Game Quotes: Cavaliers at Miami Heat - April 2

(On Iman Shumpert): "He was just really good at both ends of the court. He’s a big part of what we’re doing here because he’s so impactful on the defensive end and he’s playing with guys that obviously get him good looks. He’s doing such a good job for us energy-wise and activity-wise. We like him shooting the ball when they’re good looks like he had tonight but he’s also got that capability and that burst to be able to get to the rim when he has to. Again, with the group of guys that he’s playing with, it makes it easier for him at that end and he just needs to know how to take advantage of it and I thought he did that tonight extremely well."

(On playing without Kevin Love): "When somebody can’t play, it’s next man up. The sign of a good team is that you can make up for that if you’re missing somebody. We don’t want to play without Kevin. We need Kevin. We know what his value is to us and how much he brings to the table. But if he’s down for a night, someone else has to step up and I thought a lot of guys stepped up and that’s a very good sign."

(On playing LeBron James in the post): "I think we’ve posted up LeBron a fair bit this year but I sure like what he’s doing in the post. He’s going in there with conviction and he’s doing a great job scoring the ball and facilitating from that spot. That’s not where we want him all the time but certainly to our advantage we like to use it and he’s a player that gives you an advantage down there."

(On missing shoot around): “I just wasn’t feeling good this morning. Was in a little bit of a daze when I woke up, my body was cramping up. Had my mind made up that I was going to play regardless, not too sick to play.”

(On statistically playing well when he’s sick): “For me it’s just going out giving my teammates energy. Missing shootaround in the morning, you’re lying in bed for a long time. You get a lot of sleep. Hopefully you feel better in the afternoon. My teammates were checking up on me, which I’m thankful for. Just wanted to come out and compete and get this win – not only for myself, but more importantly for LeBron. They gave us kind of a butt-whooping when we were in Miami and we haven’t forgotten about it. Tonight was a statement for us against them. They have great players on their team. Obviously they tried to keep it close the whole entire game. For us, it was just about offensive and defensive execution.”

(On moving into 20th all-time scoring): “First of all, it’s an honor. Growing up you see these guys playing and you hope that one day you can. I always had dreams about being able to play in the NBA. Seeing what Patrick Ewing and those guys were doing in the 90’s with that New York Knicks team facing the Pacers or facing the Bulls or whoever they were going against, they were very tough-minded. He was the cornerstone of the whole thing. To pass him tonight in scoring, I never thought I would even be the scorer I am or even be able to put my name with those guys growing up. I’ve been fortunate enough to be healthy and play with some great teammates that allow me to do what I need to do. I just try to give it back to the game as much as possible.”

(On the bench improving): “For our bench, our main thing that we want from our bench is to come in with a defensive mindset, keep the tempo and play the game the right way. Anytime we get scoring off the bench is huge for us, but it’s something we don’t bank on. Tonight, Shump (Iman Shumpert) was great as far as his scoring. Delly (Matthew Dellavedova) chipped in. Double T (Tristan Thompson) was a monster on the boards. We didn’t lose a step when those guys came in and that’s what it’s all about.”

(On the atmosphere in Cleveland): “It’s great. They make you feel like every shot is going in. They go crazy for any energy play that we put out. You can’t ask for a better crowd, especially with the atmosphere they gave us tonight with the towels and everybody jumping up and down. It gets crazy. It gives us plenty of energy to go out there and

(On trying to get over the hump when Miami cut the Cavs’ lead): “It seemed every time we did that, there seemed to be some kind of offensive rebound, tipped ball or loose ball that led to a wide open three. (In) all of the same plays in Miami, we’re winning all those battles. We seemed to lose the majority of the battles tonight except for certain skirmishes and stretches of the game.”

(On beginning the second quarter with James Ennis and Tyler Johnson): “That was probably our best run in the first half, with those guys in the game. We had to mix and match the best we possibly could. We came out with good energy again in the second half; we just weren’t able to sustain it.”

(On Dwyane Wade’s injury in the second quarter): “He bruised his knee. He slid awkwardly and banged his knee against the floor. He’s getting ice and treatment right now, so we’ll see how he feels from there.”

(On his injury in the second quarter): “It just happened fast. I slipped. I came down very awkwardly and banged the inside of my knee on the court and that was that.”

(On evaluating his knee in the next few days): “I’ll just do treatment around the clock and I hope to get it a little better. We’ll see when Saturday comes. If I’m good enough to go, of course I will. If I’m not, I’ll see Sunday. So we’ll go from there.”

(On trying to get over the hump when Miami cut the Cavs’ lead): “We never really got it to where we wanted to. We made our runs but we couldn’t sustain. It was almost like we made a run, they made a run and then they had the lead. So we couldn’t really put stops to them for a long period of time.”

(On the Heat’s mindset facing Cleveland): “When you play a team like this, you’ve just got to take them out of their comfort zone. You’ve got to compete. You’ve got to live with the result if they score on you, but I think your mindset has got to be defensive. To beat a team that’s that talented offensively, you’ve got to make them defend. The only way to make them do that is by making them take tough shots. So we’re not just running up and down (with) just a scoring game.”

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