Steve Kerr entered Game 6 confident of the Warriors' chances due to things he saw his team figure out in their Game 5 loss.

“No, I truly felt something coming,” Kerr said. “I thought we had a breakthrough last game, a couple things offensively. Nothing I want to mention. But I thought we had a couple breakthroughs that were going to lead to this game.

“What I didn’t see coming was the horrific defense we started the game with. Oh my God, we let (Trevor) Ariza get wide open. I made a mistake — at one point I was yelling to David West while play was going on, he looked over at me, (James) Harden hit a 3.

“We were out of sorts. All of us — players and the coaching staff — I thought. Early on, we couldn’t believe what we were seeing. But we just stuck with it. Our guys were great. I just think getting it to 10 at halftime was a really big deal. Because 10 for us is nothing. It’s a couple possessions. Especially here. And sure enough, 8-0 run to start the third quarter, we’re right back in it.”

The Warriors again began to move the ball, cut and screen while getting out in transition.

“Yeah, we’ve been trying to get back to being us all series,” Kerr said. “I think Houston has done a great job of defending us, switching everything. They’ve built a great roster to do what they’re doing. They’ve got size and strength at every position. Sometimes, you kind of have to figure it out in terms of the ball movement.

“A lot of this stuff is different for us, because of the switching 1 through 5. So I think we’ve been trying to get more and more movement and mix in the KD isos against the mismatches. Tonight, obviously, we did a better job of finding the balance.”

Mike D'Antoni believes the Phoenix Suns would have been even better during his tenure had he not been so determined to have Steve Nash play the role of a traditional point guard.

With James Harden and Chris Paul playing more isolation basketball with the Houston Rockets, we are seeing the evolution of D'Antoni's process.

"Oh, without a doubt, I screwed that up," D'Antoni said. "Nash was a purist. Steve's a Hall of Fame point guard. He was unbelievably good. I just think instead of averaging 15 or 16 [points], he could have averaged 30 for us. He was that good of a shooter, and I don't think it would have screwed the team up."

Nash averaged 12.4 field goal attempts and 4.1 3-point attempts per game during his four seasons with D'Antoni. 

"If they even give a hint of going under [the screen], just whap it," D'Antoni said. 

"We know better now," Nash said. "The math's been validated, and I think that's why point guards are so aggressive. It makes sense. We stuck to our traditional values, and that allowed me to stick to my personality, whereas I should have come further and further out of my personality.

"Yeah, I should have probably shot the ball 20 times a game. It probably would have made a lot more sense, but at the time, we weren't ready for that league-wide. Everyone was telling us that you can't win shooting all those 3s, and now we realize that we didn't shoot enough, especially when we were playing small. So, yeah, I think Mike's right. I regret it, too.

"But it really wasn't my personality and the culture of the game wasn't ready for that. So it was like a bridge too far, so to speak, at the time."

Steve Kerr and Draymond Green have had their share of run-ins during their four seasons working together. Kerr has taken a different approach this season.

“This year, we’ve even moved beyond that,” Kerr said, “to where I think we fully understand each other. And I understand you’ve gotta let Draymond be Draymond. In the end, it works. So I’ve got to give him the leash that he needs to turn it over and take  some shots.

“That’s fine, because in the end, the guy wins. He just wins. And he competes. One of the reasons he wins is because his emotional intensity is at a certain level. … So I couldn’t get too frustrated. I had to live through some nights where he didn’t have his full energy, was taking some bad shots and turning it over. As long as I was reminding myself that we’re getting the real Draymond in the playoffs.”

In discussing the Los Angeles Lakers' draft evaluation of Kyle Kuzma last year, Rob Pelinka talked about the type of players he and Magic Johnson are attempting to assemble.

"Magic and I are trying to build a team of interchangeable, versatile, positionless players," said Pelinka. "Kyle fits that for sure."

The Lakers could have two max contract slots this summer.

Pelinka was also asked about the role young players could play in trying to sign free agents.

"I think it's essential. The playoffs, this year, I think have revealed young players can be difference makers. In fact, as the game gets faster and more athletic, you need that to compete in today's NBA. So, we feel like our young core is incredibly attractive. The other thing we've restored is just sort of the ethos of the Lakers. It had become a little bit stagnant. Free agents weren't looking at the Lakers as a destination. To use a metaphor, it became a little bit like Blackberry versus Apple."

