Postgame Quotes: Dirk Nowitzki

20 points in 26 minutes tonight.

"Yeah, great effort.  I thought defensively, that's how we made it all happen. To keep them to 30 whatever points in the first half. Rotating, scrambling...  I think you can run whatever pick-and-roll coverage you want, but if you don't bring the energy and the focus to it nothing is going to work.  We were all over it tonight. We were hyped.  Our fans were behind us and that really got us going. 

It was a great defensive night, and I think we benefit from that offensively.  When we get stops, when we get rebounds, we get the ball in Jason Kidd's hands.  He's the best at making decisions in the break.   I thought our offense really benefited from our defense tonight."

How important was it to get off to that quick start?

"I think in the first two games they were the aggressors early.  They were the ones to get the early lead -- both games they were up ten.  In game one that we won they were up fourteen at some point.  We just wanted to turn that around and get our crowd into the game.  Get everybody excited.  I think we did a good job defensively, running the ball, and making shots.  It always comes down to making big shots, and that's what we did."

Were you surprised how early Pop waved the white flag and sat the starters?

"It's his decision, but it's going to be a quick turnaround for everybody. It's an afternoon game, three o'clock, so we barely even have 24 hours.  We've got to be ready to do it again.  I think their shooters are going to shoot better.  They are going to have more energy, and we have to match that.  It's another big game for us Saturday."