On being one win away from a championship: Yeah, I mean that was a big win for us, obviously. We didn't want to go to Miami and give them basically two shots to close us out. So kept plugging there in the fourth. So definitely a big win for us. And now we have to go down there and basically approach Sunday's game as Game 7. You don't want to give this great team any hope or anything. So we got to play more of the same and keep attacking and we'll see what happens Sunday.
On Jason Terry's performance: Jet was phenomenal. He was aggressive again from the get-go, I felt. Even the first half when he came in, had a couple of pull-ups, got in the lane, got a floater, I remember. That's the Jet we need. We need him to attack and get in the lane. It opens up a lot of stuff for everybody else out there. It opens up Tyson [Chandler] on the rolls, that we actually hit him a bunch of times today. Our fives rolling, that was good. Also that opens up the corner threes and made a couple. We need Jet attacking. He was great. So did J.J. [Barea] in the starting lineup attacking, got to the lane a couple of times, made some layups. I thought that opened up his three ball.
On whether Terry fed off Nowitzki's threatened "talking ban": We all know Jet is a confident young man. He always has a lot to say to us in the locker room. He's always talking. He's just an energetic guy. He loves to talk and he loves to hear himself talk.
On whether the team can keep it together, being one win away from a title: Yes, I think like I said, it's not a best-of-five series; it's a best-of-seven. So the first team to four wins. So we couldn't celebrate tonight, even though it was a big win for us. The series is not over. If you look at it really now, all that's happened, you can look they won their two homes, we won all three home games. That's how you look at it. They got two more. So far it looks like everybody protected their home court and they still have two games at home.
So there's really nothing to celebrate. We're going in there Sunday swinging, like we did today, from the jump. And hopefully steal one Sunday.
On how much he has enjoyed the Mavs' ride through the playoffs: I really can't enjoy it much because in the playoffs for some reason, you're always on the edge. You don't sleep much. You think basketball 24/7. I can enjoy it hopefully next week when we're on vacation. As of right now, I'm always thinking ahead and thinking about the next game, what can I do better, what didn't I do and what I have to do to get other guys involved and more open.
Hopefully I can enjoy it next week.
On what he said when Miami took its fourth-quarter lead: Just stick with it. Just stick with it. First of all, this was the last home game in this building in front of our fans, who have been phenomenal all year and pushed us forward. We obviously didn't want to end this season here for them on a loss. I think we addressed that. We wanted to keep plugging, keep going. It was big, I think, when we were down four, the next offense I was able to get in the lane, get a pump fake, get to the free-throw line, kind of settle everybody down, make it a two-point game. And I thought that was big for us not to shoot a bad jumper and they go down in transition again. So it was good to kind of stop the clock, get two free throws and kind of set our defense. I thought that was a big momentum play.
Comments