his brain, not only shooting, but just that flow state that he gets into when he’s shooting the lights out, kind of how we saw in Memphis, just trying to pick his brain on that. And then just getting that kind of rhythm yourself. Obviously, I’ve had two good shooting games on this trip and so just continue that, to lean on that. And then to your second question, as a a young player, having that confidence from the older guys that you can be leaned on and you’re not just out there, it’s super special, especially as a young player. You got so many things you want to accomplish. To have that confidence from your vets is amazing.
02:18 What’s the format of these half court shooting contests, is it best-out-of-ten, best-out-of-five? How do you determine a winner?
02:25 Yeah, so we each just shoot one shot after practice, during shootaround and then we both shoot one pre-game and so if we both miss, nothing counts, if we both make nothing counts. And so you get one shot a day and we’re tied right now.
02:40 Hello, Brandin. Congratulations first and when you was kids, have you ever thought that you can have the performance and stand on the Lakers court, play the game like this?
02:51 Yeah, I think me being a confident person myself, understanding what the team needs, but also what I’m capable of — this is a big game for us ’cause if we lost, we would’ve dropped to 8th. And so understanding that we can’t just rely on Jimmy, Steph and Dray every night. There’s gonna be other pieces in the playoffs that — other players in the playoffs that gotta step up and I think I’m more than capable of doing that. And I was able to do that tonight in a high stakes game.
03:18 And how much did you enjoy the game tonight?
03:22 Yeah, I mean, playing in LA is always fun, playing against the Lakers in this historic building. Obviously at one point, probably five Hall-of-Famers on the floor together and so just to be on the same team as them, but also going up against guys like LeBron, Luka, Austin Reaves, it’s special when you look back on it.
03:42 Since Jimmy’s been here with you guys, what’s the most important piece of advice that he’s given you, personally?
03:47 I mean, he’s always just making sure I’m being aggressive, especially when Steph comes out at the three-minute mark of each half or first quarter and third quarter and it’s me and Jimmy in there. He doesn’t just want the ball to always to go through him and some stars want that, but he always constantly reminded me to be aggressive and shoot my shots, too, and not just have everything go through him which is, like I said to his point earlier, from a veteran saying that, that’s been to the Finals, that’s done so well, that’s just more confidence to the confidence I already have.
04:21 Hey Brandin, also congrats on the game. I’m kind of curious in the last minute when Steph was on the line and we are here at the Lakers’ arena. The people were starting to give these MVP chants for Steph. Like, out of your perspective, did you realize that and how crazy is that to be at the home game for the Lakers and then everyone was giving Steph the chants?
04:47 I definitely heard it and, of late, we’ve been hearing it kind of everywhere we’ve been. And deservedly so. He’s been playing so well at 37, playing heavy minutes all the time and producing at a high level and he’s our guy. Obviously, we’re gonna rock with him, but he deserves the MVP chants ’cause he is playing like it.
—
05:07 JJ, after what seemed like a pretty good first five, six minutes in terms of shot quality, what did you see from kind of midway through the first, through the rest of the half, defensively, and what your team was doing against it?
05:19 JJ REDICK: I thought our first shot defense was great throughout the first half. They had 7 offensive rebounds for 12 points in the second quarter, then we we couldn’t score for six-and-a-half minutes and I think — not surprised that they switched everything. We expected that, scored 69 points in the second half against the same defense. I think we just got a little stagnant and didn’t want to move and you gotta move, you gotta play with force, you gotta get to the next thing. Sometimes, I — you’ll have to ask the guys this — I think sometimes the expenditure of energy on one end and you don’t have it for the other end, I thought our guys were playing hard on defense in the first half and then just the second opportunities and that continued during our comeback. There were a number of possessions where got a stop, but they ended up getting an offensive rebound and ended up scoring on it, or there’s a loose ball, they get the loose ball. Just, there was a few plays there, the 88-80 to start the fourth and we get two wide-open threes. And maybe that’s a momentum change. We just, the big momentum-changing sort of stretch, we just couldn’t muster and a lot of that had to do with just the second opportunities.
06:55 JJ, Luka, just 6-for-17 tonight and then defensively, it felt like they were targeting him a lot in pick-and-rolls and even when you guys had maybe put him on someone else, they’d find a way to bring him into the action. What did you make of his night on both sides?
07:08 Wasn’t his night.
07:12 JJ, in the first half when you guys weren’t scoring, it seemed like. a lot of that was missed threes, but it was like your shot profile seemed to change, like, I want to say eight-or nine-foot 2s, stuff like that. What were they doing on that? Was that anything?