Daryl Morey credits James Harden with making his job as general manager of the Houston Rockets easy both on and off the court.

"James was everything," Morey said. "Not only is he a great player on the floor, but he's someone who's just focused on winning and is willing to do anything to make it happen, whether it be meet with people, call them, text them, whatever is required. He makes my job easy."

Harden helped convince Chris Paul to join the Rockets last offseason.

Paul doesn't recall who was first to reach out, but he quickly found common ground with Harden. Paul and Harden began to talk almost daily. Trevor Ariza helped reinforce Harden's pitch.

"It was just watching the landscape of the league and talking about having fun," Paul said. "So far, so good. Still got a lot of work to do, but regardless, I'm having the most fun I've had in a long time."

Morey didn't hesitate in dealing Patrick Beverley, Lou Williams and a first round pick to the Clippers for Paul.

"I say sometimes flippantly that there isn't really a superstar store in the NBA where you get to go and pick out which one you want," Morey said. "You have to jump on the opportunities as they come and sometimes make them fit.

"But in this case, we didn't really have to [make them fit]. The fit was really incredible from day one."

Now with the pick from the Brooklyn Nets via the Boston Celtics settled at No. 8, the trade of Kyrie Irving has become a bit more clear for the Cleveland Cavaliers.

The Cavaliers essentially traded Irving and their own first round pick for Jordan Clarkson, Rodney Hood, Larry Nance, Ante Zizic and the No. 8 pick.

"As we’ve gone through the process this year, I think this is a really deep draft,” Altman said. “If I was sitting with 8 in past years, I might not say that. I think 8 is very valuable this year.”

Altman was asked to assess the Irving trade now that the Cavaliers will pick No. 8.

“We’re in the Eastern Conference finals, which is I think a great achievement,” he said. “We’re competing to get to the Finals. I think we have really talented young players and I think with this draft pick, it sets us up for sustainable success.”

The Houston Rockets have taken some of the principles of Mike D'Antoni's offense but play at a much slower pace.

The Rockets' average time of possession is 12.45 seconds, which is slightly faster than the NBA average of 12.67 seconds.

The Rockets attempt to play to the strengths of James Harden and Chris Paul.

"James and Chris seconds or less," said D'Antoni as to what he calls his offense now.

"Very rigid—until he got Harden," said Alvin Gentry. "And then he got Chris Paul."

Gentry, who was an assistant under D'Antoni, believes his former boss would prefer to play faster.

"If you're asking me what he would rather do, he would rather be running up and down the court and spreading the court and doing a lot of things like that," said D'Antoni.

"I think he sees that as basketball."

Al Horford had 20 points, four rebounds, six assists and two blocks in the Celtics' 108-83 Game 1 win over the Cavaliers. Horford also was plus-17 in the game.

"He's our rock," Brad Stevens said. "He's the guy we really, really lean on."

"[Horford's] playing at a very high level," Kevin Love said. "He's really been an ace in the hole for them."

The Los Angeles Clippers made the difficult but likely prudent decision to trade Blake Griffin just a few months into his new five-year, $171 million contract.

“Don’t be afraid to make that tough decision if you need to,” Steve Ballmer recalled West telling him.

“No one wants to do that, particularly with someone like Blake Griffin,” West says now. “It was very difficult for everyone, especially Steve, because he really liked Blake personally. But this franchise was really stuck. There was nowhere for it to go. You have to figure out how far away you really are and how we can get there.”

Brad Stevens called a meeting shortly after Gordon Hayward suffered a dislocated ankle and the Celtics completed an emotional three-games-in-four nights period.

Stevens warned the Celtics to not use their youth as an excuse.

"Expedite your learning curve," Stevens remembered saying. "If there's film to watch, or something you need to work on with a coach, go do it."

"This is my favorite Celtics team ever, in terms of energy, camaraderie and underdog spirit," Wyc Grousbeck said.

"This is a special team," Danny Ainge said. "This is as much fun as I've ever had."