HEAT Head Coach Pat Riley

On the Game:
“I think we were a lot better and more ready than we were the other night to start the game. We were just really focused and committed to defending and taking care of the ball, those were our main priorities.”

“I hate being up by 20 points in the first quarter and then having to worry about going through the whole game and giving the whole thing up, but I was very happy to be there tonight. Our work just begins now; maybe the other night was an aberration and tonight was an aberration, now we get down to reality and crunch it out.”

“What we did was make adjustments to how we’re playing Vince [Carter] and that’s it.”

On Dwyane Wade:
“You could almost sense it this morning that he was in a different state. He was very upset after the game the other night. He played probably the best quarter of the year.” “He will get better and better at that shot [three-pointer]. There will be a day where he’ll be taking that consistently and that will complete a lot of things with his game. He was really on his game tonight, which was really great.” “He came in and played his very best when he had to.”

On Shaquille O’Neal:
“It’s not about anything else but him making the adjustment that he’s got to make with multiple dribbles and not leaning back and he did tonight.”

On playing in New Jersey:
“You just don’t know sometimes what to expect. We do have a good feeling what we do and what they do. It’s about not making mistakes; it’s about a game of fatigue and playing through those periods where it’s tough on the road and defending. That’s the only way we’re going to get it done.”

HEAT Guard Dwyane Wade

On his performance:
“It was the plan to come out and be very aggressive. I normally come out and defer to guys and try to read the game, but tonight I wanted to come out and attack early. Being one of the leaders of this team, guys want to see that you’re ready. I was focused this morning at the shoot-around and ready to go.”

On being in the gym with Shaquille O’Neal at 10:00 P.M. last night:
“Last night on his way out, I was coming in. He just stayed with me while I was upstairs in the gym. He told me to shoot the ball and be aggressive. It is good that he and I have that relationship.”

On his three-point shooting:
“I’ve always been a pretty decent shooter but I never had confidence in myself. Now I have that confidence because I work on it a lot. If people continue to give it to me, I’ll continue to step in. I’m going to continue to work on it and it can become a weapon in my career.”

HEAT Guard Gary Payton

On the game:
“We were really flat in Game One. They jumped out on us. We buckled down [tonight]. We went right back at them and put pressure on them. They were making shots against us in Game One, and we were making shots against them in Game Two. That is the way basketball is. That is playoff basketball. Everybody was ready to shoot today, and we shot the ball very well. Everybody was helping [on defense]. Everybody was a little more active. We kept rotating.”

“They are going home now with home court advantage and we are going to have to steal it back. We have to go up there and do the same thing we did today in Game Two. We cannot let them get in their comfort zone.”

HEAT Center Shaquille O'Neal

On altering his game:
“[Coach] told me to take my time and make my adjustments and be a little smarter. It is not really my game. Since they are calling the game a certain way now, in order for me to stay in the game I need to adjust.”

On the game:
“The other day, we knew that we gave one away. We did not play well, and did not have a lot of energy. Tonight, we did not want that to happen. We knew that we needed this game. Usually, when we know that we need a game , we come out and play well. The other day, we made a lot of mistakes. It was just one of those games for us. We did not want to have two games in a row like that. Tonight, the guys were really focused. They were willing to shoot the ball, and they shot the ball very well.”

On the next two road games:
“We will be ready. We have to go up there in a hostile arena and get one or two. If we play like we played tonight, anything is possible.”

Nets Head Coach Lawrence Frank

On the Game:
“The playoffs are a lot more mental than physical. There is obviously some physical adjustments but it’s more your approach. We have to give Miami a lot of credit. It started for them on the defensive end with there denials. They did a good job with their post fronts. They pushed us out. In the first quarter they blitzed us with 41 points. Dwyane Wade was tremendous. He made three three’s in the first quarter. We could tell their overall intent was greater and sharper than ours. Miami played with a great sense of urgency. From that first quarter on, we never recovered.”

“Every time you step on the court you try to do everything in your power to be mentally and physically prepared to win the game.”

On Miami’s defense against Vince Carter:
“There was nothing dramatically different. They loaded up a little bit more, but they tried to get the ball out of his hands last game. I think our defense and our inability to get stops set a poor tone for us. Offensively we were acting out of character. We got stagnant. We didn’t move the ball as well. I just think their intent totally took us out at both ends. You have to give them all the credit for what they did to us tonight.”

On Shaquille O’Neal:
“Shaq is a great player. He is great at working the middle and drop stepping back on the baseline. In the second half he was able to get to the middle. I think Wade obviously set the tone for those guys (Miami HEAT) in the first quarter. We can say, ‘Hey look they made shots,’ but they were really focused and you could tell.”

On Richard Jefferson’s ankle injury:
“In a game where we didn’t play as well as we would have liked, Richard was one of our bright lights. He had some very good moments there, especially after that initial stretch in the first quarter. He was fine.”

On Dwayne Wade’s offense:
“I think early on his ability to hit perimeter shots put us in a bad way. We got out a little closer to him and he broke us down off the dribble.”

Net's Guard Vince Carter

On the game:
“It has been a while [on matching opponent’s intensity]. That was a tough one for us. They went for the home run at the beginning and were able to connect. They were led by their stars in Shaq [Shaquille O’Neal] and Dwyane Wade. They came out ready to play; plain and simple. We were knocked back on our heels from the jump and just couldn’t recover.”

“This is the playoffs, and the wonderful thing about the playoffs is that you make adjustments. They made adjustments but that still has nothing to do with us not showing up to play. If you want to beat great teams you have to show up every game and we didn’t do that.”

“I can admit that every one that stepped on the court didn’t play their A-game, as far as the Nets are concerned. Once they got their confidence they were hitting shots and getting anything they wanted. If we want to win the next game and the series then we have to do better. We have to learn from it and come back ready to play. I think we have been a good team, and respond well to coming off a loss, no matter how big the loss. There is always another game.”

On Richard Jefferson:
“It’s great to have RJ [Richard Jefferson] in the line-up. He’s a quick healer as you can see, so we just wanted to go out there and play basketball and try to get the win and go up two to zero. Obviously that didn’t happen, so now we regroup, look at the film, and get ready to play.”

Net's Forward/Guard Richard Jefferson

On the game:
“It was roles reversed. I guarantee at one point in time in this series that there will be a close game. Everyone hit shots. You tip your hat to them. We didn’t exactly play our best game. They came out like a desperate team and got it done.”

“I was disappointed. I thought it would be a much more competitive game. We knew it wasn’t going to be like the first game. We got out real big and really dominated Game One, and people questioned them. They came out and dominated Game Two, and everyone is going to question us. We know the rollercoaster, and we’re not going to go too crazy on this.”

On the injury to his ankle:
“I felt good. I was a little tentative, but I just wanted to run. I didn’t shoot any free throws, which might be the first time in my career. I wasn’t really attacking the basket. I felt comfortable and it gets stronger game to game.”

On Dwyane Wade:
“I think he hit his first threes, including one at the buzzer in the first quarter. Then it makes it your job a little tougher, because you have to get up on him. You have to play your percentages. I’m not sure exactly what he is from the three-point line, but those are the shots you want him to take.”