What the Warriors are saying after sorely-needed Game 2 win to even NBA
Finals
The Warriors used another big third quarter and added on in the fourth
to beat the Boston Celtics and tie the NBA Finals.
>SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA – JUNE 5: Golden State Warriors’ Otto Porter
Jr. (32) and Golden State Warriors’ Stephen Curry (30) celebrate a play
against the Boston Celtics in the third quarter of Game 2 of the NBA
Finals at the Chase Center in San Francisco, Calif., on Sunday, June 5,
2022. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)
>SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA – JUNE 5: Golden State Warriors’ Otto Porter
Jr. (32) and Golden State Warriors’ Stephen Curry (30) celebrate a play
against the Boston Celtics in the third quarter of Game 2 of the NBA
Finals at the Chase Center in San Francisco, Calif., on Sunday, June 5,
2022. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)
By ALEX SIMON | asimon@bayareanewsgroup.com | Bay Area News Group
PUBLISHED: June 5, 2022 at 8:35 p.m. | UPDATED: June 6, 2022 at 4:12 a.m.
https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2022/06/05/what-the-warriors-are-saying-after-sorely-needed-game-2-win-to-even-nba-finals/

The Warriors knew they could not afford to fall into an 0-2 hole at home
in the NBA Finals, and their urgency and desperation was evident on the
floor in Game 2.

Golden State pulled away from Boston in the second half and evened the
series at one game apiece with a 107-88 win.

It was another third quarter explosion to set the Warriors up with a big
lead entering the fourth, but the Celtics didn’t have a lights-out
shooting quarter in them again this time. Other than Jayson Tatum (28
points) and Jaylen Brown (17), the only Boston player with double-digit
points was Derrick White with 12, while Golden State forced Boston to
commit 18 turnovers.

Meanwhile, Steph Curry once again led the Warriors in scoring, with 29.
But Golden State got 17 from Jordan Poole, 12 from Kevon Looney and 11
each from Andrew Wiggins and Klay Thompson. The Warriors only turned it
over 12 times.

Here’s what the Warriors had to say after the forceful win:

STEVE KERR

On Draymond’s engagement level:

Yeah, I thought everybody was more engaged. It was pretty obvious, just
our level of force and physicality was ramped up quite a bit, and it had
to be. What Boston did in the second half, you know, fourth quarter the
other night, we knew we had to come with a much better focus and sense
of aggression, and I thought that started right from the beginning.
Draymond played a huge role in that.

On Curry’s third quarter:

Yeah, Steph was breathtaking in that quarter. Not just the shot making
but the defensive effort. He just doesn’t get enough credit for his
level of conditioning, physicality and defense. People go at him to try
to wear him down because they know how important he is to us
offensively, and it’s pretty dramatic the difference in Steph’s strength
and physicality in his body now than from eight years ago when I first
got here. So the guy’s amazing. He just keeps working on his game, his
strength, his conditioning year after year, and it’s a pleasure to watch
him play every night.

On adjustments made to start big second half run:

Really, there wasn’t a whole lot of strategic change. You know, a couple
tweaks here and there. The preparation was mostly about our intensity
and physicality. It was obviously ramped up tonight, and it needed to
be, given what Boston did in Game 1. So that’s the name of the game in
the Finals. You know, it’s hard to get an open shot out there, and it’s
supposed to be difficult. Game 1 was too easy for Boston with the looks
they were getting in that fourth quarter.

On forcing Boston to turn the ball over:

I think turnovers are often a byproduct of physicality and intensity. I
thought we brought that from the start. Draymond had plenty to do with
that, so did Gary, so did Wiggs. I thought our whole team was physical
and intense, and you know, we did a good job of trying to make things
difficult for them.

One statistic shows how the Warriors’ defense dominated Boston in Game 2
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Warriors the upper hand

GARY PAYTON II

On playing in the NBA Finals for the first time:

It was amazing. I was itching to get out there. I was in the tunnel just
walking back and forth, pacing, waiting for Coach to call me. He kind of
pump faked me at first for a little bit, got me going. But after I got
on the floor, I kind of calmed down and settled in.

