HEAT Head Coach Pat Riley

Even after the win in Game 3, half your players said, "We haven't played a good game yet." Half of them said, "We haven't played a complete game yet." Was this close in your estimation to either your best or a complete game?
We played very well. We didn't turn it over in the first half, and I think that's where you start with your offensive efficiency. We shot the ball well.

I think we're getting a little bit of a handle on their plan for Shaquille, and, you know, what they are doing. Our spacing is getting better. You know, but Dwyane had just an incredible first half. We played well. I thought it was, you know, it was our best game, there's no doubt, of this series. And we got a little ragged at the end of the third quarter, beginning of the fourth, before we were able to get it back under control.

Can you talk about the lift you got from your second unit tonight?
Bench was big. I thought Shannon did a great job, not playing I told both he and Derek the other day, the fatigue was beginning to show on Dwyane and some of our perimeter players, so just to be ready. And Pose did a great job making big shots and defending; Zo.

Yeah, it's not a supporting cast. I don't look at it that way. They are all pros. They have been around, and they know what to do. We got great lift from them.

You mentioned before about handling the double teams. Was the key tonight both player movement and ball movement; it seemed like you attacked it more aggressively, as a team, as a unit tonight?
We spent a lot of time on it the last couple of days, walking through the spacing over and over and over on our sets. We haven't seen it we didn't see it throughout any of the series we played in the six or eight weeks. Occasionally there was some double teams. They did a great job of coming with Dirk at seven feet, and we wanted to try to remove that obstacle a a little bit so. We moved some of the players around.

The spacing was good. We weren't cutting as much. But still, that, being better; Dwyane sort of took care of the other half, you know, when we weren't playing well out of the post.

What was Shaquille doing in that situation, too, to be particularly effective?
He's a passer. You know, he just sees it. He baits it. Like Shandon made some great baseline cuts. He's so smart, he's been playing with Karl Malone for so long; he knows how to cut. He made one cut that came to what we call the strong side of the double team and threw the lob to Shaquille in the first half.

You know, Shaq just says, come on. He will say, come on. If we're making shots and making good cuts, then that will be a challenge for them, to keep doubling him.

What did you think of the Stackhouse foul on him?
It was a hard foul, absolutely. So I just, you know, I just remember so many things going on, I don't know why I was running out there. He asked me, he said, why did you "come running out there, you thought I was going to go after him?"

I said, no, I don't know why I did it, I just did it. (Laughter) I've been there too many times with those things.

If you could talk about the job you guys were able to do against Dirk defensively, what you had hoped to accomplish coming in, and what you guys did accomplish against him.
They had eight points in the first, I think four or five minutes, just driving the ball. Their game plan was to attack, isolate him at the high post, and he was just putting his head down. We couldn't get a read on which way to push him as they were making cutters.

I think we got a better handle on it, guys starting coming early to help. It's a commitment on the part of the individual to work, work him, and it's a commitment on the part of the team to be in the paint if he ever drops his shoulder and turns a corner.

How did you hold Dallas to seven points in the last quarter, what was the key?
I don't know. Defensively. They are a great shooting team. I don't know, what, 2 for 17, somebody told me, or whatever it was. They just missed a lot of shots.

I know our defense was very active tonight. It was very active tonight. We did not want to give them free throws and did not want to give them layups and jumpers. So somewhere you've sort of got to pick your poison, and as good a shooting team as they are, that's what we're going to close out on, is we're going to close out on jumpshots.

You made reference to Dwyane's excellent first half. In the first quarter when O'Neal went out with two fouls, I think Dwyane had several shots in a sequence of four or five minutes; was that him just taking over the game, or did you go specifically to him during that time?
He made a point the other night you know we talk about this, the number 50, the number of times he gets touches. He actually had 49 the other night in the win. I'm sure tonight he probably had a lot less to be honest with you.

