NBA Finals 2011: Mavs @ Heat Post Game One Quotes "A Grind"

What the Dallas Mavericks and the Miami Heat said 
after Game 1.

(pica-chunks loom a few more mikes)

Quotes

Mavericks

Coach Carlisle

(On the game) "I thought we did a good job of hanging in. I thought there were some critical situations where we needed to come up with one loose ball that would've made a difference. But it didn't happen."

(On the Heat's run in the third) "We started the quarter on a 7-0 run, which got us an eight-point lead, which gave us momentum. Then they answered. They responded well. During that period, they were making a run at us, and I thought we did a good job of hanging in. And, again, I thought there were some critical situations where we needed to somehow come up with one loose ball here or go make a shot there that would have made a big difference. But it didn’t happen."

(On the Rebounding..) "We're minus 10 on offensive boards. There's 10 more times we don't get the ball and they have it. So possession is key. We can't have that kind of deficit. By and large, we've got to play better, just overall."

(Yeah, but will you?) "We'll play better, I'm very certain of that. Shots we normally make, they didn't go down. But it's a long series. They were more opportunistic tonight than we were. That's been one of the traits of our run -- we've been very opportunistic."

(On Reasons) "Our bigs have to be active, containing their great players on the perimeter, so it draws them away from the basket some. I'll look at the film."

(On defending Dirk) "He's got to be denied the ball everywhere on the floor. Haslem is a guy that's got the wherewithal to do that. And they're going to play him aggressively and we know that. We've just got to keep playing our game. We have to keep getting him the ball and giving him opportunities to create."

(On what to expect in the next few games) "They’re a very good defensive team. It was tough to get shots all night. Both teams shot under 40 percent. That gives you some idea of how difficult good, clean shots are going to be to come by in this series. Both teams are really locked in and making a strong defensive effort."

(On the Series) "We'll play better. I'm very certain of that. We had some opportunities. Shots we normally make, they didn't go down. Look, it's a long series. We'll adjust."

(On Adjustments) "The biggest thing is, we have to straighten out the rebounding, and we have to do a better job of putting the ball in the basket."

Dirk Nowitzki

(On 7-18) "I had my opportunities there. I had some good drives there in the first half. I just got to finish. I missed a righty layup. I missed a lefty layup that rolled around. I have to keep attacking and take my opportunities when they're there. We know Haslem is a good defender at the 4 position, probably one of the best in the league. I still got my opportunities there when I put the ball on the floor. I just got to finish."

(On a torn tendon in his left middle finger)"Well it was just a freaky play. Bosh got a bounce pass and I stepped in. I thought I stripped him clean and then I kind of looked down and I couldn’t straighten my finger out anymore. I guess it will be all right. I have to wear a split probably for the rest of the playoffs, for a couple of weeks. But it will be all right. It’s on my left hand, so I’ll be all right for Thursday."

(On the biggest Reason for the Loss) "What really killed us were the offensive rebounds." 

(On the 2nd biggest Reason) "I actually thought coming in that our bench was going to be a key for us. They did a good job there on Jet. I think Jet did a good job in the first half. Got to some areas to knock down some shots and second half they didn't really let him get an open look. LeBron was on him some in the fourth quarter, to go big on him, and I guess, bother his shot."

(On 1-8) "And J.J.'s got to take his time when gets in there. Obviously they are collapsing and trying to block his shot. I thought he was rushing some of his shots in the paint. And we've just got to relax, it it's not there, swing the ball to the weak side, because the shot is going to be there. We've just got to finish."

(On Miami's 4th) "They have two very good closers, two of the best in the game. I mean, Dwyane made some big shots there in the fourth quarter and LeBron has been shooting the ball really well this playoffs. They had some open looks and really made some tough shots."

(On the Mavs) "We're a veteran team. You can't get down with a loss. You've got to come back strong on Thursday. I've said it a couple times in this playoff run, if you're the road team, you're happy with a split. So we've got another opportunity on Thursday to get one. Obviously, we don't want to go home down 0-2."

