HEAT Head Coach Pat Riley

On the Game:
“That wasn’t the way we wanted to start. It was real fast, about as fast as it could. They just jumped out on us. We contributed to it a lot with the turnovers in the first quarter, not getting back in transition on misses. There were probably four or five system mistakes right in the beginning of the game. We were just not ready in the beginning of the game.”

“The number one point to our players when we met was that we have to take care of the ball against them [New Jersey Nets] and you have to be real strong with the ball and get back in transition. You can’t let them turn turnovers into points..”

“It wasn’t a mental break, we’ve had four days off.”

On Shaquille O’Neal:
“We need him on the court. He had trouble in the beginning hanging onto the ball, then he got those two offensive fouls.” “He needs to make the adjustment and keep his arms lower. If his arms are up, their probably going to call a foul. If his arms are below his waist, well that’s a little unrealistic to have your arms below your waist and try to put the ball in the basket.”

On Jason Kidd:
“I thought the key to the game tonight was Jason’s play. He was as good as I’ve seen him tonight.”

On Richard Jefferson:
“He hit three jumpers in the beginning. It wasn’t about going to the bucket. He looked like he was going to make them all. There were at least one or two system mistakes that we have to be aware of with him and his cuts to the basket.”

HEAT Guard Dwyane Wade

On the game:
“They came out and our whole team objective was to make them shoot contested jumpers. They were hitting them and got out to a 10-2 start and rolled from there. I think we came out pretty good but they moved the ball around, got some shots early to go and we didn’t get shots to go early. With your offense going it helps your defense out. They got off to a better start and it enabled them to have confidence for the rest of the game.”

On the early performance of Richard Jefferson:
“He’s an All-Star caliber player. You’re never really surprised what those guys do. If it wasn’t him it was another guy. They kept it up for the majority of the game. That was the surprising part.”

On the HEAT’s defense:
“We have to do a better job in transition. They are a pretty good transition team and today they really hurt us. They got out and hit open shots so we have to do a better job of getting back and making them see five guys in Game Two.”

HEAT Guard/Forward James Posey

On the game:
“We lost. They scored more points than we did. They came right out and jumped right on us. We dug ourselves a hole that we could not get out of. That is basically what happened. We have to be prepared to stop them in the half-court and get back on defense.”

On Shaquille O’Neal’s fourth foul:
“That was a big blow. That is our guy in the middle and we need to get him going. That is something that we were not able to do tonight. We just need to come back and get ready for the next game.”

HEAT Forward Udonis Haslem

On the game:
“In the second half we responded well, but obviously we got off to a terrible start (to the game). We didn’t make shots. I think by not making shots, we let that affect our defense. In the first quarter they shot (a very high) percentage. The things we talked about doing, regarding Vince Carter, Jason Kidd, and Richard Jefferson as a team defensively, we did not do. Anytime you dig a hole like that, it’s highly unlikely you’re going to come back and win. It was frustrating. I think it was more frustrating being on the bench and not being able to help the team. It is one game and it is a long series and we need to move on. We need to make it a point to come out a lot quicker in the next game.”

“We have to understand these guys are here to play and if we don’t come out with energy from the beginning, then we are going to have the same results in the next game.”

HEAT Forward Antoine Walker

On the game:
“We need to take care of the ball. We had some careless turnovers and they came out extremely hot from the perimeter. They were making jump shots and they had their total game going. Every time we turned it over, they pushed it right down our throats. We need to give them a lot of credit because they shot really well in Game One. I think we need to take away the easy buckets and concentrate on taking care of the ball.”

Nets Head Coach Lawrence Frank

On the Game:
“I think it was really important for us to get off to a good start. Our intent was tremendous. Defensive stops led to some transition opportunities. We shot the ball extremely well. I believe we shot 70 percent in the first quarter. The ball was moving and those were great rhythm stops. We had a really good paint attack. We were lucky obviously to build that lead, because Miami made one heck of a run. We have to give them a lot of credit for that. We were fortunate to get real good contributions off the bench with John Thomas and Lamond Murray. It’s one game. We just have to keep on getting better.”

On Richard Jefferson’s injury:
“The X-rays were negative. It’s in a walking boot right now and that’s all we have to say about it.”

On Richard Jefferson’s play:
“Richard set a great tone. He comes right off the bat. He made two jumpers and had a really good game going. He set the tone for us. He was really really aggressive for us. I think our guys picked up off of him. I think Jason (Kidd) was tremendous. Vince (Carter) had some big time stretches for us and carried us when we started to get a little wobbly down the stretch.”

On Jason Kidd’s play:
“I think that anyone who watches this game understands that Jason (Kidd) does what the team needs. When he started to making those shots off the high pick-and-role, Vince was out of the game. He knew he had to pick it up. Richard (Jefferson) was having a real good offensive game, but he had played so many consecutive minutes and then we knew that he wasn’t coming back. That’s the great leadership of Jason. It’s not about his scoring; it never will be; it never has been. Great players, especially great point guards, try to get their teammates off first, then they do whatever is necessary in order to help the team win.”

Net's Guard Jason Kidd

On the game:
“My teammates have stuck through this dry period that I’ve had shooting the ball. My game doesn’t dictate off of points. It’s about setting the tone and finding the open guys.” “We thought that if we got off to a big start we would have a big chance in this game. I thought RJ [Richard Jefferson] set the tone right off the bat. I think our defense and executing our game plan put us in position to win tonight. Miami is a team that will easily bounce back. They missed a lot of shots that they usually don’t miss.”

On Richard Jefferson:
“We don’t know what his status is. The big thing is that RJ brings a lot to the table and if he can’t go Lamond [Murray] and those guys have to step up. We are a veteran ball club and hopefully we can hold the fort until he comes back.”

Net's Guard Vince Carter

On the game:
“I think we were just focused from the beginning. We wanted to come out and be aggressive and show everyone that we could compete. We do have a lot of respect for the Miami HEAT because they are one of the best teams in the East.”

“We just wanted to step on the floor tonight and compete with one of the better teams. Most importantly we wanted to take the game and take what they gave us.”

“We had to keep our composure and remain patient and just execute. We knew a great team like [the Heat] would make a run, that is a given. We had to settle down, run our offense and continue to be aggressive.”

On Jason Kidd:
“It just gives us another threat and another scorer. His ability to set us up and make things easy for us is great for us, but we like to do the same for him. It’s fun to see him go out there and be aggressive in all aspects of the game.”

Net's Forward/Guard Richard Jefferson

On the game:
“I’m confident. I’m always confident. It was a good win for our team. We are playing extremely well. We’re a confident group. We had had some struggles against Shaq, in particular, and Miami last year. To come up here and get a win and play with confidence was not really out of our character. [Winning Game One] was big, but we understand that it’s just like the Indiana series in which they got the win, and then we came back. You don’t win or lose a series in game one. You don’t win or lose a series in Game Two. It’s the first one to four not the first one to one.”

“I think the defense will be adjusted a little bit, but a lot is going to depend on us. As long as we continue to attack the same way and have the same kind of aggressiveness, it is going to be ok.”

“We hit some shots early, which was different than the last series. After we hit those shots initially, we just wanted to lock down our defense and keep that run that we had going.”

On the injury to his ankle:
“I got bumped on my way up, and my ankle buckled. It’s just a sprained ankle. The X-rays were negative. There is no swelling. I’ll be fine.”

On Jason Kidd:
“He has to stay confident. For him [the shots] are going to fall sooner or later. Even if he struggles in one series, you know he is going to come back and really affect the next series.”