You know, once Shaquille went out, we were going to put him in a situation with pick and rolls where he can make plays and keep the ball in his hands. It isn't any one thing that I call, but there's a series of things that we run when he's dribbling down the left side of the court that either you get into a high pick and roll or side pick and roll. But he pretty much controls that situation.

Stackhouse's foul should have been a flagrant two, and will you guys ask the NBA to take another look at it, perhaps reclassify it?
I thought it was a hard foul. I can't remember, I think James Posey got a flagrant two somewhere, or was it one, Chicago, I can't remember. It was a hard foul. It was the same kind of thing.

I think Shaq is so big, it's pretty hard to knock him down like that. So I'm going to leave it the way it is.

Shaq and Zo seemed to contest stuff at the rim a lot more tonight than the previous games. Was that a point of emphasis for you guys?
That's instinct on Zo's part. You know, he made three or four big blocks for us in the first half. And if they do get by, you know, the first line of defense, and he's coming early we've just got to make sure that we're sinking to Dampier and Diop on the boards. Yeah, that was a lot of contesting tonight at the rim. We need that against this team. We cannot give them layups and jumpers and free throws. We have to take something away.

Did your guys just want it more tonight, do you think, than they did?
. It was a big game for us today. You know, I mean, I think when you get to this time, it's 55 days now, that we've been at this, as has Dallas. There could be as many as eight more days, or less.

I think once you start to see the possibilities, we're both at 14 wins, we're both two wins away, I think it becomes as much will as it is execution, yeah.

With them double teaming Shaquille through the series, did you think those opportunities were there for Dwyane?
Always. I mean, they are going to start breaking the defense down and rotating. They leave him open, too, and they rotate him off the shooters and stuff. He's getting looks on the weak side where he can drive, you know, drive the basketball.

We did not handle it well in Dallas. We just didn't play well in Dallas. We played, I thought very well the other day, until we got that third quarter, you know, that was bad. And then today, we played our best game.

So we need to have our best game on Sunday.

HEAT Center Shaquille O'Neal

It's best two out of three now. Your feelings on what Game 5 is and how important?
It's a very important game for both teams. You know, we just want to, you know, keep doing what we've been doing at home. You know, tonight was I think our, you know, first complete game, so hopefully we can continue to play this well and hopefully we can keep it going.

From your college career to the pros, USA Basketball to now, how do you compare Coach Riley to some of the other coaches you played for in the past?
He's been great ever since he came to my house in Orlando, we had a couple conversations. He told me what he was all about. I told him what I was all about. I knew he was going to be a perfect fit.

You know, he's a straight up guy, and I think he's straight up because he's upstairs and downstairs. What I mean by that, is he's the general manager, president and the head coach, so he doesn't have to, you know, smooth anything over when there's problems. You know, he always handles the problems and fixes all the problems.

At what point in the course of the game did you know that you guys are going to win it?
Well, I knew at the beginning of the game, I told my guys that we played a lot of games this season where we needed to win, and this was a game that we really, really needed to win. The guys came out and played well. The bench played well. You know, it was the best our bench had played all series.

You know, we just have to do the same thing, and it's a different series right now.

Jerry Stackhouse was just in here, he said it was just a hard foul. What was your impression of it?
My impression was my daughters tackle me harder when I come home. (Laughter) You know, I'm from I'm one of the last players of the old school, and you know, you just have to take a hard foul like that and keep on moving.

It actually felt pretty good to get hit like that. Thank you, Jerry. Appreciate it.

Coach Riley was just praising your ability to break down the double team, pass out of it. What were you seeing out there better tonight or doing differently tonight?
You know, my guys are cutting to the basket and they are spotting up, and they were really, really looking for me tonight, especially Gary. I was trying to, you know, not really force shots and keep hitting the open man. Tonight it paid off and our bench really, really played well.

What about that no look pass to Posey?
I have that in my game.

