Warriors-Mavericks Game Recap - 3/16/11

Keith Smart
On On Defending Dirk Nowitzki in the 4th:
“We knew the ball was going to end up with him. I think sometimes you go through a lot of their coverages and plays they are going to run, but the game is going to come down to the ball being in his hand. It’s a dilemma when you play against him because he can shoot the ball from deep and he can post up...and he’s a big guy. He made some great plays…they all did. Those guys were open and they made their open shots when they were open. I thought our guys did a good job with the pace we needed to have against a team that played last night. But sometimes when you get the early lead right away, the hard time is sustaining leads like that when you don’t take care of the ball.”

On the Warriors Offense in the 2nd Half:
“We probably got a little stagnant. We had some good shots, good opportunities and we missed some open shots, some shots around the basket and we missed two free throws. When you get opportunities to capitalize on some of the plays that you have; open shots, finishing plays in the paint and free throws if you don’t…those are dead possessions and now you’ve given a good team a chance to comeback when the (scoreboard) numbers didn’t move on your side.”

On the Warrior’s Playing with a Lead:
“I don’t think they got comfortable, I just think in the NBA it’s a game of runs. A team goes up big and the other team is going to make a run and get back in the game. The next time around we made another run in the third quarter moving it back to seven, and then they made a run. It’s a game of runs. But early in the game when you have a big lead like that it’s very difficult to maintain that lead sometimes…especially if you turn it over and they score. You are not able to hold on to the lead because you’re both able to get the ball to the glass or to the foul line.”

On Acie Law::
“I thought he did a good job. I thought he pushed the ball, didn’t settle for trying to do things that were out of his hands. I thought he pushed the tempo, got into the paint which is where your backup point guard needs to be. He needs to get in the paint and move the ball to different people and when you can do that he’s going to have a big game.”

On Coach Smart Playing Him::
“I am forever indebted to coach. I text him all the time telling him thank you. He trusts me, he’s giving me a great opportunity and I’m trying to do the best with it. It feels great to be playing at this point of my career.”