NATE WILLIAMS: Kawhi "bleeds just like I bleed...Rochester...why I'm this way"; KERR; HORFORD; PODZ

Steve, is there any injury update on Moses?

He didn't play there for most of the game.

He jammed his wrist.

On the fall there?

Yeah, shooting hand. And he also hurt his shoulder during the game, but no update. So we'll just see, see how he's doing tomorrow.

Pretty general question there.

You're up 14 at halftime, then what happened?

You're up 14 at halftime, then what happened there in the second half? What was the difference? Well, they were great in the second half. We played a fantastic first half. Our defense was excellent. We were flying around and getting some good shots, and we didn't foul. I think they only had like 6 free throws first half, so we had a lot of pace. And they got 12 free throws in the third quarter, so the game slowed down and we had to play in the half court, and they were really good defensively in that second half. Niederhauser came in and Really controlled the paint, and we just couldn't get anything to go.

Nate Williams with 18 points, just what did you see from him today, and how important is he going to be down the stretch, especially if Moses Moody has to miss any time?

I mean, he's important anyway given all the other guys who are absent right now, but I think Nate has played really well. It's fun watching him. Young player, pretty live body, can make a shot. You know, he guarded Kawhi at times. Nate's a very impressive player.

It was Nate's 4th game in the past 4 days. What does it say about a guy to be able to play with that much energy given that kind of stretch?

And he just had a baby, so, like, right before all that. So it's been quite a— I don't know if I was supposed to announce that or not. I keep, I keep saying the wrong thing this week. You want any medical updates on Anyway, yeah, it's pretty impressive. It's good to have young legs.

What did you see out of Draymond tonight in the matchup against Kawhi? And then just generally, he was a -18 in the box score.

I thought Draymond's effort and energy defensively set the tone for the whole first half. He was all over the place, flying around. And we really were able to contain Kawhi in that first half because of Draymond. And then the second half got away from us. It got away from all of us. I mean, it wasn't, you know, any one thing or one player. It was just we struggled to score and they picked up their defensive intensity.

Coach, you kind of just hinted at it. It was like a tale of two halves. You mentioned wanting— coming into this game wanting to have like defensive intensity that happened in the first half. Well, what do you think was the cause of that kind of dropping off in the second half, the reason that Kawhi was able to score a little bit better? And then what do you think was the reason that the Warriors weren't able to score as much in the second half as they did in the first?

Well, it's tough to sustain that kind of effort for 48 minutes when you're severely undermanned. And so, you know, you have to generate that energy defensively to try to create some offense out of it like we did in the first half. But that's a really good team. Kawhi Leonard has been probably the best player in the league the last month. And, you know, they made a couple of adjustments to get him the ball in different spots, and he got going. And so they, they're a good team, and, you know, they're, they're healthy and they're playing well. And so they did what they were supposed to do in that second half, and we needed to— What was the difference between the first half and the second half? to find some offense. And again, I think all the fouls in the third quarter just kept us in the half court, and it was really tough to find any space.

Steve, Draymond was— when Draymond went to the bench with 4 minutes and change left in the third quarter, you guys were up 10. They outscored you guys 53-30 the rest of the game. It seemed like the game changed in that late third quarter, early fourth quarter. Kawhi had only 8 shot attempts at that point. Do you think Draymond's absence was correlating to their run.

For sure. He's still one of the great defenders in the league. And, um, and he, like I said, he, he set the tone in that first half. And, you know, we were able to sustain the lead for much of the third, um, but they, um, they went on a run late in that— late in the, in the third quarter and cut it to 2 going into the fourth. So they had a lot of momentum. But, um, yeah, we had to Had to get him out. You know, he can't play the whole game and he played 31 minutes, which is a lot for him at this stage. But that was the key stretch. Thanks.

I think 4 games in 4 days. Just how crazy has this, these last few days been for you?

It's not crazy. It's a blessing. I'm blessed to play this game. I'm blessed to play this sport. God is just amazing.

And then I saw there was one possession in the 3rd quarter where you were like picking up Kawhi full court when he didn't even have the ball. Just what kind of challenge is it to guard a guy like that?

I mean, he's a great player, but he bleeds just like I bleed. I'm not— I don't fear no challenge.

Yeah.

I saw you and Steph talking on the bench in-game.

How are those conversations and what's it like kind of being coached up by him in-game?

It was great. You know, he gave me some, some great dialogue, just talking about spacing and stuff. So it was really good to learn from one of the best players that ever played the game. So that was a dope moment for me.

Your, your competitive spirit guarding Kawhi, saying he bleeds just like I bleed. Where does that mentality come from?

I fear God, you know, that's the only man I fear. And I'm from Rochester, New York, you know, in the back streets. So if you go in my neighborhood, you would know why I'm this way. Yeah.

What's helped you get comfortable here so far with Golden State?

I'm just being myself and the team allows me to do that. You know, I give all thanks to Steve Kerr and the coaching staff for giving me an opportunity. You know, they just let me be myself and they just, they just put me on game as I, as I go along. You know, they just teaching me, telling me the plays and just throwing me in the fire. So I'm loving it.

Ker was talking about how it's hard to sustain that defensive intensity that you guys had in the first half when you're so undermanned. Given obviously the competitive spirit that you have, and you're new to the team obviously, but still there's a need right now for a go-to guy or go-to scorer. Tonight you were that in so many different situations. Is there any pressure to kind of take on that role given this opportunity?