What you finally found in the offensive groove, do you believe that was one of the main reasons that you guys had a dominating performance today?
No, we're just playing good team ball. You know, the fans have been really, really great. Everybody's moving the ball. Everybody's really, really playing unselfish. You know, Dwyane had another fabulous game. You know, the other night, you know, we willed our way to a win and we got a little bit of momentum. We just want to keep it going.

Can you talk about your interior defense, how well you guys play that, and forcing them to take a lot of threes that they missed?
You know, we just want to try to keep them off the paint. They are very, very dangerous team. You really can't give them both. You can't give them inside and outside. They really miss a lot of shots and they are probably going to come really, really hard on Sunday. And we have to be prepared. And we will be.

Just two things. One, when you got a tech, you're still on the court and you were smiling a lot :

You know, that was the first time in history that I was polite and I got a tech. I was just trying to ask a question and he gave me a tech.

The second thing, after Game 2, it seems like you're doing everything else to beat them, you're running out, double teaming on guards, Nowitzki, are you taking it on yourself to do everything else besides scoring at this point?
You know, whenever my team doesn't do well, I take it on upon myself I always say to myself, "I could have done more." I am programmed to do more, no matter what. Win or lose, I am programmed to do more. That's because I am the other son of Jor el, Superman. (Laughter).

HEAT Guard Dwyane Wade

Can you just talk about how dramatically this series has changed since midway in the fourth quarter last game to now?
I mean, it's a series now, you know, it's 2 2, the way we knew it was going to be if we came out and played the way Miami Heat can play. A lot of people was doubting us and we thrive off that. We've been doubted all year.

It's a series. Now it's the best of three. Looking hard to the next game.

I was wondering if you could talk about what your bench was able to do, especially Posey tonight?
Man, Posey did an unbelievable job for us tonight, scoring, rebounding, just being active, taking charge. That's what it's all about. That's what the playoffs about is about guys coming in and stepping up, and give a lot of credit to Posey for doing that.

Everybody came off the bench. Alonzo did an unbelievable job for us down there low to block shots.

It's team basketball, man, and everyone played good tonight. For the first time in this series we played good as a team. We just want to continue to do that coming into Sunday.

When you're down 0 2 or even down 1 2, what was it Coach Riley was saying to you guys to get you motivated to get back into the series?
If you ain't motivated in The Finals, man, it's nothing to be said. That's what he said. Ain't nothing I can say to motivate you guys. We know we've got to play a lot better. You've got to go out there and you've got to want it. But there ain't no motivational speeches that can be said in The Finals, man. You've got to go out and do it. We understand that. We've got a lot of veterans on this team.

Are you getting the ball at the top any more than you did in the first couple of games? Are you in a better attacking position than you were the first couple of games?
No, I'm probably the same. I'm just in a rhythm. I'm a rhythm player. First two games in Dallas, I was kind of off my rhythm and now I'm in a rhythm now. I'm able to look and see the defense come before it's coming and make my moves, pull up or attack.

Just seeing the game early now, and hopefully stay into that rhythm. And my teammates are doing a great job of spreading the floor and giving me the ball in the right spot so I can make plays happen.

It seems like y'all are being more physical against Dirk; is that a conscious effort you have made to be more physical with him?
You know Dirk, he's seven foot, man, shooting fadeaway jumpers. Only thing you can do is corral him and try to make him take a tough shot. We have guys like Posey and Udonis who are doing an unbelievable job of making him take a tough shots and crowd him and get under him. If he hit it, take the ball out but if he didn't, you did a great job defensively. Great job by Posey and Udonis on Dirk but a tough job the next couple games.

Are you seeing anything different because of the way you all are playing?
Just not letting him get the ball in his sweet spot as they does in other series. They were just switching him and letting him get in sweet spots. Our guys are doing a good job of making him work harder for it. That's the only difference, but he's getting the shots, and they can contest it.

You said this morning that Shaq was back to being more talkative after Game 3. What do you think he's like after Game 4?
Oh, what do I think well, did he come in here yet? I'm sure he had some quotes for everyone, you know, to listen to.

