HEAT Head Coach Pat Riley

On the game:
“We played extremely well throughout the game. We started to get sideways when we missed shots, perimeter shots, layups, whatever. They (Cavs) got back in the game, slowly, surely and we found a way to win in overtime. Our defense, I thought, was good with the exception of fouling them too much, especially when they got in the penalty and not really keeping them off the offensive boards really hurt us in the last six minutes.”

On missing Wade at the end of regulation :
“I think so, I think we have to realize who we have out there. We’re really playing together and the ball is going side to side, then guys get open. When players try to do it on their own, sometimes it doesn’t work out. If you’re going to go on your own, you’ve got to at least get to the free throw line. You’ve got to make a play or get to the free throw line and we weren’t getting many of those in the fourth quarter.”

On making the playoffs:
“Did we make it today? Oh, good. I really thought we were not going to make it, I did. At one time, in my worst nightmares, you win a championship, then don’t make the playoffs the next year. At one time, that was a possibility. That’s good, we’re in, but now we’re shooting for higher things and a better position and that’s what we want. In spite of the ups and downs of the season, I always thought we would at least make the playoffs. That would have been a big drop. The fact that we’re fighting for the third or whatever it is, that’s where we are. I think we’re playing very well the last four or five games, it’s just that we have to sustain our game longer.

On Heat bench :
“Our bench was great tonight. The bench got us a double digit lead. Some nights, it’s the starters, but tonight all those guys (bench) came in and contributed.”

On impact of Shaquille O’Neal :
“His intangible is that he is there. That he is a threat and he’s always a threat, they’re always leaning towards him, thinking about doubling him. He makes everybody else better. His major intangible is about his greatness.”

HEAT Forward Antoine Walker

On his role and big 2nd quarter:
“I’m just playing basketball. I come off the bench and give the team a spark and it’s a different role for me. I came out and got a couple of open looks and just kind of got going a little bit. I’m just trying to work hard and give a contribution. We’re a very deep team, we go nine to ten deep, so I want to make sure that I come in and contribute. It was good to get going out there and help out. I played well. I’ve been in this league for 11 years and it’s very difficult to come of the bench. I’m doing it now, so I am trying to adjust to the role. I just go and play, man. I’m just trying to play good basketball and just try to contribute any way possible.”

On Heat clinching a playoff spot and where team goes from here :
“It’s big in the sense that we’re still trying to get the third seed. We’re chasing Toronto, we’re probably not going to catch Cleveland and the Bull, so we’re trying to get the third seed. So, tonight was a huge game and I think it was a huge game, too, in the sense that we had to show Cleveland that we could beat them on their home floor. They’ve kind of dominated us here at home, so it was good to come out and get this win on their home floor.”

HEAT Forward/Guard Jason Kapono

On keys to 3-point shooting in 2nd and 3rd quarters:
“We’re playing off Shaq. Teams double team him and he’s a great passer, so he’ll find you.”



HEAT Forward Udonis Haslem

On getting into the playoffs:
“It’s an accomplishment, but we still have a lot more basketball to play. It’s possible to move ahead and get the highest seed possible. It says a lot about this team. We’ve had to much adversity, from the big fellow going down, Wade going down, coach Riley’s surgery, different things we had to go through. But, this team stuck together.

On keys at the end of the game:
“Defense. Even though we let them get back in the game, when we needed stops, we got stops. We got a turnover on the inbounds play to Eddie (Jones), we got timely stops tonight.”

Cavaliers Head Coach Mike Brown

On the game overall:
“It’s obvious we didn’t defend until the last 10 minutes of the basketball game. That’s when we decided to turn it up a notch, decided to contest shots. The first 38 minutes of the game they got wide open looks from three all night long. Antoine Walker hit shot after shot after shot without us closing out, contesting his looks and you’d think after he hit his second one we’d get to his body but we kept pulling up short. We did that with most of their three-point shooters until the last 10 minutes of the ballgame. Once we decided to do that, we decided to turn it up a notch mentally and effort wise. We got to bodies, we contested shots and made it tough for them to score. We can’t float against a good, executing team like that. That was the ballgame.”

