Stephen Curry and Steve Kerr break down the Warriors' win over the Bucks at Chase Center. Curry credits bench players Moses Melton, Al Horford, and Jonathan Guy for finding rhythm, while the team has hit 120 points per game recently. Kerr says the team needs to climb the standings but feels confident in their depth heading into the second half.
Chapters
Thank you.
How did it go?
I'm exhausted, just like that.
Welcome to Chase Center, the premier entertainment venue in the world. It's time to chase the moment. The Hello Kitty Night Game is featuring the visiting Milwaukee Bucks versus your Golden State Warriors.
[FOREIGN LANGUAGE] How much did the matchup earlier this year in Milwaukee play into the way you guys played tonight? Not much, 'cause Giannis didn't play, but just a sense of urgency early in the game, getting to their shooters. And just trying to make it tough for them. Obviously Ryan had a great game last time when Giannis was out and dominated the whole game, but it was more the recipe for how we're supposed to win games compared to the Clipper game. We made more shots, but it was the same kind of vibe. Good defense, low turnovers, trying to keep them off the offensive glass, and you'd hope that that would add up to a win.
Steph, how welcome was it to see, uh, Melton go off for 22 and for what Al gave you guys off the bench?
Yeah, those two guys weren't available much or at all early in the year, and they're both, um, trying to find their legs, their rhythm, and— but you can see how much of a difference they can make off the bench. And, uh, I think those two guys, like Surrounding Jimmy with those two and kind of you pick the next two, like it's a good recipe for, you know, shooting high IQ guys and then defensively they both know what to do on that end.
Steph, it felt like towards the end there, you know, that last shot had a chance to kind of do a celebration we haven't seen in a while, the night-night. Do you feel like that's a sign that maybe some fun's beginning to return to a stretch of the season where you guys are starting to put together a a good stretch of basketball?
I mean, you wanna, the more you win, the more everybody feels good, the more momentum you pick up, the vibes are immaculate, as they say. Draymond actually hit me with it before I even had a chance to, so I was just shadowing him. But yeah, you wanna feel good about yourself, and sometimes you might have to force it a little bit, like get yourself going, make sure you're having fun through some of the ups and downs that we've had this year.
Welcome to Warriors Ground. It's almost that time and the board is set. This is just more than a game. This is Battle of NorCal, baby. And we need to show 'em how we do it in the Bay Area. So if you're on the concourse grabbing food or taking that last shot or Instagram, we need you in your seat. You got 1 minute, fans. Let's show 'em how we do it in the Bay.
What kind of rhythm are you noticing the units with Jimmy?
Just the clarity around getting organized when he has the ball, different spots on the court, so we have our spacing right. And then, you know, just confidence if he's gonna make a play, get downhill, swing it, whatever the case is, be ready to shoot, be ready to, you know, swing it on the backside, keep the ball moving. It helps when you, just know what to do. And I think he's lifting that group. That way they ended the third quarter and won the game, essentially.
You guys are averaging 120 over the last 11 games. What flipped and what do you attribute that to?
Kind of the same answer. Yeah, you gotta make shots, but how you create those shots and guys knowing where those shots are coming from. Cutting down our turnovers is a big key 'cause you get, you know, just more shots on the rim and offensive rebounds as well. So it all is just making sense right now. And a lot of that has to do with Melton, Al, Guy coming in making, you know, huge contributions. Will finding his way into the rotation. So guys who weren't as available or not available at all early in the year coming in and then that getting us organized with rotations and lineups and You know, our defense has been pretty solid all year. It's just the offense has come and gone. So those two guys in particular, you know, the vets are helping tremendously connect certain lineups. And then we're playing focused basketball. So just got to keep it going. What up, Tommy John? What up?
Playing in his 15th year, from Tom Ball, Texas, number 10, Jimmy!
Hahaha!
And now, playing in his 17th NBA season, man of the season, number 13, Stephen Curry! What did you feel like went wrong today?
There were 2 runs at the end of the 2nd and the 3rd. They created all the separation. I mean, they played well the whole game. They're, you know, a young athletic team, fresh look. So you knew they were going to come in and that's what they did in Denver. They're excited to, you know, get out there. And it showed. We had some resiliency, some fight, but gave up too many open threes. Luke Kennard, a couple turnovers that gave them open looks, easy transition. So it's crazy. You can play, you know, 40 good minutes and lose it in the 2, 4-minute stretches, the way the NBA is. That's what happened tonight.
Stephen, what are the— I guess I want to see secrets. What were the best ways to attack a team that's built like the Hawks, something like the athleticism to attack their defense?
I think the second half we tried, usually out there there's going to be one or two guys that you can kind of go at to create an advantage. Doesn't mean they're just going to let you, that old lady's going to just let you get to the paint. But you know, you can create an advantage and then make them react, get the ball moving side to side. We did that well for short spurts out of the game. And then you just gotta be able to, you know, have composure and attack if you have a little bit of an angle just to get downhill. I think we struggled to get paint touches tonight. The ball was kind of just swinging around the perimeter and they were able to keep 5 bodies on bodies. Like, that's usually what good defenses do. Tonight we didn't have that answer quick enough.
Steve, what's it like being on the other side of one of these games where you're playing an undermanned team and you guys just dominate them all night?
Well, it's a good night to, you know, get everybody on the floor and get, you know, keep Steph 24 minutes, Draymond at 22. So yeah, these are welcome nights when you can get them.
Steve, kind of a bigger picture question, but we've now reached the halfway point of the season. Just kind of where would you assess or how would you assess where this team is right now?
I think we're in a pretty good place. You know, we obviously have, you know, lost some games in the first half of the year that we should have won. We feel like our record should be better, but none of that matters. We got to just take care of ourselves right now and do what we can to climb up the standings. Playing better, playing pretty consistently, doing a lot of good things right now.
Melton had 23 tonight in 18 minutes. He had another big scoring game recently. Is that part of his game surprising you a little bit, like the big scoring burst he's been giving?
Yeah, you know, his shot has really come around. I mean, we didn't expect him to be in rhythm those first few weeks when he came back. He had hardly played for 2 years, so. You can see the confidence is rising. He's a really dynamic player, explosive athlete, and really skilled, fundamentally sound, and it's fun watching him play. And yeah, I mean, the guys have total confidence in Mel.