You know, he's back. I think he understands that this team needs him. We need his personality, also. You know, when he's quiet, the team kind of gets quiet. But when he's alive, we're alive. He played excellent tonight, man, you know, for us tonight, and looking forward to more coming in the next couple of games.

And you said Pat really didn't have to give motivational speeches the last few days. So what did he do between 0 2 and 2 2 that really helped you guys?
Just showed us what we did wrong, you know, from one game to the next, what we can get better at. Just point out things like defense transition we can get better at. We're still not doing a good job with turning the ball over, and that's one thing he said, and rebounding the ball was a key. He knew that offensively we would get it going eventually. Just concentrate on that and it's worked for us the last two games.

What was your mindset when Shaquille went out with his second foul in the first quarter and for the next four or five minutes you scored three or four times?
Just to be more aggressive. I take it upon myself to be more aggressive on the offensive end. We just wanted him to get to the bench and get back in. We know Zo is coming in and Zo did an unbelievable job for us, very underrated, especially on the offensive end does a great job of setting picks and getting rolls to the basket. We don't lose too much when Zo comes in, we have another kind of player. We have best backup center in the league and it works for us.

Were you surprised they did not contest the outside shot as much, in the first quarter, Nowitzki didn't step out on you?
I think they said I can't shoot, that's what it was said, right, in Game 1. So why would they contest my shots? I can't shoot. So, hopefully, you know, I'm going to continue to keep shooting the shots they're giving me and step up and make them. That's all I can do.

It seems like especially in this game a little bit of bad blood has brewed and spilled out a little bit. In the locker room the Mavericks were saying that you were even faking for the TV cameras a little bit with your injury. How do you respond to that and do you see it building at this point?
No, I don't care. I don't have to fake. If I'm hurt, I'm hurt. If I'm not, I'm not. It's whatever, man. It's the Finals, we're not best friends. We could care less what they say and they could care less what we say, until The Finals are over.

Right now, it's two teams battling each other and going to war. It's whatever. Everybody knows I don't fake. If I'm hurt, I'm hurt. Y'all have seen me, I don't have to fake.

HEAT Center Alonzo Mourning

Definitely appeared the team turned it up tonight, best game you played in the postseason?
I don’t know if it’s our best game. We can play better. The good thing about it is collectively everybody came and contributed and we were able to run away with a pretty good win. But, we’re not satisfied obviously – we have two more games to win and we know that they are going to gather themselves and play a little bit better on Sunday. So we got to be ready, we can’t exhale. I mean tonight we can enjoy this one, but tomorrow we got to get back to work. We’re going to come in and watch the film and do what we got to do to get ready for Game 5. But today was a good win for us, it was a good win. A lot of it was, yes we had good offensive performances from guys coming in and contributing, but our defensive presence out there was what we hang our hats on. That’s what we rely on to open those types of leads. The good thing about it is when you can go into the fourth quarter, and they made a run in the third, you can go into the fourth quarter and hold them to seven points. I don’t know if that’s a Finals record or not, but you got to credit our defense with that.

It seems like you guys have begun to figure them out.
They are a very potent offensive team; it’s hard to figure out a potent offensive team because they can still hurt you. If they get going and they get open shots they can hurt you. So it’s just a matter of us continually staying consistent with our game plan from a defensive perspective in hopes that alters their offensive capabilities. They rely on Dirk on getting them going and getting them off, they rely on that and they rely on Josh Howard, getting him going and getting him off. A lot of our focus is trying to take them out of that rhythm that they kind of get in. We know the rhythm and once they get in that rhythm it’s kind of hard to stop. And Jason Terry coming off those screens – you got to disrupt that, and the only way to disrupt it is with effort, energy and defensive communication out there and I think we did a pretty good job.

