HEAT Head Coach Pat Riley

On the game:
“They [Dallas Mavericks] jumped us extremely hard right in the beginning. They came in and are playing for position and everything, and they jumped right on top of us. We were not even close the first six minutes. We got back a little bit and got into a game, but they were just [too good] tonight.”

“The last four games we had a great effort. We keep trying to do the things that we are doing. The last six minutes of the game [tonight], the group out there was competing very hard. They were making the proper rotations, they were not getting caught, they were anticipating.”

“The beginning of the game, it was like we were stuck in mud. We were not reacting to the ball, we were not reacting to drives, and we were not reacting to anything. Sometimes that happens. It was their [Dallas Mavericks] aggressive attacking mentality and it was our being soft to start.”

HEAT Center Forward Earl Barron

On the game:
“I was just eager to get out there and get up and down the court. Unfortunately we didn’t get the win. It’s tough, every night something is happening, somebody is getting hurt or somebody is not playing. We are just trying to find a way to try to continue to get better. All the guys on this team have talent, it’s just a matter of going out there and getting some minutes and showcasing it.”

HEAT Guard Daequan Cook

On the future of the team:
“Everything is going good even though its been a pretty down season for us. We are still out there trying to execute and play hard as a team. There’s a lot of opportunities out there for a lot of players on this team to have a chance to be back here with us.”

On the minutes:
“It’s very important. I want to be one of the players Coach has in the rotation next year. It’s important for me to get the minutes and continue to get better as I go out there and play every night.”

Dallas Mavericks Head Coach Avery Johnson

On the game:
“Miami has been playing some good ball here recently. Jason Williams had 34 points in their last game. They played Orlando tough and we think Orlando is awfully good this year; a three seed in the Eastern Conference. We had to come out and really be focused. The guys challenged themselves. We had a good shoot-around this morning, a good breakfast meeting. Sometimes for early games like this we don’t shoot but we felt we needed to come to the gym.”

On the professionalism of the Mavericks:
“We’ve really been talking to the guys about taking care of their bodies, getting their rest. They’ll have a lot of time to rest this summer so we really have been talking about being focused and knowing when to do certain things. We got a really professional group.”

Mavericks Forward Dirk Nowitzki

On the game:
“I think we’ve done a really nice job these last four games. We’re coming out strong and setting the tone defensively and on offense, we’re getting the ball into (Jason) Kidd’s hands, let him push the ball and find the open guy. We’re making shots, we’re attacking the paint, so we’ve had some good starts over this last little win streak, so hopefully we can do the same thing for these big boys coming up.”

“We feel like we still have a lot of work to do. We still have some adjusting to do with Jason (Kidd) and some of the new guys. (Tyronn) Lue is pretty new too. We feel like we can fly under the radar and get better from game to game and practice. Hopefully we can be a great team once the playoffs start.”

“They have a lot of injury problems, with (Dwyane) Wade being out for so long and having surgery last year. Obviously the whole shoulder thing last year was pretty bad. They had some injury problems, but you know they’ll be back with (Pat) Riley running the show. I’m sure they’ll be back soon.”

Mavericks Guard Jason Terry

On the game:
“You still feel the jitters from the Finals when you walk through the door, but as far as their team, it’s not the same team. They’re missing some key integral parts like James Posey, Antoine Walker and (Gary) Payton. Those guys made big shots in that series. And obviously the biggest is Shaq (Shaquille O’Neal).”

“We’re just constantly going out there and working on certain things about our game just trying to fine-tune and win games and get ready for the playoffs, knowing that each task that we have is another step toward becoming that team. And we know we have the potential, we’re just trying to maximize and reach that potential.”

Mavericks Guard Jason Kidd

On the game:
“On the schedule, we have a very competitive week, but the one thing is that we have to forget the Lakers and take one game at a time. We play them on Tuesday so that’s what we’ll prepare for and we’ll go from there.”

“I think the nice thing about this is that we can’t be concerned with the other teams. We can only control our destiny so for us, we take the court and try to get better each time. This gives us a chance to see where we’re at.”