(On adjustments) "We've just gotta be a little bit sharper there on Thursday in some areas."

Jason Terry

(On being tentative) "Not tentative at all, just had opportunities that weren’t taken advantage of."

(On the Game) "We really didn't play well at all tonight. First quarter, 17 points and third quarter, 17 -- that's not our style of basketball. Give them credit. They disrupted our tempo and they finished at the end."

(On Grindhouseing) "We can play this style, but we'd rather get in an up-tempo game."

(On being defended by James in the 4th) "That was something unexpected. Now that we know that's one of their adjustments, we'll take a look at that."

(On the Loss) "We just didn't take advantage of our opportunties. You have to finish at the basket. You have to make your wide-open shots, and we didn't get that accomplished tonight. A lot of them, we had opportunities and we just didn't make them. Those opportunities will be there in Game 2."

(On his game) "I don't think I had as many opportunities in the second half as I did in the first. Again, I was in transition, looking to be aggressive, and those same opportunities weren't there."

(On the Series) "Please believe, we will be aggressive in Game 2."

(On the Mavs going forward) "This team is mentally tough. We know, to beat Miami, we're going to have to bring it."

Jason Kidd

(On trailing in a Series for the first time this postseason) "There’s a first for everything. We’ve got to find a way to win on Thursday."

(On 3s and rebounding) "We’ll look at tape tomorrow and see what we can do to improve on that."

(On the Bench) "We rely on our bench a lot. They are a big part of our game. Tonight they just didn't shoot the ball well."

(On Offense) "We’ve got to get more shots up. Shooting 67 shots isn’t going to win any games. That puts too much pressure on your defense."

(On Miami's Defense) "They're physical. They're not going to let you get to your spot. They're going to be physical and make sure that you got to go to your second move, and that's what they did tonight."

Tyson Chandler

(On Boards) "They were aggressive on the rebounds. I thought we did a good job defensively of containing them and keeping them under control. But what we didn't do was secure the rebounds once we got a stop."

(On the Loss) "They made the plays at the end of the game. We've got to clean up some things, do a better job on the glass. They came up with a couple of plays down the stretch that let them open up the game."

Shawn Marion

(On the Loss) "Rebounding killed us tonight. I'll tell you this, we didn't win too many games getting 67 shots."

(On Uncharcteristics) "You hold a team to 38 percent shooting and 92 points, for us, that's usually a victory. To score 84 points is very rare for us. To get 67 shots as well, even to shoot 37 percent. Most times we shoot 37 percent from the field, the other team is going to shoot lower than that. It was about equal, and we only were able to score 84 points."

(On the Game) "For the most part, we think we had chances to get a hold of this game. And we let it get out of our hands."

(On what to change) "We have to force the game. Go out there and play ball. We were calling so many sets, it just kind of took the rhythm out of everything we normally do. When we're out there freelancing and playing the game and making it up as we go, we're one of the best to do it."

(On the Series) "This is the 1st game of the series. It's a long way to go. This is a great challenge for both teams. They got the 1st win tonight."

Heat

Coach Spoelstra

(On the Game's start) "That was a grind. For a while there it was difficult for us to put points on the board."

(On Stevenson's Three right after Halftime) "He had three days to shoot that and we didn't get anybody near him," Spoelstra said.

(On the Mavs Defense against James in the 4th) "They were doing a good job of corralling him on pick and rolls and also protecting the paint when we did attack. He was reading the game, getting off the ball when he needed to. We had some good ball movement possessions there in the fourth."

(On Wade & James in the 4th) "If the ball is moving and it’s getting side to side and multiple players are involved, that’s a flow for us. And those guys both can make rhythm jump shots. And especially timely shots when you need them at the end of the clock. That's who they've been their entire careers"

(On closing) "It just takes time for players to feel comfortable with each other and a new offensive system and playing with new guys and being in this situation over and over and over. We had quite a few close games in the regular season where we failed. The more times you're in it, the more confident you get."