This team has been written off a number of times. Talk about the resiliency.
We are not concerned about who counts us out. We know where our strength lies and its right here in this locker room with ya’ll out of it [laughter]. This is where our strength is and this is where we turn to for the strength we need to overcome the obstacles we are confronted with. We’ve done that all season long and all season long we’ve had doubters, we’ve had people shooting us down and some way we always find a way to come together and make it right, make it right, make it right and continue to work and make things right and you got to credit everybody in here. Coaches, everybody doing what they have to do to prepare us and the guys doing what they have to do, watching tape and preparing their bodies mentally and physically to come out there to play the game.

HEAT Guard/Forward James Posey

Is that thing you got in the locker room going to Dallas with you for Game 6?
No, it's going to stay here. It's just a reminder of what we need to get done here and something to stay focused on until we reach our ultimate goal.

How did you think the bench played tonight as a total, and you specifically?
I think everybody did a great job. You know, it was a great team effort. We came in, just very aggressive on the defensive end. I think that opened up some things for us on the offensive end.

You know, it was just big for everybody just to play together and continue to play hard.

When you were on Nowitzki, what were you trying to do with him?
Just coming in, we just want to play him tough. He's a great player. We know he's going to get a lot of shot attempts and things like that. We don't want to get into a comfort zone and let him get into his sweet spots, just make everything work without fouling. I think everybody that guards him does a great job for the most part.

I think Shaq said after, something to the effect after the game that you messed up his highlight on that no look pass.
Well, the big fella, he had it three feet away from the basket and I was two feet and yeah, did I miss the dunk, but I guess I made my free throws.

Did he say anything to you?
Yeah, he did. He reminded me, he said, "Make me look good." So I apologized to him.

Could you talk a little about what Pat Riley has meant to your team coming back from an 0 2 deficit?
He's been here before, and he's just a constant reminder, when he talks to us, it's like he has the utmost confidence in us; that we just have to continue to take it one game at a time. You look in that huddle, you see the ring on his finger and that's even more motivation to go out there and get it done.

You know, it's just that respect factor that he's been here, he's done it already, and we want to help him do it again.

Let me ask you, do you feel that it seemed like in this game in this series, there was a point where emotions are really starting to build up here, as we're getting, I don't want to say bad blood, but something along those lines, but guys are really starting to feel aggressive, did you feel that out there today?
You can look at it for the most part Stackhouse's foul on Shaq, but you know, it's the end of the season right now. You've got to leave everything out there. You can't save anything.

So both teams are going to go at it. Both teams are going to compete really hard. It's just a matter of who wants it the most.

Dallas Mavericks Head Coach Avery Johnson

Another tough start for you guys, what was it, something that they were doing, and why was it so hard for you guys to try and break out of it at all tonight?
Well, we've been having tough starts this whole series. It's been uncharacteristic of our team. But again, you know, we're in a dogfight. We're playing on the road. We've been good on the road all year, and we've gotten off to pretty good starts on the road, but not in this series.

You know, we'll address it. Wade has hurt us in the worst way. We haven't been able to guard him. So we have two days now to go back and take a look at it, and we'll make some adjustments. ,p>But I've been telling you guys all along, this is a seven game series.

Tell me if I'm wrong here. It seems as though your club has not recovered since the fourth quarter of Game 3 :
Well, I don't know about not recovered. This is a mentally tough team that we have here. We've been mentally tough all year. You're talking about the same team that won Game 7 in San Antonio against a world champion.

Like I said all along, it's not always about what we don't do. Why don't you just give Miami credit for playing some balls out defense and playing tough minded and scrapping, and they are beating us to the punch. We are not going to win many of our games when two of our better players go, you know, 3 for 22. Again, give them some credit.

Talk about Miami's bench play, particularly James Posey, and how unexpected that was from them?
Well, you know, we've been doing a pretty good job with their bench, but Pose got it loose for a couple of shots there and he rebounded the ball well. And our bench has been a strength for us all year and it still is. But again, we've held their bench down three out of the four games, but tonight Pose hit a few shots and it's a breakout game so everything gets magnified.