07:27 It was not what they were doing. It was what we were doing and we showed them at halftime, the spacing alignments and having the wrong guy in the dunker spot, the wrong guy in the corner. It’s not, again, the structure of what we are trying to do against reds (switching) — and what every team tries to do against reds is create the proper spacing and create the proper next guy and create the proper guys in the corners. And we just didn’t have that and you end up with turnovers and you end up with a bunch of non-rims.
07:58 Is that disappointing, considering kind of the mentality that you would kind of ask your team to have in terms of, like, we need to play — like, we need to build playoff mentality now and that’s focus and stuff like that?
08:09 Yeah, we’re still building it. We’re not there.
08:13 You mentioned weeks ago — don’t remember how long ago — but you mentioned that before the trade in February, you guys were really good against switching. Then you guys went through maybe a little bit of a lull against it. Were you surprised by how much you guys struggled against their switching, at least early on before you guys seemed to recover and had the second half you did have offensively?
08:32 Not surprised, I wouldn’t say surprised.
00:00 Kerr mentioned that he and the coaches talked to you, Draymond and Jimmy last night, whether you really wanted to play and said the answer was pretty adamant. What was that conversation like and what’s the message, what’s the meaning of you guys saying we’re playing, doesn’t matter what the schedule is, we’re playing?
00:22 STEPH CURRY, POSTGAME DEN-GSW: The conversation just had — I mean, there’s context of where we are in the season, but if any of us felt physically like we weren’t ready to go or couldn’t put ourselves in jeopardy of taking a couple steps back physically, then you have a different decision, but we all felt good. Got in at a decent hour, Rick (Celebrini) and Steve are pretty proactive on some of those conversations when we all talked about it this morning. It was kind of full green light, so thankfully everything panned out where we got the win, everybody got outta the game okay, feeling good and hopefully you can keep taking care of business so that you have optionality at the end of the season, but who knows?
01:16 Steph, I asked Draymond about your quote about meaningful basketball and how is your demeanor different, does Steph change at all when the basketball becomes more meaningful and he said you can get in the weeds in terms of strategic suggestions, telling Steve Gui needs to be in the game right now, as an example. How do you feel any changes, when it comes to April when these games become obviously more important? How do you — do you see yourself clicking into another gear in some way?
01:50 You always have a competitiveness. The energy can go up and down depending on what part of the season it is. Obviously, really hard to have a sustained level of everything for 82 games, but sense of urgency down the stretch, the feeling of where you are in the standings, every game mattering — is that a word? Every game matters and the idea that the chess match of “how do we win this particular game?” becomes a little bit more important. And so we talk every game in huddles, but you are a little bit more animated at times when you feel the sense of urgency because of where we are at this point in the season, so we thrive off of that. That’s why we’ve been so successful for this many years, because as the stakes rise, the lights get brighter. We tend to level up.
02:49 And what prompted you to ask for Gui to come in? That seems like something you don’t normally do.
02:56 Not that particular suggestion. It was just an idea. We had a 10-, 12-point lead, to become a little bit more versatile defensively. We don’t need to score any more points. It’s just trying to get stops and Gui is obviously a great energy guy, but yeah, every game is different, so whether it was in LA last night, when Jimmy was in the back getting his wrist checked, it was me and Draymond went back in the last minute-and-a-half of the third quarter. Those little decisions can swing the momentum either way and it just shows we’re engaged.
03:37 Steph, I don’t expect you to do a Draymond and call a championship here, but given what you guys just did at Memphis, lakers in LA, back-to-back after a incredibly long road trip, beat Denver, all three playoff teams, all three teams you could see pretty soon in in the postseason, is this a championship-level team you’re on right now?
03:58 We’re playing like that. We have a lot of work. I’ve been saying that since this run started. We have a lot of work to do and we still have a lot of work to do to finish the year strong. You are seeing an identity on a night-to-night that we understand how to win games, whether it’s games where tempo’s a lot faster, you gotta score or if it’s a grind-it-out defensive game, we’ve played better in fourth quarters with leads. All the things that championship-caliber teams do, we’ve been doing and it’s clearly different than two months ago, so just an idea of hold onto that energy and for us to just be able to get into a playoff series. We understand what we’re capable of and whether you’re predicting it or speaking into existence or whatever it is, the confidence is there. So just ride that wave.
04:55 Steph, so Brandin looked really confident tonight. So he passed the ball, he’s shooting the ball, he make physical defense. So what’s impressed you the most about his performance?
