On the way the Mavericks attacked early to build a lead - “It’s who those guys are. You have to look at each one of them individually. They all have big-time heart and big-time character. They are not going to give in to anything. They are going to pick it up when they need to. That is totally expected, and I would be shocked if it was anything but that. That is what they are made of.”

On getting control of the game - “I thought that 2nd quarter was the turning point for us. We started to get our feet under us a little bit even though we didn’t have the lead at halftime.”

On the team’s offense - "Really we had a lot of good offense. We didn’t get as much transition stuff as I think we should get, but in the half court we did a great job of getting good shots off of the pick-and-roll. That got our offense going early on when we were a little bit stagnant."

if the Spurs prepared for Dirk Nowitzki to be in the lineup – “We planned for him to be out there. When he wasn’t there, they are a different team; and we were ready for that. We got set back in the first quarter. They shot the ball really well, they spread the floor, cut to the basket. We got used to it pretty quick. It was a hard fought game and we knew it would be. They are not going to lay down for us. I thought it was a great game all around by a bunch of different guys.”

On the Mavs not having Dirk Nowitzki – “I think they did get a little frustrated. Especially not having Dirk (Nowitzki) out there. He’s the one that always hits the big shot and slows everything down and gets them back on pace."

On the Spurs having a deep bench – “Our bench is great and that’s what I think m akes the difference. Malik Rose was huge. He hit three big baskets and grabbed three big offensive rebounds. And Manu in the second quarter, he carried us. That is why I think our team is so good, because you need your bench to help."

On the slow offensive start - “We kind of rushed a couple of shots early on in the first half and that’s not what we want to do. Sometimes you get caught up in the moment of trying to answer at certain times and you just have to continue to do things to get it done.”

On the Mavs emotion - "We knew that they were going to come out and be aggressive, especially Nick (Van Exel). We understand that they are going to do that, because that is what they have to rely on now."

On the style of play between the Mavs and Spurs - "The Spurs can play any style you want to play. You want to run, they can run. You want to score a 115 points, they can score 115 with you. You want to go half court, they are right there. You want to zone them, they got that covered. They are very well coached and the players are very disciplined and they know where there bread is buttered. They go through Duncan in the low box, they go inside out. We would hope we would be as good someday as we continue to grow as a team."

On fatigue - “I thought we handled the fatigue very well. I think there were sometimes when our little guys really had to do some running around. We were double teaming Duncan on all his catches. To do that, your small players really have to work and they have to double team and rotate and continue to move. I don’t think fatigue was a factor to the point that it had a bearing on the game. Our guys are in superb condition.”

On being a different team for Game 4 - "Well I think we are a different team in that we really don't have a post presence at all. We're not really a post team or an inside team even with Dirk, but at least he can take mismatches down there and with his length he's great around the basket. It give us an inside game to some extent and obviously he's great on the perimeter, but he also very good on the inside and his versatility causes a lot of problems for other people and opens things up for everyone. He's potent at both ends because he's a great defensive rebounder too even if he' s not the most physical or best defender, he's still a great defensive rebounder. We missed him in a lot of ways tonight."

On his status before Game 4 - “The risk is just too high. I'm just 24-years-old and hopefully I've got a lot of basketball in front of me. The risk would have been just a little bit too high so I understand that. I wasn't a 100 percent either so hopefully I'll see how it feels tomorrow and it will be a game time decision on Tuesday.”