You said in the pregame conference that the rebounding would be very important. You again lost that battle 48 36. Even though you are out rebounding them, is there an aggressiveness problem there or something else?
Well, again, they are just one step quicker. This is two games in a row where we haven't had anybody double figure rebounding. So normally, we at least have a center rebounding in double figures or one of our front line players.

But again, we're not getting there. We will get there. But it just didn't happen tonight.

These teams don't have too much history, they only play twice a year, but do you see some bad blood developing in this series as it intensifies?
I sure hope so on my team's part. It's hard for me to watch some of this stuff knowing that I have such a recent history playing the game. You know, it's just hard. It's hard.

So hopefully what happened tonight will light a little fire under our team. It's just really disappointing when the other team is pushing and we're not pushing back hard enough.

How would you describe the type of defense they were playing, specifically on Dirk tonight?
Well, you know, they are wrapping him up. They are putting a blanket over him and he's going to have to get that blanket off of him.

You know, we've had certain demonstrations of how to do it. Now it's just a matter of willpower. And Dirk is not satisfied. He's very disappointed. But again, this is a team game. Even if Dirk comes out and has big numbers, what did he have, 30 the last game, but we still lost.

I think overall, our team has to get it together and play better. And we haven't started well, and really and truly, we haven't finished well. We had a 26 , 27 point lead and really didn't finish well in Game 2. But again, right now, it's a three game series and we've got to play much better in the next game.

Just to get back on Dirk, was it more his performance tonight what they were doing, or was it just him missing shots?
Did Peter (Vecsey) ask you to ask that question?

No, did he not :
Okay, all right. (Laughter) I think it's a little bit of both. You know, Haslem is roughing him up. Posey is playing physical. And again, right now, you know, in New York, you know, they call it Rutgers Park or whatever; is that right?

Rucker :
Rucker. Okay. Thank you, Peter. Where I'm from, they call it playground basketball, and a lot of time, that's what it is, because you can't expect anybody to bail you out.

I've tried to get a team that really don't complain, just play. But when we're complaining and we're not playing which it takes sometime, even in the NBA, we are not going to get it done. And throughout this year, we've been doing that.

You double teamed Shaquille a lot less in the second half, do you think they are getting a handle on that, and is it uncovering Wade a little bit?
Maybe. Maybe they are. This is what a series is about, and we've been doubling teaming a certain way. Maybe they have figured it out.

Now we'll try to see what works out best. Shaquille O'Neal is a player that still deserves a double team in this league, and we have a lot of respect for his game. But just as much as Shaquille O'Neal deserves a double team, we haven't found the right solution to deal with Wade yet, offensively or defensively. So that's an even bigger problem.

Mavericks Forward Dirk Nowitzki

Can you just talk about how dramatically this series has changed from midway to the fourth quarter last game to now?
Well, you know, you see when a team gets that confidence what they can do. I thought we had Game 3 under control, and then the last couple minutes we let it slip away. And next thing you know, we had a series.

You know, they played with a lot of confidence today, they made shots. They moved the ball well. Dwyane was great again. Shaq was a beast down there. So they had really everything going. Their role players made shots. They played a great all around game, and we couldn't really get much going. A lot of shots were already down, came back out. And the bottom line is, if you shoot 31 percent from the floor, you're not going to win.

You guys were out rebounded by 17 on the defensive boards, 16 was the advantage on the points in the paint; why does there seem to be an aggressiveness problem here?
Well, if you shoot 31 percent from the floor, there are a lot more rebounds they can get on the defensive end. So I don't think the rebounding was that big of a key today. They did pound us on the glass pretty good in Game 3 when they had a lot of second chance points.

But today, I don't think the boards were a big deal. You know, because like I said, when you shoot 31 percent, there are a lot of breaks coming off that they can get.