On Green’s intensity in Game 2:

Absolutely. We knew our backs were against the wall. We couldn’t go into
Boston being down 2-0. He lit the fire under us, as this whole season.
He lights it and everybody else follows, and tonight was one of those
big nights that everybody responded.

On difference between Game 1 and Game 2:

Just energy and effort. We were kind of soft in the first game, and that
was our emphasis coming out this game and just being aggressive and
playing the Warriors basketball we know how to play and being on
defense, locked into our assignments and knowing our personnel.

DRAYMOND GREEN

On Curry’s night:

I thought he was incredible, and most importantly, his decision-making
was great. He got off the ball. He didn’t drive into traffic. He took
what the defense give him. I think for the first probably six minutes of
that game or so, he had zero points. He wasn’t forcing anything. Let the
game come to him and, you know, we all followed that.

On Curry’s impact on the Warriors offense over the years:

I think our offense is always a lot of Steph. It all starts with Steph,
whether — you know, when KD was here, our offense still started with
Steph. That’s the way it’s going to be. I think when you’re playing
against a team like that, you have to get offense from other places and
not just Steph. I think for the most part, we did a pretty good job of
that. You know, Klay, what, 4-for-19, had a tough one, but that happens.
We know he’ll make shots as this series continues to go on. But we
didn’t turn the ball over, and I thought that was very important in this
game is keeping them out of transition and making them play against our
defense.

On getting close to getting a second technical foul:

No, we need that energy anyway. For me to sit back and say, oh, I’m
going to push it to this edge and try to pull back, that don’t work. I
got to be me. So with the first tech, it is what it is. That’s not going
to stop me from being aggressive or doing what I do on the basketball
court. Just got to live with the results.

On if an attitude adjustment was needed for Game 2:

I think it was definitely an attitude adjustment. Like I said, we didn’t
play with enough force the entire 48 minutes. We had spurts where we
played with the right amount of force in Game 1. But overall, against a
team like that, you can’t let your foot off the gas pedal. All they need
to see is one shot go in, and it can start a domino effect. We knew.
Like I said last game, they are who we thought they were. So we knew we
had to keep our foot on the gas pedal and not let up, and we did that,
and we were able to come out with the win.

STEPHEN CURRY

On his defense:

It’s always been a point of emphasis in terms of trying to win
basketball games and do your job. Over the course of my career, it’s
been a physical development that’s happened over time that obviously
helps, a lot of work that’s gone into that. But at the end of the day,
from my rookie year to now, it’s always been about effort and just a
care factor, overcoming physical limitations with matchups or whatever
it is. If you try hard, good things will happen. And you’ll continue to
get better. So it’s always been a point of emphasis. Just better at it now.

On Poole’s third quarter buzzer-beater from half court:

Well, it’s kind of funny, we talk about how we finish quarters and how
that momentum can carry over. That was obviously a big shot to get the
crowd into it. Put kind of a dagger on that great third quarter that we
had. I think he was a little bit more aggressive, a little bit more
under control tonight. Didn’t go his way much early, but then he had
that flurry. I think he had the two threes in the last two minutes of
the third quarter. So just continue to find rhythm. He’s capable of
that. We shoot half court shots every practice, shoot around. We have a
little competition going. So we count — if you make one during the game,
we count it. So he took the lead tonight.

On his conditioning:

I’ve always had that since high school. But again, it’s not like one
thing you do in the summer. It’s an accumulation of every year, all the
work that you put in that continues to show itself throughout your
career, throughout the season, playoffs and every year that I get an
opportunity to play on this level. So I do pride myself on trying to be
the hardest worker, the most consistent worker. Maybe the last two or
three years, you work a lot smarter than harder. Just a little bit more
often, especially in the off-season. But it’s that old saying, like what
you do in the summer shows up at moments like these. So, doing my job.