Golden State guard Gui Santos addressed the media Thursday following the Warriors’ 118-111 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers at Chase Center in San Francisco.
The Brazilian highlighted the difficulty of containing James Harden, saying, “He got a lot of stuff he can do. Step back threes, and if the plan is send him down the lane, he gonna drive down the lane and he gonna float floater or he gonna throw it up for, you know, they got two guys that can catch lobs.”
Santos explained the defensive approach in the fourth quarter, adding, “We were trying to not let him do what he want to do but he’s very tough. We were like okay if he drives, make him drive with the right hand, but he still drive with the right hand and he got a floater, tough floater. It’s not many players that can make floaters like that.”
Reflecting on the back-to-back stretch against quality opponents, Santos noted the challenges of missing key teammates: “Yesterday we were more short-handed than today. Today, we have a couple more players, but it’s still very hard when you don’t have Steph out there, when you don’t have Jimmy. That is great players, so don’t have them out there with us is tough, but we always trying to find a way to stay in the game to be battling until the end.”
Santos also discussed playing alongside Kristaps Porzingis, saying, “The fact that he’s in the paint for us, it’s great. On the rebounds, on the blocks, on making guys miss layups. On offense, he’s just so big, he can shoot over guys, he can pass over guys, the guys are doubling on him, he still find the best passes that he can. He don’t care about stats; he just want to make the winning play.”
Regarding the potential return of Stephen Curry, sidelined since Jan. 30, Santos expressed excitement: “You cannot measure it, brother. We’re very happy to have him back on the court. Even if he’s not 100%, just the fact that he’s on the court opens up a lot of space for everybody else to play.”
Looking ahead to Curry and Porzingis playing together, Santos said, “That would be crazy. Porzings can do whatever he want in the paint, Steph can do whatever he want on the whole court. A pick and roll between both, I don’t know who can guard that. It’s going to be really interesting to watch the next couple games.”
In Thursday’s matchup, Donovan Mitchell scored 25 points and grabbed six rebounds, while Max Strus added 24, including a crucial 3-pointer with 54 seconds left. Harden contributed 19 points and five assists in Cleveland’s seventh win in nine games. Santos and Brandin Podziemski each scored 25 points for Golden State, which was without Curry for the 27th consecutive game. Kristaps Porzingis added 16 points and seven rebounds, and Gary Payton II matched his career-high 12 boards.
The Warriors will look to bounce back when they host the Houston Rockets on Sunday, while the Cavaliers travel to face Indiana the same day.
