PGQ Game 69 "The Return of the Undoing"

Hgggggnnnnn.

Mavs vs Celtics | March 20, 2010

Mavericks Head Coach Rick Carlisle

Turrible.

"With the exception of the period in the fourth, we were playing from behind for most of the night. That made it tough. We got a seven point lead. You’ve got to be able to get some stops. We didn’t get stops.

That was our undoing."

(on lack of execution down the stretch) "No excuses. We’ve got to make plays. It’s tough when you are taking it out of the opponent’s basket to score and this is one of the best defensive teams. That’s going to make it harder. We’ve got to be better. I’m not going to make any excuses about that."

(on 18 turnovers) "It was uncharacteristically high. And then 20 points of 18 turnovers was another bad part of the game for us. You’ve got to credit Boston. They played a very solid game. They turned it over some, too. But when they had to make plays, they were able to make them and make shots. We struggled."

(on Rondo in the fourth) "He kept getting in the lane and he hit some outside shots. He’s one of those guys who nobody wants to say he’s a shooter but he makes more than his share of open shots and plays. He’s crafty and knows how to take advantage other guys out there. He made some big plays. Pierce. They all made their share of plays down the stretch. (We just) key stops at certain times would have meant a lot for momentum in the game. But a couple underneath out-of-bounds plays, they scored."

(on not playing Beaubois until the game was lost) "STFU."  (Ok, i just read his mind)

Celtics Head Coach Doc Rivers

Another three? What were you thinking, Sheed?

(As far as wins go this year, does this one stand out to you?) "Yeah, it’s a good win. Number one, they’re [Dallas] playing so well. They’ve had three days off, had prep time for us, we played last night, and to come in and come back at the end and take the game away from them was huge for us. Our starters were the key today. They played terrific. Our execution down the stretch our last three or four games has been unbelievable. So, yeah, this was a good win for us. Big win, yeah I guess, but it’s just a good win for us."

(Talk about Pierce’s performance tonight) "He’s starting to get his confidence. Right now he’s still searching a little bit; you can see it during the middle of games more. I got on him in a time out because I thought he was looking to pass too much, which I don’t think I’ve ever had to say that to Paul, and told him to just be aggressive, just be who you are, and he was that. I thought Rondo was sensational as well in the pick-and-roll package down stretch. More importantly I was just happy with our defense. We got stops, and then we made baskets down the stretch"

(Talk about Pierce and the rest of the team’s defense excelled tonight) "Yeah: Paul, Kevin [Garnett], all of them. Paul kept his hands up, was active, and Rondo had some great deflections. Our deflections were way up tonight. As you know, we chart them, and they were way up. Even when they were scoring in the one stretch we kept getting our hands on the ball, and they kept getting it back and scoring. But, you just think, overall, at the end of the day if you keep getting enough deflections one of them will bounce your way and it will break the game open."

(How do you defend Dirk?) "You don’t. You pray. You know, he’s tough. He really is. He’s so long. There’s never been a player like him. There’s a new one in Oklahoma that’s similar: Durant. But other than that I’ve never seen anything like that. He’s a freak of nature. He’s long, he’s athletic, he can shoot, he’s tough, and I thought he had a heck of a game but we did as well as you could do."

Boston Guard Rajon Rondo

Notice the two guards i blew by in the (far) background.

(On Pierce tonight) "He made some big plays tonight. He picked up a charge and got a couple of steals. He was in the right spots tonight at times. The biggest thing is that Paul did a great job, and we’ve just got to do that every night."  

(Was this a big payback from the last game vs Dallas) "No it wasn’t payback. That game is over with and it’s a new time for us. We just needed a win. It wasn’t payback, we just needed to take care of business. "  

"We did a pretty good job of executing.  

Boston Guard Ray Allen

Ball.

(What were you able to do down the stretch to win the game?) "I think defensively we made the right plays. We got stops but they had a couple of looks at the basket where it could have gone either way. Offensively we did some things where we got the shots we wanted."  

(About Rondo tonight) "He knew what he wanted to do. He had great confidence and the team was trying to play him to make him shoot the ball. But he attacked and put them on their heels and they weren’t letting us get the ball, or me for that matter. When he sees that he just attacks it and it gave us the aggression on offense."  

(On when Paul’s in attack mode) "It makes it so much easier because offense is stacking and we are going to him. He’s attacking and getting to the free throw line, so it makes it a whole lot easier."

Game Recap