05:06 Just being decisive in everything that he does and, when he’s decisive, catch-and-shoot, ball-swinging. He’s the guy that’s supposed to take the shot and shoot it. If he’s making a drive, the first decision is usually the right one and good things will happen, so if he keeps playing like that, he’s a difference-maker. Last night was the exact same thing, so just the game comes to him when he’s knocking out open looks, when he’s probing, play-making, just keeping things simple and decisive is usually a good recipe.
05:45 Steph, roster’s change year-to-year, but first time you guys have beat Denver since the 2022 playoffs. How much was that maybe on your guys’ mind and does that add a little extra factor to tonight’s win?
05:58 You knew about the streak, for sure. It is just kind of an extra — it is a little extra motivation other than we need a win to stay in pat in the standings and just the idea that it was a back-to-back and everybody talks a little bit about scheduled losses and all that type of stuff. We wanted to kind of rise to the level of the challenge of coming off a six-game, 13-day road trip and having a — get the good night’s sleep in your bed, but you gotta come back to work and perform. And we did that and it’s nice to beat those guys because it’s been rough.
06:43 Steph, you said you guys are kind of clicking on all cylinders, but on defense you held Nikola to two points in the fourth quarter, so what do you think is the motivation to where you guys are getting better per game?
06:57 These teams that we’re playing, we might see later and they’re really good teams that you have to play sound basketball, whether you’re making, missing or making shots, 48 minutes defensively playing physical, the adjustments you make from quarter to quarter. He had a great first half. We changed some things, try to send some bodies at him. We were flying around on defense and he’s a great player. He still got his numbers, but I think just try to make him work and I think the fourth quarter maybe wore him a little bit, who knows? But he’s the guy that doesn’t really matter what you do, he’s gonna find a way. You just kind of have to make him work for it.
07:49 When you say that this team still has a lot of work to do, what kind of strides in what areas do you hope to see entering the playoffs?
07:59 It is really just sustaining this level. We don’t have to do anything special, just sustain what we’re doing and continue to find ways to win, no matter how it looks, so that’s what I mean by that. Can’t fast forward to anything that’s in the future. For us, it’s game by game. It’s hard what we’re doing. We’re playing undersized most of the time or trying to play fast on offense, to play to our advantages. Physically it’s hard, but you have to embrace what it means to play playoff-type basketball night after night and if you can sustain that down the stretch and then the stretch run in the playoffs, good things can happen.
00:00 What’s that version of Kuminga do for y’all?
00:04 DRAYMOND GREEN: Takes his team to another level. He was so patient, let the game come to him. He got going a little bit, getting downhill as soon as he got in there, but I thought the biggest play he made was when he got in the middle of the paint and kicked it out to Moses. That just shows growth. He can take that shot, he can make that shot and he does often, but to go in there, take that shot and have the shot, but kick it out for an even better shot and get someone else going, that’s what stars do, so it’s just good to see that next level of growth from him and we need him to continue playing the way he played tonight. Every night’s not gonna look the same for him. That’s just the way this league works when an offense isn’t built around you, but if he plays with — we always need him getting downhill and him playing with the patience that he played with tonight was huge.
01:07 On the other side, Dray, what’d you think about the way he took on the challenge of guarding Luka?
01:11 Luka, LeBron, everybody. He got on Austin Reaves at times. He was asking for those matchups. It says a lot. We challenged him in private, we challenged him publicly to step up on the defensive end and he did that. He was great offensively, but he was even better defensively.
01:33 Hey, Draymond, your big play on Luka, late in the game, what was key in pulling off the steal?
01:40 Well, Jimmy did a great job of standing in front of him, forcing him into a tough situation and he drove him right down to me. Only pass he really got is to my guy in the dunker (spot) and that guy gotta either shoot a floater, it gotta go through my chest to get the layup. So I was — I felt comfortable enough to go for it. He put the ball out there, so — and at worst, I’m gonna foul him, but he ain’t getting the and-one and it’s two free throws, so just taking advantage of an opportunity to make a play.
02:12 Did you have any idea that it looked like Jimmy was playing hurt with something wrong with his left forearm?
02:18 Yeah, I saw, I think it happened when he fell with Rui on that play, but Jimmy’s tough as hell and we needed him to come back in to close that game out. He came back and he was exactly who he’s been and who we needed him to be.
02:35 Hey, Dray, we saw your reaction during the Olympics. We saw it the other night when Steph scored 52. What’s it like to share the court with him when he’s having one of those unconscious flurries?