No, it's no pressure at all. I just go out there and play my game and I let the chips fall where they fall. God already planted the seed. I'm just doing the work, for sure. That's it. Thank y'all. Stay blessed, y'all.

Al, what did you think happened generally in the second half?

Yeah, man, I think that, uh, um, you know, they, they just, uh, started to play better. I feel like we, we weren't able to sustain, uh, the energy that we needed defensively. And, um, and, and I still felt like we were going to be able to, um, in the 4th there, kind of come back and, and, and win the game. But, uh, You know, Kawhi went on a great run there, and, and, um, and that kind of put it away for us.

How would you just kind of describe this portion of the season with, you know, so many of your main guys out? And it seems like you're kind of in this like standings holding pattern right now. There's— but, you know, there's still playoff hopes ahead. Just how would you just describe where y'all are at?

Um, yeah, I mean, I think that, you know, the biggest thing in a season is the And this, this holds true more than ever. You can't get too high or too low, and you have to be able to, to, to stay the course. And right now where we are, you know, we obviously lost this one, and now we have to, you know, find ways to, to be better and get ready for the next one. And, and we're moving on to Houston and seeing how we can go in there and, and, and compete and, and Have you been able to touch base at all with Porzingis in the past couple weeks? Yeah, yeah, yeah. He's been around, you know, he's been at a few of our practices and stuff. And yeah, we've been talking quite a bit.

How is he doing?

Do you know? He seems to be doing okay. You know, he seems to be doing well. He was, Um, uh, at our shootaround this morning. Um, he, he didn't participate in shootaround, but he was, you know, he was here and, um, uh, you know, uh, he's, uh, uh, we, we just, you know, don't know, um, how, you know, how he's gonna, uh, be or, or anything like that. But he, you know, he's working out, he, he's in here, um, and, uh, he, he, he seemed to be doing okay.

What have your early impressions of Nate Williams been? He's only been with the team for a couple weeks, but he had a big game tonight.

Yeah, just impressed with his defensive ability, picking up, really making his presence felt there. And then on offense, relentless, going to the glass, offensive glass. He's knocking down open 3s, which is important. And he has size to him. So he's a guy that he, I feel like he knows who he is. And that's always a good thing. 'Cause, you know, you could, you can, you know, you can use, you know, guys like that that bring that energy and bring that toughness to our group.

Oh, you guys were up, I think, 10 late in the 3rd quarter. And Draymond had done a really good job on denying the ball from Kawhi. He had 8 shots up to that point, and, uh, they closed the quarter really strong. Kawhi got a couple of quick buckets, got going. They outscored you guys by 23 after that. Game kind of changed that late 3rd quarter, early 4th. Did you sense any of the— what you said, the defense, but what do you think broke down there?

Yeah, I felt like we, we— there were some momentum plays there where we turned the ball over, um, even though we didn't have, um, overall tonight— we, I mean, we had 12 turnovers total, but I think that there were some key ones That they had some, some breakaways and, and things like that. And, and, and I feel like that was the start of, of getting them going. And then that start of the 4th quarter, that was tough. You know, they, you know, they made some shots there. And then at that point, we just couldn't really, uh, recover. Um, after that point, I feel like we kind of lost our rhythm and, uh, and offensively, you know, we, you know, just didn't have much purpose there in, in that little stretch.

What was working for you in the first half, and what did they do differently in the second half defensively?

Uh, I think in the first half, uh, there was just a flow for all of us collectively. A lot of 50-50 balls went our way. Second half, we turned it over a lot, so It was easy for them to just play in the half court defensively and, um, kind of just switch everything out there. So.

How would you just kind of describe the challenge of this portion of the schedule for y'all where you're kind of waiting for maybe Steph to get back, maybe Porzingis, but, you know, and you still have some playoff hopes ahead, but obviously you're, you're playing without a lot of your kind of main guys.

I mean, you just got to suit up and try to win games. We can't worry about the uncertainties or unknowns of the season. And at least that's how I approach it. And I just try to go out there and give it my best every night.

It is kind of like a next man up thing, right? Because you're undermanned right now. You got so many guys that are injured. Tonight you were the guy that were leading the Warriors scoring-wise. But then when you become a threat, the other team's trying to, of course, like neutralize that threat. How do you kind of approach the next game and the next game after that, trying to continue to be that threat, but also keep from being neutralized in the second half?

Yeah, I think, uh, just being aggressive and, um, putting pressure on the rim. Really just, you know, the whole game of basketball is how can you get 2 people to play on the ball and then play 4-on-3. So just trying to do that as much as, as we can and find different ways to do it. And I think that not resembles Steph, but that's really what he's good at. And so It allows other people to play 4-on-3. And, you know, we practice that a lot. So how can we find that situations in, in a variety of ways throughout the game is something I try to do.

With, with so many of the main guys out, what kind of play style, what kind of principles do you guys need to commit to?

I think offensively, like I said, just how do we get a domino to fall? Is it, you know, self-creation? Is it throwing the ball in the post to Al? Is it our splits? I mean, just, it has to be a variety of things and it can't just be a heavy dose of one thing. And I think you've seen it in spurts throughout, throughout these games and we've been able to find it. And, you know, second half we didn't.

Pods, on a different note, your respect and love for the women's game is well documented. How closely are you following the labor negotiations that are going on right now?

Not too much in depth. I do obviously know about, you know, some of the stuff that's going on, but as a fan, definitely want to see something get done so we can have a season to see and watch. But, you know, you understand it as a player from their perspective, like they want what they want, they feel what they deserve. And so you, you kind of see it from both perspectives.

All right.