(On the Win) "It's one game, and that's it. We're already moving on."

LeBron James

(On the Win) "Feels good because it's the first game and we played well as a team. That's one in the books. We're excited about this game. Tomorrow we prepare for Game 2, and I see ways we can get better."

(On 1st half vs 2nd half) "We just weren't paying attention to detail about how we were going to defend this team coming into the game. Once we slowed down and got back into what we know, what our strong point is -- and that's getting stops."

(On the Bench vs the Mavs) "They play a lot of zone, and the zone is to pack the paint, keep us out of the paint, dare us to shoot threes. We needed that boost off the bench."

(On the 2nd half) "In order for us to win basketball games, we have to defend and we have to get stops, and our offense will speak for itself when we continue to get stops. I think for me going into the fourth quarter, I know it's winning time. That's when the game is won."

(On guarding Terry) "If I need to be on Terry or anyone on their team, I try to take the challenge. It's never me just guarding someone individually. But I do take the challenge on any individual matchup that I'm against. And tonight happened to be Terry mostly in the second half."

(On the Heat) "We always said we would figure it out. We always believed in our abilities."

(On Dirk's injury) "He's right-handed. "It won't affect him. He's still going to be great. He's still Dirk."

(On adjustments) "We've got a lot to work on."

Dwyane Wade

(On threes fts layups) "I was able to get a few to go in. I was very confident. That's all it was. Confidence. And my teammates found me."

(On James 26ft rainbow) "I knew what he was going to do. He let the clock go all the way down to four before he decided to move. When he had it in his right hand, I knew what he was going to do. Not many guys can make that."

(On the 4th) "We just used the fourth quarter to say, 'All right, defensively we have to win this game."

(On Rebounding) "That's kind of the way we've been winning games, of late. You've got stay with it. You can't get frustrated because the ball's not going in. There's other ways you can dominate the game and we was able to do that tonight. I thought we did a great job in the second half of rebounding the ball, limiting them to one shot as much as possible."

(On combining 11-17 in the 2nd half with James) "Obviously, that's one of the ideas of us playing together. For one individual to not have to carry that load."

Chris Bosh

(On Rebounds) "When you play zones, it's tough to find guys to box out. That's one thing about zones is when you're playing it, you're not matching up with anybody. You're just playing an area. We know that we can crash the boards. Anytime that we can get second-chance opportunities, it's gold for us."

(On having two closers) "It's a very confident feeling. Just to know that we have each other's back, we just believe in each other so much. We've worked so hard that you just know who is in the foxhole with you."

(On James) "He's such an explosive offensive player that he spoils you a little bit. You kind of look for that every game. When it comes, you're like 'OK, here it is.'"

Vids

Kindler

Rimmed

Game Recap

Podium

NBA.com Postgamebits

Dirk | Trix | Rick | Spo | DWhistle & Bron | Bosh

ESPN Audio

Links

MMB | Rottcap: Pulling late

With under five minutes to play, the Mavericks were still in a position to win the game, if they could only get their shots to fall. Looking back, I'm sure they'll smack themselves for missing so many free throws, but at least they were getting some calls. Fouls or no fouls, however, the Mavericks were allowing far too many easy buckets, and the three-point shooting team was getting out-shot from beyond the arc.

Peninsula Is Mightier Defensive Effort

This marked the first time in the postseason that Dallas lost a Game 1 and the first time that they've trailed in a series.  Miami was great defensively, holding the top scoring playoff team to their lowest shooting percentage (37.3%) and 2^nd lowest point total (84) of the postseason.  Dallas scored just 40 2^nd half points, and that's after starting the 3^rd quarter on a 7-0 run.  All week you've been hearing that the Mavs hadn't yet seen a defense as good as Miami; now they have, and this is the result.