02:46 It’s easy, but honestly, it’s just, it’s a joy. Like, we’re out there with him, we’re in awe as y’all are, or anyone else in the world, just the shot-making ability. Like, he’s guarded differently than anyone in the NBA. The amount of schemes that he sees on a nightly basis and the shot-making ability is incredible, but he does it while getting everyone else involved, never dominating the ball, letting everybody touch the ball and still getting off. And so it makes it a lot easier for us. Sometimes you get guys that are star players and they get on those runs and no one touches the ball for five minutes and it’s hard to have a rhythm. It’s not him. He’ll get off the ball and keep running and go find the ball again and so it’s really easy. 89 points over two games ain’t half bad.
03:56 Draymond, last time you were here, the Lakers jumped out early and you yourself in the post game was not happy with the defense at all. It seemed like since that point, you’ve taken it personally to get back to the old Defensive Player of the Year. You’re probably gonna win it again this year. Just at this point in your career, late in the season, being able to lock up, there’s a moment where you had LeBron missed a shot. You did the lockup sign to the crowd and stuff, but just speak to that mentality where you were still probably one of the best on-ball defenders in the league and what it does for your team.
04:20 That was a fun moment. My wife and Fara (Leff) sitting court side, so I did it to them. Then he hit the three on me in the corner and he looked back at them, so it was a very fun moment, but, I mean, I knew — I think that game was right at the next game after we got Jimmy, same thing. And I knew that this team was changing with getting him and so it lifted the level and Steph said he just wanna play meaningful basketball and they gave us — our ownership group and our general manager gave us the opportunity to do that. You can’t be one of the pillars of a franchise and they give you that opportunity at the points that we are in our career and you don’t give them everything that you have. And I think you can see that outta me. I think you can see that outta Steph and, in turn, if we do that, obviously we knew what Jimmy was bringing, but if in turn if we can do that, then everyone else has to. And I think, from that point, everybody’s just raised a level and I’ve tried to take it upon myself to be the anchor of our defense on that side of the ball, especially starting at the 5 and everybody else is doing their job. Defense is never about what one person can do. I like to, like I said, I like to anchor it. I like to be a disruptor, but at the end of the day, you need your teammates on that side of the ball and my teammates have been incredible.
05:53 How important was it to see, Podziemski hit those shots early and just for him to have this kind of game at this stage, late in the season?
06:03 It was, it is, well, he got going in that San Antonio game and he’s kind of continued it since, but it’s huge because, again, I’m gonna say the term again: “meaningful basketball.” Unfortunately, he hasn’t had the opportunity to play much meaningful basketball at this level and so for us, we plan on doing that and with him, we need these games to prepare him for what’s to come and for him, Moses, JK — those guys, Moses and JK, won a championship, but they didn’t play a ton of minutes. They are key pieces to what we’re trying to do now and so getting these guys, these games right now, that means something and seeing them step up the way they are is huge. It’s the growth that you hope you have from second-, and third-, and fourth-year guys and they’re doing it.
07:02 This Lakers team is a team you might see again, down the line. How different was it playing them tonight with Luka and how do you feel like you match up, generally?
07:11 It’s very different playing them with Luka because we’ve had our battles with Bron over the years. He can make any pass, any play at any time and now they got two guys that can make any pass, any play at any time. And so it just changes things. It changes how much you can help. It changes kind of your cat-and-mouse game. When you got two stars and like they have, and Bron and Luka, I think that’s tough for anybody. And now let’s talk about Austin Reaves because he’s been playing like a star over the last 15 games or so and it makes them a tough, tough team to beat, but I think we executed our game plan tonight pretty well, was able to come out with the win, but I think this is a team we’ll see sometime soon down the road.
08:03 Steve said you guys got on Brandin recently when he didn’t take one of those half-courters. I believe you got on him, particularly.
08:10 Absolutely.
08:11 He hit one tonight. I guess, what was your message to him?
08:17 Well, him and Steph shoot half court shots against each other every day and night. I know you’d imagine that the standard is like Steph, I’m not sure what their count is, but BP could be possibly leading. Like, he hits those shots very frequently and so we get in the game at San Antonio and he had one at the buzzer and he threw it to Jimmy and we all like, “What are you doing?” Like, “No, you have to take that shot.” He took it tonight and he made it and so that’s why you kind of seen everybody reaction from the bench going crazy. And he’s running off yelling, “Gimme my money,” because we shoot half court shots when someone’s late, for money. And he’s yelling, running, yelling, “Gimme my money, gimme my money.” So it was a great moment, but it’s good to see him make that shot. It was a huge shot. They had just, I think, they had just hit a three or — and so it was a huge shot, completely shifted the momentum going into the half back to us and so, but the stickler on taking those shots is Steph, he talked about it before. He’s always the one, like, “Hey man, like, don’t just dribble the ball, dribble the clock out, then throw it up.” Like, he hates that and so it kind of creates this culture on this team where you gotta take that shot and if you don’t want to, then don’t go grab the ball. Give the ball to somebody who’s gonna take it. But BP stepped up. He took the shot, he made it. It was a huge play.