How would you describe the type of defense they played on you tonight?
Well, they have been doing it all series. They do a good job, you know, getting into me and making me put the ball on the floor. I had some good looks, though, from especially early on in the paint. Missed the put back layup. So I'm not really worried about my offensive game.

So just got to make shots.

After a game like that, it seemed quite physical, you were on the ground a little bit; what's your body feel like after that sort of game?
Same as a regular game.

What is your take about the seven points that your team scored in the fourth quarter?
Well, you know, down the stretch, when you're down 20 with a couple minutes left, obviously you're desperate and you take threes that are not really there.

So you know, obviously you've got to go out of your way a little bit to make some stuff happen when you're down that big. So, I mean, we just have to make shots. That's the bottom line.

What's the status of your ankle, and could you describe what happened on that particular play when you turned it?
I just came down on the foot, like it happens a lot in our sport, and it's no big deal.

You did a great job in the first two games against Dwyane Wade, and you were unable to do the same here in Miami. Does this have to change for you guys to step up?
Yeah, obviously we can't give him 40 every game. He's been really aggressive. Tonight, he looked really comfortable with his outside shot. He made a couple threes early. He made a couple tough pull ups I thought.

He's been playing great. Obviously he adjusted to whatever we did in Game 1 and Game 2, we all know they are a great home team. They only lost, whatever, one home game all playoffs long. So we knew that they are going to play a lot better than they did on the road. But, you know, we've got to find a way to slow them down a little bit. You know, get into them more and still try to keep them out of the paint.

Mavericks Guard Jason Terry

Do you think you all might have created a monster?
I’m not really concerned about anything like that – we’ve just got to keep our mindset and stay focused at the task at hand. It’s a seven game series and you’ve got to go one game at a time. Game 5 is a big game. Whether it was in Dallas or Miami, it just happens to be in Miami, so you know, Game 5 is big.

What about capitalizing off of turnovers? Did you guys talk about that?
Oh we had plenty of opportunities. A lot of balls went in and out. At the same time, defensively, we didn’t play the game we’re capable of playing, so watching the film we’ll still be disappointed but at the same time, eager to get back out here and get to Game 5.

You’re one of the leaders on this team, Jet. What do you say amongst each other after a game like this?
You let everybody recollect their thoughts and then we’ll get together tomorrow for a nice practice and take it from there.

Mavericks Guard Adrian Griffin

How do you guys prepare for Game 4 after getting blown out tonight?
We just have to wait until tomorrow, go over some film, and see what the coaching staff has planned for us. We’ve made adjustments all year. I’m sure we’ll make some adjustments for Sunday’s game.

Do you think their comeback in Game 3 gave them confidence to win this game?
I don’t know. They definitely seemed like they played harder tonight.

How often do you re-learn the lesson of how hard it is to win on the road during the playoffs?
We still have one more game here, so all is not lost. If we in the next game, it’s a whole new series. They took care of their business. They won two games at home, they won two games at home. Now, we just have to be ready for Game 5.

How were they different tonight than they were on Tuesday?
They’re playing at home. They’re playing with a lot of confidence. They’re playing harder.

Do you feel like this series is getting more physical?
I expected that. This is The Finals. It’s supposed to be physical, so that’s not anything abnormal.

Are you guys still confident that you can win Game 5 in Miami and go back home up 3-2?
Oh definitely. No question. We’ve got Game 5 here, and we’re going to come out fired up. All is not lost. We’ve still got a lot of games to play.

Does the task of winning this series now seem a little more daunting to you?
No. It’s always going to be tough on someone else’s court. But we’re capable of doing it.

Mavericks Forward Josh Howard

Did you imagine that you guys would come out and shoot the ball so poorly tonight?
It wasn’t our best performance shooting-wise. We still had our opportunities, but for the most part, we couldn’t put the ball in the basket. Most of our shots went in and out.

Do you feel like you guys might’ve created a monster tonight?
No, it’s 0-0 right now. They won these two and have one more game at home, which is going to be a big test for us on Sunday, but right now we’re fine. It’s 0-0. We know what we’ve done wrong and we’ve got to get back to the drawing board again.