NBA.com  Subpar too much

If you don't beat Miami on a night when the Heat did their best throwback imitation, circa last November, back when the sky fell and the league laughed, then how can you expect to win this series?

This was the chance for Dallas to make a bold move, to steal one, to send a jolt of suspense through the NBA Finals. And that chance eventually vaporized faster than Peja Stojakovic's jumper. Inside a flat American Airlines Arena, Miami delivered one of its weaker performances of the playoffs for all but the final six minutes and still won by an easy eight. Which is how the Mavericks may go down, when and if the Heat turn it back up: Easy.

ESPN Dime Boarding

Here's a stat that most people don't expect: The team with more offensive rebounds usually loses.

It's simple if you think about it. You can't get an offensive board unless you miss a shot. And usually it takes three or four misses for every one offensive rebound. So to have a small advantage in offensive boards usually implies a much larger one in bricks.

Game 1, however, proved the exception to that rule.

ESPN Dallas Losing Areas you should win

Few secrets exist this late in the playoffs, and no one needs to tell Jason Terry that the two key areas the Dallas Mavericks must win to have any shot against the Miami Heat are bench scoring and 3-point shooting.

"We've got to win those battles," Terry said prior to the Mavericks' 92-84 Game 1 loss.

Those categories fall largely on the 6-foot-2 streak shooter, and Tuesday at AmericanAirlines Arena was not Terry's night.

Heat Index: Testing Hero Ball

As the saying goes, sometimes it’s better to be lucky than good.

LeBron James and Dwyane Wade are many things, but outstanding 3-point shooters they are not. If we’re being honest with ourselves, James is barely an average shooter from downtown (he shot 33 percent this season; league average was 36 percent) and Wade is only average on his best days.

But lately, the two stars have forgotten their limitations as sharpshooters and suddenly look as though they're Steve Kerr and Ray Allen.

Hoopdata Boxscore |  Notes for Mavs Heat

One game does not a series make. But, it's very clear that the Dallas Mavericks have a truly daunting task in front of them as they try to win four times in the maximum six remaining games against the favored Miami Heat in the NBA Finals...

Let's start with the numbers.

MIAMI 92, DALLAS 84
2-point pct: Dallas 36%, Miami 36%
3-pointers: Dallas 9/22, Miami 11/24
Free Throws: Dallas 25/32, Miami 19/26
Rebounds: Dallas 36, Miami 46
Turnovers: Dallas 11, Miami 10
1's and 2's: Dallas 57, Miami 59

An advanced Boxscore at Arturo

Lebron and Wade were great for Miami. Mike Miller was good. Bosh pitched a .000 WP48 night. For Dallas, the Matrix was great but not so much for their other key players. Haywood, interestingly had a good night despite being stuffed by the rim.

Haslem continued to not play well but foul trouble for Chandler and an off night for Dirk kept it from being a major issue.

For me, the game 2 winner wins the series.

More tomorrow.

SI.com Opportunity knocks

The opening statement goes to the Heat. Now we wait for the rebuttal from Dallas, in spite of owner Mark Cuban's refusal to speak.

A 92-84 loss isn't going to define the Mavericks or this series on the whole. Which is not to say the Mavs are going to win the NBA Finals, but they're surely going to show more than they did in Game 1 on Tuesday.

BDL Miami knows

And things did go pear-shaped, slightly, with Dallas up eight just under two minutes into the second half. And that was it. Miami just decided it had enough. The 2010-11 regular season was about as close to a bad joke as regular seasons get, mainly because of this Heat team. Miami built something, through all that nonsense. How else can you explain the last month and a half?

The Mavericks better explain some things to themselves over the next day and a half. Because they're staring down something special and relying on 25-footers and rolling runners to get them back into this thing. We believe they have it in them, but they also had to earn the burn of tangible proof of Miami's greatness along the way.