09:41 You’ve mentioned how there’s kind of been a level of additional urgency and you guys have seen the growth in this team since acquiring Jimmy Butler. What have you seen in terms of, if at all, a shift in culture, identity and how he’s added to that?
09:56 It is just really the shift in belief. I think our culture has been here. A bunch of people did a great incredible job of creating that, but what he’s changed is the belief in this group. It’s no surprise. I’m in Year 13, I think. Steph’s in year what, 16?
10:15 16.
10:16 We’re on the wrong side of our downside, but we still got a lot left in the tank and we all knew. We kind of all felt like, and you heard us all saying all year, like, “Man, we think we right there, just can’t get over the hump, but we right there.” And so when we got that guy, Jimmy, I think that helped us get over the hump and we’re still a long ways away from what we ultimately wanna do, but we’re headed in the right direction, so I think the biggest thing he’s changed is, obviously, the skill on the court and what we’re capable of doing, but he’s just brought this belief to this group that we feel like we can win again and we’re playing like that.
10:55 Draymond, on that note, since Jimmy’s arrival, how have you seen him and Steph approach their dynamic together?
11:02 It’s pretty simple. They both have the utmost respect for each other. They both have a huge appreciation for each other’s game and we, the rest of us, just kind of fall in line after that. They got this great chemistry, this great communication amongst them and when your two top dogs got chemistry and great communication, everybody else better fall in line, so that’s what we try to do.
00:00 Who’s first?
00:08 BRANDIN PODZIEMSKI: They got more people coming.
00:11 Oh, sorry. Hey Brandin, how do you view these last two games for you? Sort of what got you in this groove and how much do you think — I mean, Steph having these outbursts helps everybody, but how much has it helped you to in terms of just space, attention, that kind of stuff?
00:32 Yeah, I think, honestly, I look at it in the reverse. I look at me, Moses, JK, Quinten all helping Jimmy and Steph and I think by us being a threat, by us scoring, Peyton Watson was on me tonight and usually we play Denver, they put Porter, Jr. on me and so having to take another quality defender off Steph, it just helps our team in totality. And then, yeah, I mean obviously I’m shooting the ball well. It’s pretty obvious with that, but just try to help our big dogs as much as we can.
01:12 How much of an emphasis have you put in terms of practice, shooting, whatever, on those mid-range pull up shots?
01:19 Yeah, I think that’s what I worked on the majority of the summer. Obviously you’re seeing a little bit more now than early in the season just because I was shooting so poorly, teams were sagging off and so I didn’t really have those opportunities and now, guys gotta go over the ball screens and the teams are in the drop like Jokic was with me, it’s open all day. So just taking another step. I wanna be a three-level scorer, obviously, and so not just limiting my game to the rim and threes, having an in-between game, whether that be off a ball screen, late shot clock, whatever it may be.
01:52 And then just like from a physical standpoint, what has this stretch been like the two weeks on the road, three in four nights into the back-to-back tonight?
02:00 I mean, it’s definitely not ideal how the NBA scheduled it for us, but something we had to go through. It was a blessing that we get to play everybody above us. Another one on Sunday against Houston, so it’s helping us. Every game we win, we get a full game on the team we’re playing and, like I said earlier, we’re just trying to get as high as we can and see. We’ll see where can get to and just one by one, how can we win that game?
02:25 You guys forced 25 turnovers. How much do you like enjoying the ball pressure?
02:31 Yeah, I think Draymond set a tone with Jokic, I think. Just did a good job of ball pressure. Obviously, Jokic is one of the best in the world, so he is gonna get his points, but how can we limit others? Porter, Jr. got off to a hot start and we kind of cooled it off second half, but we just kind of took everybody else out the game. I think last time they were here, Gordon really hurt us, Westbrook really hurt us and so not letting none of the other guys really get going, I think that really helped us.
02:58 Podz, you know what it’s like to take a charge? What did you think about Steph taking two, especially with a sore backside?
03:04 Yeah, I mean, it gets me hyped for sure. I think that’s what impresses me the most just about our team and how everyone’s just buying into just winning and it’s become part of our culture. And to see guys kind of do what I’m known for, it’s pretty exciting and, obviously like you said, Steph’s backside is hurting him, him laying it all the line, meaningful games and he’s making meaningful plays.