Do you think you guys took too many outside shots tonight?
Right now I don’t know. For the most part, our shots just went in and out.

Do you think blowing the lead in Game 3 contributed to tonight’s outcome?
It probably gave them a lot of momentum. We put that behind us for the most part. We weren’t even worried about that.

Do you sense that momentum has shifted in the series?
Sure, they’re at home. They’re supposed to have momentum at home, you know what I’m saying? It’s 0-0 right now for me. I’m not thinking about any momentum.

How surprising is it that Dirk Nowitzki only had three points in the second half?
The situation happened where the ball just wasn’t going in the hole tonight. The guy was putting up shots, he got to the line, he was driving the ball… He just didn’t get the shots that he wanted.

Mavericks Guard Jerry Stackhouse

Take us back to the hard foul on Shaquille, how did you see the play and tell us about it:
Exactly what it was. It was a hard foul. I mean, he was going to the basket. Always want to in fact, when Shaq is going to the basket, we want to try to make him go to the free throw line and earn it.

Just a hard play.

How do you turn this series back around?
Well, I think, you know, once we look at the tape and I think we got the shots we wanted. We just didn't knock down shots tonight. Obviously they played extremely well. They made they made all their shots. They made a lot of plays and had contributions from a lot of different guys.

When all that's said and done, we had cut the lead to ten. I had a three that rimmed out, maybe possibly cut it to seven. Came right down the next possession, Dirk had a three that was out. Then, you know, possibly a four point game right there. The game got away from us a little bit after that, but I thought we fought hard to get back into the game again in the third quarter.

Where is your confidence level as a team?
It's still high. The shots we're taking, we're going to consistently live with the shots we get. We know that we're better shooters, we're better percentage shooters than 31 percent as a team. So we feel that we continue to get the looks, obviously we've got to find a way our offense kind of, you know, fuels our defense. It should be the other way around, but that's how we've been all year. Our offense fuels our defense, and when we're not able to be efficient offensively, we're not efficient defensively.

So we've got to find a way to get our offense going and be able to knock down shots and be able to get a smooth rhythm offensively. I think that will translate into us being a little better defensively. And obviously you've got to give the guy credit again. Dwyane Wade came out, he jumped up and made shots on us with good defense. Shaq was active again. And then they got contributions from Posey who else Posey was good. Walker had a few baskets late. But, you know, that's who they are.

Dirk had a tough night, was it something that they were doing against him, or was it just one of those nights?
He had one of those nights. I had one last night, or two nights ago, where the ball, you know, didn't do what we wanted it to do. I mean, it was a little better tonight.

I think once you have a game like we had last night where we were up, you know, you may have a little bit of a hangover, but I think hopefully we got that hangover game out of the way. Got a couple of days to prepare. Maybe step away a little bit, come back and have a little renewed energy on Saturday, and you know, come back they are at home. This is a tough place to win. This team has lost one game at home in the playoffs, and we are hoping that we can add one more to that total and put ourselves in a good position. This is a best out of three series right now and it's the first one to get two games.

After having a game like this, would you rather have one day off instead of two days off as far as getting back quicker?
No, I think, you know, we'll let it be what it is. You know, it's two days and like I said, we'll get a chance to step away for a day and not have to have that hangover like we did last time. Then just come off fresh, I think that will be positive for us.

Confidence wise for Miami, do you think you guys may have unleased a monster confidence wise?
I mean, at this point I mean, playing at home, teams are going to be confident. We know that they are a dangerous team, and they have got two great players. But I think we're still confident. You know, we had our best player have a night like he struggled tonight. All of us didn't play great tonight. And, you know, like I said, it was a ten we fought our way back to a 10 point game and we had a couple shots that we missed an opportunity to get even closer. Didn't work out for us.

We scrap this one up as a tough loss and get ready for Sunday.