Google News Warriors HC Steve Kerr: Stephen Curry can't wait to play play-in tournament
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Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr has underlined that his team will treat the regular season finale against the Memphis Grizzlies as a playoff game. The Warriors, who are set to participate in the play-in tournament, could finish eighth with a win over the Grizzlies.
"We're really looking at this [as] we've got to win two out of our next three games," Kerr said after Saturday's practice, per ESPN. "So basically that starts tomorrow; so, in effect tomorrow is a playoff game. And we've got to win two before we lose two.
That's what it comes down to out of the next three. Like a little miniseries from the old days in the early '80s." Warriors All Stars Stephen Curry and Draymond Green are excited to participate in the play-in tournament. "They can't wait," Kerr said of Curry and Green.
"They're really excited. It's going to be really fun to see them competing and leading our young guys. It will be fun to see our young guys responding. It's a case where you feel a little extra jitters and then it's important that you quickly remember it's a 48-minute game, a long, long game and you just got to settle in and execute.
The game doesn't change but your attention to detail's got to be a little sharper, a little more focused and that was the message today."
Curry hopes his younger teammate won't fall down under pressure
"I guess technically it is playoff type situations but you're playing a different team every game so that will be interesting but it is just basketball," Curry said.
"Until you get out there and kind of can articulate it for yourself, that is the approach you have to have. I know how to put the ball in the basket, I know how to defend, I know how to run our sets, I know how to execute the game plan.
It requires another level of focus and attention to detail on every single possession, that's the thing you can't gloss over but you can't put too much pressure or change anything about how you prepare for a game just because it's the playoffs and it's new." Meanwhile, coach Kerr is happy with the growth some of his players have made over the course of the season.
"I've seen their growth over the course of the season," Kerr said. "These guys are so much better and I'm talking about Jordan and Juan, Mike Mulder, these guys are much, much better players now than they were four or five months ago.
And we've played in some really important games now in the last couple weeks. Every game has felt really crucial as we've tried to secure a spot in the playoffs so this is the next step and I'm excited for all of them to feel what this feels like and I have all the confidence in the world that they'll respond and play well."