Basketballprospectus Strike first

at Miami 92, Dallas 84 (Miami leads 1-0)
Pace: 83.3
Offensive Ratings: Miami 109.6, Dallas 101.6

Game One of the NBA Finals looked a lot like the Miami Heat's wins in the Eastern Conference Finals, and for that matter the win over the Boston Celtics a round earlier. For 40-plus minutes, the Heat ground out a near-draw before unleashing a devastating run in the closing minutes to win by a more lopsided score than was really accurate.

[...]

One surprise from the fourth quarter is that the Mavericks scarcely used any zone defense. The zone was effective during the first half because Miami generally settled for threes instead of probing for higher-percentage looks. Attacking the zone was surely part of Spoelstra's halftime adjustments, but with the Heat's stars taking over zone might have been one way to break the momentum. Whether zone will be a larger part of Carlisle's game plan in Game Two will be interesting to see.

 

NBAPlaybook Dagger Dunk | PnR Defense

LeBron James’ dunk with 2:47 left in the game pretty much sealed the game as it took the Heat’s lead from 7 points and stretched it out to 10 points (after the foul shot).  While it looked like just your average isolation set late in the game, showing yet another example of a coach choosing the easy way out over a set play, looking at Miami’s previous two possessions shows you how the Heat and their coaching staff were able to set up Dallas’ defense for the dunk:

------------------------

Much like the Dallas Mavericks and their zone defense, I think they will continue to play this style of defense willing to live with the other guys hitting shots (Jason Terry, Peja Stojakovic, Jason Kidd, and DeShawn Stevenson).  With the way that the Miami Heat are playing the pick and roll, they are extending a challenge to the Mavericks’ shooters not named Dirk Nowitzki.  In game one, these shooters missed a fair amount of open shots, and if they continue to struggle shooting they will win this series easily.  However, if these guys start hitting, Miami will be forced to make a decision.  Is the risk of giving up an open shot worth the reward of forcing a turnover or keeping the basketball out of Nowitzki’s hands?  Miami is hoping that they don’t have to make that decision.

Refcalls Mavs more effected than Heat

Here’s a summary of the wrong calls that affected both teams:

Wrong calls/no-calls that penalized Dallas: 8
Wrong calls/no-calls that penalized Miami: 5

PBT First Blood | Dallas Shooters cold...or was it the Heat? | Stars + Boards

Coming into the NBA Finals, everyone was expecting a battle between Dallas’ smooth, sweet-shooting, ball-movement heavy offense and Miami’s aggressive, swarming, athletic, grinding defense.

Not only did the low-scoring game go the way the Heat wanted it to, but the Heat flipped the script on the Mavericks and beat them in the areas Dallas was supposed to have the biggest advantage in: ball movement and three-point shooting. The result was a 92-84 Heat win.

It will be the "chicken or the egg" question out of Game 1, and we will not really know the answer until we are well along in this series.

Did the Dallas Mavericks just miss shots, or did the Miami Heat make them miss?

The Dallas Mavericks witnessed Miami’s explosive closing power firsthand in Game 1 of the NBA Finals, which was competitive until James and Wade said otherwise. The Heat sealed the game with insane shot-making and excellent chemistry, as the possibility of a Maverick comeback faded suddenly and violently despite the best, futile efforts of Dirk Nowitzki. Neither team played well enough offensively to dominate the initial game of the championship round, but Miami’s brutally effective late-game execution put a winnable game just out of reach for a Dallas team accustomed to late game heroics of their own.

