On Jason Terry's 21 points and six assists: He played great. He played great. During periods where Dirk was out of the game, we were going to him, and he was delivering. Those are tough stretches of minutes for us because it's just tough when Dirk is out of the game. But it's the total game that we've all been preaching to Jet really since the playoffs began. And tonight he did a terrific job.
....It's that, and it's the defensive end. So, you know, look, he was sensational tonight. Especially in the fourth.
On being one win away from the championship: We understand where we're at, but we also understand what got us here, and that is making sure we stay in the moment.
On the hot three-point shooting for the Mavericks in the fourth quarter: Both teams are shooting the three well. They shot 40%. They made 8 out of 20, which is a big number for the playoffs. 13 is a big number. You get hot, you get on a roll, and you can have a night like that.
They don't happen very often. Last time we had a shooting night like that was Game 4 against the Lakers. That's why you just keep working your game. And that's why you stay persistent, you keep defending, you keep systematically stepping into shots that are there, and you're going to have some breakthrough games.
Persistence is our game. We're an old-school team. We're not high fliers. We have a couple of guys that can get up in the air a little bit. Our game is near the ground. We have to play with brains and guts.
About Brian Cardinal's performance: Yeah, terrific. Last two games, I mean, he's really a unique player. So resourceful defensively, always around the ball. He's always going to be there taking charges and he's always going to be there-- he's going to be making contact with people. I thought the block that was called on him may have been the wrong call. I thought he was in position. I thought Wade came right through his chest. He's going to be there, and when he's on the floor, you know, we become a more active defensive team for sure.
On effect of Dwyane Wade's injury and absence in the middle of the game: Not to me [appear to be slowed down in the stretch]. I mean, he was still driving it good and getting to the free-throw line. I'm not sure what happened to him. The guy that started for him hit two threes that started the half. Didn't look like they lost a whole lot.
On whether it is important for the Mavericks to close out the series in Game 6 and prevent a Game 7: Again, I just would say to you that we're going to stay in the moment, and we're going to just keep studying how we play our best. We're going to play whistle to whistle. I heard that term. Been watching the hockey series. A lot of the people in the hockey world use that term. And that's what we're going to do. We're going to try to win each possession and just take it one at a time.
An NBA Finals is a 16-day deal or whatever it is. And it's very long, but somehow or other it goes by fast. By staying in the moment and just really focusing on what's important for us, that helps us.
On whether he is relieved to have somebody other than Dirk Nowitzki close out games:
We've got a lot of guys that have been terrific finishers for us. A lot of times our game becomes very balanced. We had five guys in double figures tonight. We had a guy with eight and two guys with four and a guy with three. So that's pretty good for us. Some nights it's just we need seven guys with four points or more. You're never quite sure how the total is going to get to where it gets.
That's kind of defined us as a team. There's no set formula, other than we need each other. And we need to play a certain way, and we need to play with a certain collective intelligence and will. And the defense has got to be tight. So we were able to do a lot of those things tonight, and I think that's why we won.
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