03:26 When you’re caught on a switch defensively on Jokic on the perimeter or in the post — I think it happened at least once tonight — what is the goal? Like, what can you try to do in that situation?
03:37 I think it’s just affect his vision. Obviously, when he gets a small, he’s smart enough to know that someone else is gonna come help me and so he’s so smart where he’s almost baiting you in to come helping and then he’s gonna find the open man. And so it’s just, can I keep him in front of me, try not to give it as much ground as I can and just force a tough shot? We actually rather have him shooting the shots than him spraying to other guys or them getting dunks and I think that’s what we did for the most part, especially in the second half.
04:08 Steve said pre-game that he does check the standings every day and see who’s playing the next day to see what movement might happen. How much do you check it?
04:15 I mean, it’s so even for the West, which has been jammed for a few years. This is unusual to have six teams this close. How how much do you monitor it every day?
04:26 I think we all do. We’re all sports junkies. We all wanna get the highest we can and 3 through 8th has separated, I think, two-and-a-half games and so even last night, if we would’ve lost, we would’ve dropped to 8, which is crazy, from 5, but we all check it every day and we know how important these games are, but like I said earlier, it’s a blessing ’cause we get to get a full game on everybody we play.
04:46 And Steve also pointed out that you guys win four out of the last five, you’re guaranteed to stay out of the Play-in. You’re somewhere in the Top Six. How much does that matter, as crazy as this is, to know you have some control over where you end up now?
05:03 I mean, that’s the whole goal. You want everything to be in your hands and not have to rely on other teams to lose, but to control our own destiny and if we can just win one game at a time, I think we’re showing the whole league that no matter who we play, if it’s a back-to-back, if it’s home or it’s away, that we can figure out a way to win a game and that’s what matters when it comes to playoffs.
05:25 One more. And when’s the last time you had this much confidence in your shot? I was just sort of watching your demeanor, your expression, as you shot in warmups and during the game. It seems like the confidence matches the results.
05:40 Probably Santa Clara or in high school. I talked to some vets, not on our team, and I think they told me that the whole goal when you wanna be the best you can be, it’s really feeling like you play in high school ’cause everybody’s the best player on their high school team and when you can get to that spot mentally where you feel like you’re in high school again, it’s just, everything’s just free-flowing. That’s what you see the best do. All the All-Stars, all the Hall-of-Fame guys, they’re playing like they did in high school. Their tapes from high school to the NBA almost mirror each other and so when you get to that level mentally and then, obviously, all the work you put in with it, just sets you up for success.
06:18 What was your best game in high school
06:21 Scoring? 50, 55. Yeah. Cool?
—
06:30 How do you and the team feel physically after a game like this and after the road trip you guys just had?
06:36 JIMMY BUTLER: I’m pretty sure everybody’s tired. Everybody’s a little bit nicked up, but it’s always good to get a win. We got a day off tomorrow to gather, spend some time with our family and our loved ones and then we’re right back to it.
06:49 Kerr said that there’s a discussion coaches had with you and Draymond and Steph, whether you wanted to play. Obviously, it’s an incredible schedule. What was that conversation like?
06:59 Like, “Yo, how y’all feeling? We’re thinking about this,” and I think I can speak for all of us — and we realize how important every single one of these games are going down the stretch here. We wanted to compete. We wanted to win, for sure on our home floor, get a rhythm going, get everybody back and I think we did our job tonight, so as often as we can, we all want to take the floor. We all wanna help win.
07:22 Given the schedule and obviously at Memphis, at the Lakers, Denver on a back-to-back, what does that tell you about what this team, how good this team is right now?
07:31 It’s good for us. It’s good for us. It shows what we’re capable of, home or away, against some really good teams and we’re gonna need that confidence. We’re gonna need that preparation for what we’re trying to do in the long haul, which is win the championship, but it helps when the guys are healthy. Guys are confident and guys are all out there playing together.
07:49 This is like the first long road trip that you have had with this team in this way and you guys have the (inaudible) you guys play together. How much did this help even more for your integration process here, just having a long road trip with these guys to be successful today?
08:05 It’s the same. I’m not gonna say the long road trip did anything different. We really enjoy being around each other. We enjoy playing basketball together, so we did as much stuff as we could when we was on the road and then when push came to shove, we went out there and we competed our asses off. We didn’t win every game like we were expecting to, but we got 30 back and we started putting ’em together.
08:30 Hey, Jimmy, people talk about joy with this team. Is that a real thing or — on the outside we don’t know. How are you feeling that?
