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Practice Quotes April 30
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I don’t think you can defend the three, but you can get a hand up. We contested a lot of the ones they made in the first half. Again, I have said this as long as I can remember, if a team is going to make outside shots, especially three-pointers, there is not much you can do. You got to hope that (you can) push them out as far as you can, and you have a hand up. And I thought, they didn’t have wide-open looks, they had some, that’s only going to happen. You gotta understand our personnel. When Deke’s involved and Allen, they try to put Deke and Allen in almost every pick and roll. It puts a lot of pressure because Dikembe is guarding a guy who can shoot the ball and put it on the floor who is eight or nine inches smaller than him and much more mobile and athletic. So, they just try to create that kind of situation over and over again. We gotta hope that we don’t foul and they don’t make them all and we don’t give up second shots. And as a result, we didn’t give up many second shots in that game especially in the second half. We didn’t put them on the line. You are not going to foul a guy shooting 25, 30-footers. And that helped us win the game.
On Boston playing their best game in Game 3
I hope that’s true. I think they have done a terrific job. But as fickle as this game is, we could be 2-1 as easy 0-3. It’s just one of those things. Again, down the stretch in Game 2, they came through…In Game 3, we made some shots, got enough stops and made some free throws. And as a result, we got a win. I think we gotta count on Boston playing good, and we gotta play our best. That’s the way we have to approach it.
On only six teams coming back from being down 0-2:
You are talking about the elite teams. It’s hard to win three straight games. Just think about it, it’s hard enough to win three straight games in the course of a normal schedule. But to win three straight games against a common opponent that’s a playoff caliber team, it’s pretty difficult.
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That’s right. I mean it’s good for us to know that we can get a win at home and feed off the energy of our crowd. It is important to try to do it one more time. If we get that win, then we’ll worry about going to Boston and trying to sneak one there.
On Boston shooting a lot of threes:
I like that because a lot of times they only get one shot. They are shooting so far out that we should be in rebound position. But hopefully, they will not make a good percentage of them. I think if they don’t, we’ll be all right.
On Boston playing their best in Game 3, is it a psychological advantage:
Definitely, it does a lot for us mentally. Cause we took one of their best shots and hopefully their stars played well. I think Paul had 29 and Antoine had 27. When you can win after those guys played well like that and shoot a high percentage at the same time, then you can’t think of anything but something positive will come out of it.
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We would like to, but we would hope that they don’t go in at the same the pace that they did Sunday.
What’s the advantage of them shooting so many threes:
Long jump shots. Lower percentages. The further you move away from the basket, the lower percentage you get. On some nights you are going to be able to win games by shooting the three-ball. In times like this in playoff games, you don’t find too many teams that win ball games like that.
On having seen the best Boston has to offer:
I don’t think they came out and played the perfect game. I think that they used their home court to their advantage. They fed off their crowd’s energy. They played the way they had to at home. They won their first two games at home and we won ours. So, it’s up to us to win tomorrow night and take it back to Boston and try to steal a little bit of that confidence away. I think with each game, if we can continue to win, it takes a little bit of that confidence away.
On the difference between the Sixers in Game 1 and 3:
Made shots in the end. Made plays at the end. I mean that was the big difference. I think we were in every game, up until the last couple of minutes. So, I think we just made the plays down the stretch of Game 3.
On only six teams coming back from being down 0-2:
It’s probabilities…You know everyone is fighting for playoff position, and all through out the year, you work your way into becoming the best team and move your way up in the standings. So, it’s not like it is some big surprise that if a team goes down two zip and it’s hard for them to fight back…You are not going to let no team comeback and string off three straight in-a-row. So, that third time is kind of hard to be the team. Especially, when you play them throughout the year, three, four times. So, it’s hard to beat a team three times in a row. I don’t care what team it is.
