Nov. 22, 2008 at AmericanAirlines Arena
Heat 109, Pacers 100
PACERS COACH JIM O'BRIEN
(On the turnovers) “We had eight in the first half, 12 in the second half and eight in the third quarter. A bunch of guys had a bunch of turnovers and when we don’t turn the ball over we win and when we do turn the ball over we lose, that simple.”
(On T.J. Ford) “Over the last couple games T.J. (Ford) was the most effective point guard we had. He was the most effective point guard we have last night and he’s the most effective point guard we had tonight.”
(On the Heat’s steals) “As long as they have Wade (Dwyane), Marion (Shawn) and Chalmers (Mario) they will lead the league in steals. They are very aggressive on their blitzes so they have a number of combinations that will allow them to lead the league.”
PACERS GUARD T.J. FORD
(On the game) “They (HEAT) got aggressive defensively in the second half and caused a lot of turnovers. They came out in the third quarter and definitely established a tempo.”
“We continue to not be able to protect leads. Now we just have to look forward to going into Dallas and getting a win.”
PACERS FORWARD DANNY GRANGER
(On the game) “We were not making good passes. We are being lackadaisical with the ball.”
(On his ankle) “I rolled it to the inside. It is a sprained ankle. I have to play through it with five minutes left.”
(On Dwyane Wade) “He is so elusive with the ball. He is so quick. His speed is really unmatched. It is really hard to contain him, especially when he has his jump shot going.”
HEAT COACH ERIK SPOELSTRA
(On the game) “Our whole game feeds off our energy. We have to get out and disrupt and really make it uncomfortable for the other team.”
“In the first half we were sluggish. We were late on everything and they just got whatever they wanted; they were carving us up. We had to go to our zone defense, which is the first time we’ve done that all year, which actually kept us within striking distance. In the second half we got to who we are. We were as disruptive as we’ve been all year.”
(On not losing back to backs yet) “This team has got some fight in it. These guys care about it and you can tell. It’s not only game to game with that but we’ve come back from deficits and always continue to fight and scrap and claw our way back in the game. It’s a competitive group.”
“We are a young group, we are small, we have some new guys, but we’re progressing, we’re learning and that’s a good thing to start with.”
(On Michael Beasley) “We’re centimeters away from getting Michael Beasley his first charge. He’s got five hits this year, I thought this game he had it. The second half was probably his best effort defensively in a Miami HEAT uniform.”
“In the second half he was playing harder and more focused and he wasn’t getting any fouls. If you’re not into it with your mind and you’re not playing as hard as you possibly can, that’s when you get out of position and you might get some fouls.”
(On the comeback) “We used our energy, quickness, and effort. That’s when we’re at our best. We cannot be a team that spars. We simply have to play hard, as hard as we possibly can. That’s got to be our identity.”
HEAT FORWARD MICHAEL BEASLEY
(On being kept in the game after picking up his fourth foul) “It made me feel good. It gave me a lot of confidence and shows that Coach (Erik Spoelstra) is starting to trust me a little bit.”
(On the game) “We just don’t like to lose, especially at home.”
“It was good energy out there. The crowd was in it. The bench was in it. That felt real good. It was electric.”
“I looked over at the bench a couple times and I didn’t see a mad face, so I guess I was doing something right.”
HEAT FORWARD SHAWN MARION
(On the game) “I think we picked it (defense) up another notch at the end. We were able to go down on the other end and finish. We got a good lead and a good win. I think the first half we were trying to get a feel for them. In the second half we just buckled down and got some stops and got everything else going. We pulled out a good win.”
“We were in the passing lanes. They are a really good cutting team. We were able to body up with them and get some good steals and capitalize on them. Some nights it is like that, where you are in the right place at the right time.”
“The crowd was amazing tonight. I love it.”
HEAT GUARD DWYANE WADE
(On the game) “Tonight our defense was good enough to get us the lead and control of the game.”
“With two minutes and under, at that time we had been fighting back. Our defense was great and to not to give them an opportunity to get a shot up, forced them to call a timeout. That was big.”
(On playing zone defense) “We haven’t really practiced it much this year. We needed something. They were tearing us alive. Actually the zone helped us. We were active in the zone. We got our hands on a lot of balls. It kind of calmed us down a bit. We were able to start making our way back into the game a bit.”