08:36 Yeah, I can feel it. I mean, everybody loves when somebody else is doing great and that’s the true definition of joy, I believe. When you’re celebrating somebody else’s success or somebody else has a great game, we know it. They know what they’re capable of and it is really fun to celebrate when somebody else hits a big shot or somebody else goes on a roll or has a career high or does something that they haven’t done before. That’s the true definition of joy.
09:02 Is that fun when you guys are really cooking, like I’m pretty sure you were a lot of times tonight and then recent weeks?
09:07 Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It’s always fun to win, don’t get me wrong. But it’s always fun when BP is having hell of a game, so you expect it from Steph, but QP can do it, JK does it. Mo be doing it. Dray does it on both sides of the ball, so that’s the best part of his game. When you see one of your teammates doing something incredible and you get to smile, you get to celebrate.
09:30 Some people were saying it seems like the crowd feels can feel what’s happening here. Do you sense that from this crowd?
09:36 Yeah. Yeah, I mean, you feel that when Steph’s on the floor, home or away, so we get that benefit of the doubt, that we always got him on the floor. So I think everybody knows that we always have a chance to win the game when we got Steph, but man, when the crowd gets into it on the home floor, there’s nothing like the Warriors chants. It’s like everybody’s standing up, like the MVP chants that he’s getting, well-deserved. It’s all good things when we’re at home.
10:03 Even after this road trip coming back, you still have a gauntlet schedule to end the season. What is required to sustain this even with all the — I think you guys have three or four, coming up.
10:18 Health. That’s really what it is. And then, because you go out there and win, when you win, everything takes care of itself, but we want everybody to be as healthy as possible, playing our best basketball at the right time. And I feel like we’re getting very, very, very close to that, a day at a time. We gonna take this rest day that we got tomorrow, for sure.
10:37 Sorry if this was asked earlier. How’s your forearm?
10:39 I’m cool. Like I said, I got a day to prepare, get back to it, play some dominoes and drink some coffee.
10:46 Did you get an MRI or anything?
10:48 Nah, I don’t need that. I just need to play dominoes. Dominoes cures all.
10:52 Smack down, is that recovery?
10:54 I play right-handed, so all I gotta do is hold my dominoes this hand.
10:57 Oh, okay. Dominoes. You don’t drink coffee all you at night, dude?
11:01 Yeah, I do. I drink coffee all day.
11:03 How much sleep do you get at night if you’re drinking coffee?
11:05 Probably like nine hours. I get my sleep in. Yeah, it works. Alright, my people.
11:10 Thank you.
11:10 Appreciate y’all.
00:00 I know you’re thinking you wanna win every game, you’re going into every game thinking you can win every game, but to win this one, we know the schedule situation. Your guys are banged up. What does that tell you about you?
00:14 STEVE KERR: Pretty impressive, back-to-back. I’ve never been a part of a schedule like this where you’re on the road 14 days and then you have a back-to-back at home after the trip, so incredible energy and the crowd was fantastic. And after that first quarter we got them under control defensively and just a brilliant effort from all of our guys. I was amazed at how much juice they had, given the travel and the schedule.
00:44 Steve, what did flip in the second quarter there?
00:47 I’m sorry?
00:47 What flipped in the second quarter there?
00:49 Just our physicality. I thought we got into the ball and we were more physical. The first quarter they were just doing anything they wanted. Jokic was incredible and they were hitting everything, so started forcing turnovers. We forced 26 for the game and it felt like the second quarter was when it changed. I think the first six-and-a-half minutes of that second quarter, both Steph and Jokic were both out.
01:12 You guys had a 15-4 run there with both of them out. How important was it to win those non-Steph, non-Jokic minutes?
01:18 Yeah, I mean, that’s been a really good lineup for us. Since we got Jimmy that top of the second, top of the fourth lineup, it’s been very effective against everybody. It just feels like we’re gonna make a really good defensive stand with that group and with Quinten out there, we’ve got some spacing, so Jimmy’s got some room to work with and the way Brandin is shooting the ball right now, it’s impressive to watch.
01:45 With Steph dealing with his tailbone injury and him still trying to take — I think it was three — trying to take three charges during the games, does it say something about how seriously the team took this game?
01:55 I just think we’re in a good groove and there’s a great energy and a great belief and the guys are connected, playing hard, and so there — every game is important. We know that we’re in a fight just to stay out of the Play-in and everybody’s committed and it’s been been really fun to watch the group.
