NBA Playoffs 2003
Round 1, Game 1
Lakers 117, Timberwolves 98
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"You probably hope that I will have a lot of answers, but I probably don't. Initially to start the game, we didn't have the aggressiveness that you need to have to play in any playoff series. In the third quarter we got more aggressive, and we made our run. Pretty much throughout the game, the team that was aggressive was the one making the runs."

"When you're behind big much of the game, it's hard to get the crowd involved for a long period of time. There wasn't a whole lot of pressure on the Lakers throughout the game. We need to make some defensive adjustments. They made tough shots, but we can't be in a position where Kobe and Shaq dominate the entire game. Fisher and Fox made some big shots that hurt us early. They caught us in an interesting situation where you try to go after Kobe and Shaq, but inevitably you're going to neglect some other players."

"He (Bryant) got the ball in spots where he has the ability to work well. We ran at him, but he was able to score over us. He was a player on a roll. Guys were aggressive with him, but he kept us on our heels. In the second half we applied more pressure on him and pushed him more, which was somewhat effective. When you have an offensive player like that, you can't just let him get the ball in spots wherever he wants. It puts the defense at too much of a disadvantage."

"For anyone it's tough. If we're going to go big, that (Szczerbiak/Bryant) is the matchup we're going to end up with. He really did a decent job in the second half. On the other end, Wally had some decent looks. But we have to do more to get him more shots. They came at him pretty well, though."

"We never take a lot of 'threes', but we certainly don't want a 10-to-1 margin. We gave up 27 points from that range. The Lakers are in a situation where they will get a lot of open 'threes' because they have Shaq. When they're making them, they're pretty difficult to stop."

"We shot 50 percent, only had 10 turnovers and scored nearly a hundred points. That sounds pretty good. We need to be better defensively. There were some things we looked to do on defense, but we didn't do them as aggressively as I would like. I think it will be easy to make adjustments after a game like this."

"We will rebound well. We didn't have the edge coming out, but after we got going, I think we calmed down. We will have a much better performance next game."


"They shot the ball very, very well. They shot something like 67 percent in the first quarter. You have to take your hat off to them. There's not much you can do at that point... Kobe got hot in the second quarter. In the third quarter, we picked up our intensity... They just shot the lights out of the ball. We'll just have to do that on Tuesday."

"In the third quarter, we did pick up. So you have to ask yourself why we couldn't do that in the first quarter. We're going to need to bring the same intensity we did in the second half on Tuesday night. I actually thought we were going to be more geeked up, but we sort of played back a little bit and we let them push the ball up and down."

"Our intensity wasn't as high as it should've been. We made some adjustments after halftime... It seems like everything they threw up went in. At halftime, we talked about feeding off the crowd and getting into it. Offensively we were doing some things that we wanted to do."

"Somebody's going to step up. It's either him (Fisher) or Horry or Devean George, because they come with so much energy. You have to kind of pick and choose. You try to control Kobe a little bit more, and that would've given us a chance to win. You can't give Kobe a second quarter like he had, and then give Derek 17 (points). We showed signs that we can come out with that intensity and play like that. This is going to be a series where we have to come out and control the Big Two, but definitely control the other guys, too."


"He (Bryant) was pretty hot. We were trying to deny him, trying to do whatever we could to keep it out of his hands. And when he got it, he was hitting shots with guys draped all over him. He had one of those games."

"We're going to have to bounce back. It's a long series, and it's only the first game. Although the first game's very important, and we wanted to get it — I'm not going to deny that. We're just going to have to come together and make some adjustments."

"We wanted to get a little more aggressive in the third quarter and pressure up. We were so conscious of Shaq — especially in the beginning of the game. And Shaq came out and found his teammates, and his teammates were knocking down shots right from the get-go."

"In order to beat the defending champs in the playoffs, we're going to have to play some good basketball and we're going to have to realize that they've upped the level of play — and it's up to us to match that, and come out a lot more aggressively at the beginning of the game."

"You know me. I'm a guy who loves to shoot and loves to score. I'm out there just trying to do whatever I can, and staying aggressive — especially on the offensive end. Sometimes that's the way the ball bounces on this team."


"I think we played with energy, but the wrong type of energy. Kobe had it going. We should've done some more trapping on him to get him to give up the ball. But tonight they shot it extremely well. When he gave up the ball, the supporting cast was knocking shots down. For the most part, we did our job on trapping Kobe and Shaq. But the rest of the team showed up and knocked down their shots."

"Those are two of the dominant players in the NBA, and they're on one team. That's our game plan: to make the other guys beat us. And tonight they did. They knocked shots down... When the other team shoots like that, it's tough to beat them... They were just red-hot. A team's not going to be that hot for the entire playoffs. If they are, it's going to be tough to beat them."


"I don't think we came out assertive or aggressive enough. They got out to such an early jump-start. We came aggressive in the third quarter, but we used so much energy to get back and trying to catch up in the game. That tends to hurt you at the end."

"This game is a game of momentum and runs. We went on a real strong run, and they were back on their heels. And then they regrouped and came with a roll of their own, and we couldn't get back into it."

"We need to refocus and make a few adjustments to our game plan. Early on, they were hitting a lot of big contested shots. Everybody was on fire. They weren't missing."

"We're capable of beating anybody, and anybody is capable of being beaten. We just have to come out and catch a rhythm and be aggressive."

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"I don't know if any two teams could've shot better in the first half. The 14-point lead we had did not feel safe. They got competitive with us in the third period and got the game back. We were fortunate Shaq played great in the second half, and Kobe was solid in the first. Devean was the only guy who really gave us something off the bench."

"It seemed like there was a lot of space in the first half, and Kobe was able to do what he wanted and get in a rhythm. Then in the second, when Kobe's space went away, Shaq had space and was able to carry us."

"I was real curious to see how Shaq was going to be able to respond after a tough week. He just told me he didn't want to sit down. I was very curious to see how he was going to perform. He wanted to be out there until the very end."

"I am concerned about our defense. Their penetration bothered us, and they got some second-shot opportunities. We need to work on that."


"This is a team that normally traps people, so I felt like it was important at the start of the game, when I do penetrate and get in the gaps, to kick it to my open man and get them easy baskets. Then I felt like they would have to honor that. As you saw in the first quarter, that's what I did. In the second quarter, I started attacking and started putting the ball in the hole."

"We don't think of it as a switch. It's a sense of urgency, because the moment of truth is here. It's an immediate threat, an immediate danger, because they can knock us out of our title run. That's something that we have to deal with, and we have to deal with it right now."

"(Minnesota's start) had a lot to do with the way we played. We're pretty experienced at knowing how to take crowds out of games, so we did a good job of that. Third quarter, they got into it — which is to be expected. We expected them to make a run. We did a good job fending them off."


"We have great weapons on this team. If you double and triple me, then Kobe is going to get off. If you double and triple him, then I'm going to be there to get off."

"Whenever my teammates are hitting like that, you just have to keep them involved. If you keep them involved, it's an easy game... My teammates played well, they played excellent, they played great. If we keep playing like this, we'll be fine. I'm very confident that they can hold down the fort."


"It's the game plan as to whether or not they're going to give us those (three-pointers). That was the Timberwolves' choice. They decided to make it difficult for Shaq to get off to a good start... He was able to find the open guys and get them the ball. We know how to make shots at this time of year."

"It's his (Bryant's) stage, it's his time of year. He enjoys putting on a show."