Hoopshype  Tweets

Ron Artest: I don't care who wins But I got heat in 5 about 7 hours ago

Shawn Marion: Tough one, it was a battle ,but hey we live to fight another day thur will be here before u know it about 7 hours ago

Ron Artest: Who won game? about 7 hours ago

Ron Artest: How did it end? about 7 hours ago

Jimmer Fredette: Heat looked impressive tonight if they keep playing d like that the mavs have There hands full. And I have a hunch they won't stop. about 8 hours ago

Tracy McGrady: wade and bron are who we thought they were! #denny yesterday

Tracy McGrady: heat started season slow but peaking at the absolute best time... they look great! yesterday

Craig Smith: Wade is killin! yesterday

Nazr Mohammed: I'm going to check out what's on my dvr and wait for the 4th quarter... yesterday

Craig Smith: Who's gonna kill the third quarter? yesterday

Nazr Mohammed: Maybe I'll wait for game 2... But I do have a couple of friends on both teams that I should support. Decisions decisions... yesterday

Nazr Mohammed: Did the game start yet? Haven't decided if I'm gonna watch yet cuz I'm still disappointed in how our season ended. #WishIWasThere #Jealous yesterday

Jason Thompson: If Tyson Chandler wuld of Got that Dunk it wuld of been kraziii!! That was a foul too yesterday

The Point Forward Mavs have a problem...on the glass

This trend disturbed me much more: Nowitzki looked badly overmatched trying to box out the Heat’s big men. It is there on the film, a loud reminder that 32-year-olds with plenty of wear on their tires and a shaky leaping ability are going to have problems with younger, quicker and more athletic big men. Joel Anthony in particular shoved, dragged and maneuvered Nowitzki out of the way over and over.

2MG's The Difference

James actually defended JET to close the game, a matchup that, while stifling and impressively creative, opens up an interesting opportunity. Marion had a fantastic offensive game, but could have been even more involved in the fourth quarter offense by going to work against Miller in the post. Any time that Marion can shed James, he’ll have an offensive advantage on the low block, and while he was able to create from the post a few times throughout the game, I think Marion can be used as an instigator of change. If Marion can be efficient enough in the post against Miller, Spoelstra could be forced to give up on assigning LeBron to chase JET and disrupt the Mavs’ two-man game, which would ultimately open up one effective offense by way of another.

Stats

FT-Watch

Haywood bricked three of [twiceasmuch] from the line. Why oh why don't you chop that wood more, Portland Lakers Thunder Miami? He is now 20-43 on FTs in 15 games. Celebration for our third-best Center, Beaches! [nsfw]

Dirk missed zero FTs on 12 Attempts. Anybody else who attempted a FT missed at least one. GJ, Team.

20-20-4 Watch

Chandler 9-4-2 Haywood 3-7-3 Mahinmi DNP-Playoffs/French  Nice thing with the blocks. Now, about that Board-work...

Field Goals

Mavs 25, Heat  31 Please....

PIP-Boys

MIA 28 DAL 24. About what you expect from the two teams with the least PIPs of them all

Bench

MIA 27 DAL 17 Can't win that way, dudes

Break it FAST

DAL 12 (but allowed only 12 Points off 11 Turnovers, ) MIA 7 (allowed 13 Pts off 12 To) Running back, y'all!...

The TEAM STAT

DAL 18 Assists MIA 20 Assists  That should never happen

 Bonus  (win and you get more)

Disclaimer: If you couldn't tell by now, all italic sentences are made up thoughts, not actual quotes. Also, 692 Pictures. Yeah, 2.

Finally....KneeJerk Recap (TM) Jonthefon v5.01

The Mavs (beat/lost to) [the Miami Heat]¹ tonight (thanks to/despite) rebounds totol reliance on Dirk’s Awesomeness. The (cloud in the silver lining/major culprit) once more as usual was the (reliabilty/lack) of support from his team-mates, with the exception of Shawn Marion/Jason Terry². Especially useless was Jose Barea/Peja Stojakovic/Brendan Haywood/DeShawn Stevenson/Jason Kidd/Tyson Chandler³ and it is (GUESS WHAT) THEY’RE ALMOST NOT ALL USELESS!

¹ Inserted Opponent

² Only one of them, mind you. Seriously?

³ Two at the minimum, up to all six seven of them.