02:15 Steve, as soon as the game ended — over here — Steph went over to the bench and just sort of plopped down. He looked pretty exhausted. Can you offer some context, I mean, as much as you’ve seen him over the years, to score 125 points in three games over four nights when your team desperately needed every game?
02:32 Yeah.
02:33 What did — how do you sort of explain that?
02:36 In three different cities, at 37, he looked so fast out there tonight and I think maybe it’s his most underrated part of his game, is his conditioning. Just incredible what he does out there, especially considering how much attention he draws defensively or how much pressure people put on him and he just handles it night after night and flourishes. But, incredible athlete.
03:06 How much does the Laker victory fuel a Denver victory?
03:10 Well, we’ve got momentum right now that the Memphis one was probably the big one to kick off this three-game stretch and so to string these wins together against three teams, all ahead of us in the standings at the time, massive. And we’ve got five games left. We know we’ve gotta win four of them to guarantee a Top Six spot. So we just gotta keep going.
03:37 What was the key to forcing those 26 turnovers? That’s a season high for them and six from Jokic, in particular?
03:43 Just a lot of energy and I thought, again, the crowd was fantastic. Our fans can feel what’s happening right now. They’re excited and they really motivated us and helped us with their energy and noise. And it was, yeah, it was a difficult set of circumstances, so to force that many turnovers with that kind of defensive activity, in third game in four nights, flying all over the place, really incredible effort.
04:17 It looked like at one point you had JK on Jokic with a zone behind him. I guess, how would you just describe the chess match in coaching against him?
04:26 Well, Jokic is the best player in the world. I’ve never seen anybody like him and you have to try to change up some things a little bit, so we just tried to throw a little something different in that second quarter after what he did to us in the first, but it was mainly the physicality and just the energy the guys brought.
04:46 Steve, was there any pre-game conversation about Steph and Jimmy and what happened in terms of their being cleared and how did you feel about them being on the court early?
04:55 We, Rick (Celebrini) and I talked on the plane last night. We were discussing whether they needed a break, given the schedule, given Jimmy’s injury. We talked with those guys, today, Draymond, Steph, Jimmy. They were all adamant. They were feeling good, ready to go, big game, so yeah, the decision was an easy one.
05:15 So you didn’t try and talk to either one of them out of it?
05:17 Hell no. If it was midseason, we might’ve tried to talk them out of it, but this is a huge game and they felt good, so were ready to go.
05:26 So Steve, does that carry through till Sunday and, like, pedal down these guys, if likely that they’re all gonna play?
05:33 Say that again? Sunday?
05:36 All three guys play Sunday, play the rest of the way you think?
05:40 Yeah. Yeah, I mean, we’ve got — everybody’s winning right behind us and in front of us and so we can’t stop and they got tomorrow off and I got a big day planned tomorrow on my off day with my 1988. Arizona Wildcats.
05:59 You might need some rest. They’re all right behind you, Tim (Kawakami). I mean, just so you know.
06:02 Uh oh, uh oh. Does this remind you of any other close of a season you’ve had, maybe whether it’s the championship year or not? I mean, just this kind of momentum building, this much momentum building to finish a season?
06:18 I haven’t really thought about it, but it’s so clear that this all started with the trade for Jimmy and the belief that the team has built and what Jimmy has brought. And it was basically a new season when we traded for him and our guys are responding and a lot of good stuff ahead, but we’ve gotta keep going.
06:43 What do you think sparked Brandin these last two nights? And if you take a step back and think about his struggles early in the season, to see him score 28 and 26 in these big games — and how much does Steph being in a groove sort of play the two of them together?
07:00 I think Brandin is probably the biggest beneficiary of the Jimmy trade. They have a really good connection, together. Jimmy makes everybody better, but he’s especially making Brandin better. I don’t know what his numbers are since the trade. Raymond would know if he did his homework and worked on stats and stuff, but he’s been slacking here, as we know. So maybe find somebody who can get you those numbers? No, Brandin is, he’s just playing with the confidence that comes with second year, starting 30-plus minutes every night. Shot’s not always gonna be there, but it’s gonna be consistent over time. The way he’s playing, the way he feels, he’s a big-time player.
07:47 Why do you think Jimmy’s having more of an effect on him?
07:50 Because Jimmy makes the right play. Every single time he draws attention, he never turns it over. They have a great connection, little two-man game and they find each other and the game flows. The game really flows with those two out there and so it’s, yeah, I mean, this game — I talk about it all the time — it’s a puzzle. It’s five-man puzzle and we’ve found a really good starting group. I think they’re like 14-0 or something, so we found something that’s working and it’s clicking and the guys are playing with the resulting confidence. Bear down.
🫶💙💛