Getty Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry and Sacramento Kings head coach Mike Brown.
The Golden State Warriors have a date with the Sacramento Kings in the first round of the NBA playoffs. Golden State will head north on Saturday for Game 1 of the series, with a chance to steal home court early on.
Star guard Stephen Curry discussed the importance of starting off on the right foot, name-dropping Sacramento Kings head coach, and former Warriors assistant, Mike Brown in the process.
“It’s always helpful, especially when you’re the lower seed and starting on the road to make your presence felt,” Curry said via 95.7 The Game. “Remember I said it’s that ‘try to steal Game 1’ type vibe. We just want to give ourselves a good opportunity to get off to a good start in that game. First quarter, the first 12 minutes are so important to establish yourself. We obviously have to win one up there to win the series. So, we’d like it to be Game 1. We wanna just have another level of focus and attention about everything that we’re doing on both ends of the floor to give ourselves the best shot to do that. We know it’s going to be tough. They’ve been a great team all year. They’ve had a great season. Mike B knows us well and we know him well.”
“We know it’s going to be tough. They’ve been a great team all year. They’ve had a great season. Mike B knows us well and we know him well.”
Steph Curry on playing the Kings in Round 1
Warriors’ Draymond Green Issues Statement on Kings’ Mike Brown
Curry’s teammate, Draymond Green, recently had some thoughts on Golden State’s former assistant coach, crediting him with the Kings’ huge turnaround this season.
Green mentioned Brown multiple times when looking back on some preseason thoughts he’d shared on Sacramento.
“I also said on that episode now that the Kings have Mike Brown, I expect them to change,” Green said on the April 11 episode of the “#thisleague UNCUT” podcast. “I also had De’Aaron Fox on my podcast and told Fox, ‘Fox, this is on you. For the Kings to get to the playoffs, it’s on you my brother’…I give credit where credit is due. What Mike Brown has gone to Sacramento and done is absolutely amazing. I expect him to continue taking that franchise upward in the right direction. I give them their props. They’re doing a great job.”
Kings’ Mike Brown Discusses Meeting Warriors in Playoffs
After Sacramento’s regular-season finale, Brown was questioned on if he felt a series against the Warriors would mean anything extra. His response was simple.
“Nothing. I mean it’s a short commute, that’s about it,” he replied via the Sacramento Kings YouTube channel. “I’ve still got my place down there, so I may swing down and check on that, that’s about it. It doesn’t matter who we play. Just like I’m sure with the rest of the teams, it doesn’t really matter who they play.”
He later touched on his relationship with Warriors head coach Steve Kerr.
“Yeah we’re close. We talk, not all the time, but we talk throughout the season, exchange texts, talk on the phone. So, we’ve been kind of in each other’s year throughout the course of the year, so it hadn’t been anything different than what he’s already said.”