On the last play of regulation where LeBron James shot a three-pointer :
“We didn’t want a three in that situation. We put the ball in his hands and we wanted him to attack and draw the defense and get to the free throw line. I guess he saw the double team. I don’t know you’d have to ask him as far as the double team, and he felt he needed to take that shot so he took it.”

On the plays down the stretch :
“I thought in overtime when we posted LeBron on the side out of bounds we got good looks because they doubled and he made the right pass and our guys made the right cuts.”

On LeBron being double-teamed down the stretch:
“I have to go back and watch the tape. When you do get doubled, somebody is open. That’s a good defensive team so I don’t know if they did a good job taking the passing angles away or not. He’s hit big shots for us before and he stepped up and he took that one.”

On if tonight’s loss was difficult to take :
“It’s a tough loss because we finally put ourselves in position to have a chance to win it down the stretch and we did that by playing solid defense and by attacking the rim and that’s why we were getting to the free throw line because we were aggressive attacking the rim and we knocked down our free throws down the stretch. We had a chance to win it and we didn’t. It’s tough after battling back from a double-digit lead in the fourth quarter.”

On playoff seeding :
“We have to go win tomorrow in Washington. It’s as simple as that. Every game is a big game. People said at Chicago was a big game for us and if we lose that…then we won that and went and lost to Boston. We have to win every game that’s in front of us. They’re all important. We can’t have one eye looking at Chicago and one eye looking at Detroit because if we do, we’ll get beat by Washington.”

Cavaliers Forward Lebron James

On the last play in regulation:
“They brought a double team and I just tried to get off a good shot. You look back on it, it’s maybe something I could have changed, but I wanted to try to get off the best shot I could and it just didn’t go for me.”

On what is going through his mind in those situations :
“I just try to be aggressive and try to get the best shot up possible. Don’t leave any seconds left on the clock to give them enough time to call a time out and probably go on the other end and score. Good execution? bad execution? I don’t know? Just the shot didn’t go.”

On how they were able to stay in the game going 11 minutes without a field goal :
“Defensively, we played well. I think they scored 30 points in the second half. We held them to 16 in the third, but we just couldn’t score in the third also. We only had 10. Second half we did a great job of trying to contain them and trying to get out to shooters as much as possible and it kept us in the game and we were able to be aggressive in the 4th.”

On free throw shooting in the 4th :
“Guys are just concentrating more, going up there and knocking them down. We know how important it is. We’re definitely an aggressive team so we know that free throws are definitely going to be an important part of our game. We did a great job of going in there and knocking them down late in the game and that got us back in the game also.”

On Miami hitting threes :
“We had to give up something. We doubled down on Shaq at times and you catch a swing, swing and it’s going to be tough to get out there and contest great shooters like they have. We had a couple times when we didn’t contest - that was early in the first half - but in the second half Kapono hit two that were contested coming out of a double team. Eddie Jones hit one coming out of a double team. Antoine Walker got a stand still three that was coming out of a double team also. So we had to give up something. I’m not saying that we wanted to, but we tried to get out to shooters, but they’re definitely a great team and when they shoot like that, it’s going to be tough to beat them.”

Cavaliers Guard Larry Hughes

On how they stayed in the ball game going 11 minutes without a field goal:
“I think we got to the line, made free throws. We were aggressive going to the basket and we also got stops and got some rebounds that were able to keep us in the game. It goes both ways. As long as you’re getting to the free throw line, it means you’re attacking the basket. Two free throws is the same as a field goal.”

On the game in Washington tomorrow :
“Every game right now is important. We want to go into the postseason on a nice streak. We don’t want to limp into the postseason. We want to go in with all the confidence, knowing that we can go out and win basketball games. We don’t want to second guess ourselves and think what we could have done to go into the playoffs. We want to play every game as playoff situations. Protect the ball. Take good shots. Play good defense and not let teams do what they want to do. We know Washington wants to get up and down, so we’ll be more patient that we normally are.”