Rick Carlisle
On what happened after building that 10-point fourth quarter lead
We struggled to get the ball in the basket, we had one or two turnovers that were costly and from that point on, we were obviously struggling to get stops. I love the way we played up until that point, and we fought the whole way, we just didn't finish. I've got to help our guys finish better.
On how they can finish better
I'll look at the film and evaluate that, but look, we had some good looks that didn't go down. They got the momentum back going their way and at that point, you've got to get stops to stem the tide. We weren't able to do that enough times. We had some uncharacteristic misses down the stretch, and we were right at the rim two or three times and just couldn't get it in. We'll do better there. We got to get geared up for game to and get back at it.
On Dirk and Monta struggling from the field
Well, there were some uncharacteristic misses, I thought Dirk has some good looks. And there were some that were heavily contested. Hey, it's a long series, shot making is going to be up and down a little bit even if you're one of the ten greatest scorers in the history of the game. But again, I got to do a better job of getting them great shots, not just good shots. We've just got to stay the course. We did some good things defensively, and we're going to have to fight out butts off in game two and find a way to finish better.
On containing Tim Duncan
Yeah, I mean, we'll look at all that and the match-ups. We got to make him work for shots and keep him off the free throw line. It's a big part of the series, the free throw differential was real big against us in the regular season. We got to do a better job. He's a great player, he's one of the top ten greatest players along with Nowitzki. He's going to score some points. We've got to evaluate our gameplan, adjust it where we need to adjust it and come back here Wednesday guns blazing again. That's what it's going to take to win in here.
On the missed shots, were they quality looks?
I'd have to look at it again. For most of the night, I liked our shots. There's some difficult ones mixed in for sure, but they'll adjust their defense, we'll adjust ours.
On Devin Harris' play
Harris played terrific. I thought Calderon had a great start to the second half, maybe should have gone back with him some down the stretch. Look, we just got to be playing at our full capacity with these guys. Everybody's got to be working their butts off and playing their strengths. If we do that, we'll put ourselves in position to win games.
On going with Wright/Carter down the stretch
That's a judgement call, and at that point we had had a good rhythm going offensively. Then we just got in a situation where we needed to score, and so I elected to stay with that group. I'll look at that. That may be something I should reevaluate for game two.
Dirk Nowitzki
On whether he's frustrated by the loss or encouraged it was close
I'm always frustrated after a loss, so maybe I'll see the positive tomorrow. But as of today, we had our chances. We were up 10. They just did a better job closing. We just couldn't get a basket. Everyone tried. We had some good looks. Monta had a couple of pull ups. Defensively, they got us a couple of times in some of the pick-and-rolls. Maybe tomorrow I can see the positive spin on it.
On if it was the Spurs defense forcing him into misses
Not really. All night, obviously, they're not going to leave me much. We knew that coming into the series, I wasn't going to have a ton of wide open shots. At the end, in the fourth quarter, they decided to drop me from the low side. I turned the ball over the one time, I wasn't really ready for it. The other three times we kind of swung it around, but other than that, all game long they kinda played me straight up. I had some decent looks -- I just have to shoot better.
On how the Spurs played defensively
They're a good defensive team. They're not necessarily unbelievably athletic and long, but they're very smart. What they want to do defensively is take you out of your comfort zone. If you like one move, they won't let you get that one move. They run Jose and myself off of picks, off the 3-point line. They go under on our guards, under Devin, under Monta. They usually force you to do something else. They force you to do a 'B move,' not your most comfortable move. We just have to make some of those plays.
On Devin's scoring explosion in the first
They're living with Monta and Devin shooting, that's clear. They went under every pick-and-roll. Devin finally made a couple. He hit two threes. He made a pull-up behind a screen. So those two guys, they're going to step into shots and make most of them, hopefully, but Devin was really the only guy that was making something happen for us. Everyone else was having an off night.
On switching the pick-and-rolls leaving Tim Duncan wide open
He's a good player. A good finisher. We got killed on threes in the first four [games] this year. It was no secret we stayed a little more home on the 3-point shooters. You have to give them something and Duncan in there is obviously still solid.
Devin Harris
On the turn in the game
Struggled to get baskets, and obviously they made a run. At that point in time, we have to settle down and find someway to score. Whether it's getting to the free throw line or getting a good look, we just have to show better poise at that point in the game.
On the Mavericks' bench
Our bench has been big all year long. It's an important part of our team and what makes it so dynamic, so I think we're a big part of this series.
On if the Mavericks want to play slower
We were getting good looks; they just didn't go in. At some point, maybe we could slow it down and try to run something, but we don't want to play against a set defense. We want to attack them when they're spread out, we want to get in transition and play a little bit faster.
On losing the opportunity
It's hard. We'll probably feel that way the rest of the day, but it's to the point where we have to try to learn from what we did and try to move on. Obviously, we have a new game to worry about now.
Vince Carter
On the fourth quarter letdown
We didn't score enough points. I think we did the job to keep ourselves in it, and we just didn't score enough points late.
On whether the late execution was what the team wanted
We wanted to win, so -- we wanted to continue to stick with our gameplan and do what we need to do to give ourselves a chance to win. I think we gave ourselves a chance, we established a lead, and the well went dry. It's tough when you're not scoring and still trying to hold them off, and keep them from scoring at a high clip.
On whether they were get the looks they wanted
I think so, just didn't make any. There were some contested shots, but we got some open shots. We were just trying to be aggressive, take shots that were there in the 3rd quarter.
On whether Dirk would miss shots like he did in the fourth
I don't think he will. There again, we were able to execute, get the shots that we wanted, ran the play like we wanted to run it or like it was called to one, got one of the best shooters in the game an open shot, and he just didn't make it. But that's what we wanted. If we execute and do what we need to do, it's there. We just have to do it for 48 minutes.
Gregg Popovich
On the final eight minutes
Lots of things happened. It's never one thing in losing a game or winning a game. It is difficult to tell you everything that went on but we scored and they didn't for all kinds of reasons. They missed some easy shots and that helped us. We played some good defense and that helped us, so I little bit of everything.
On what the Mavericks did to disrupt the Spurs offense
They played well. I mean, it is the playoffs. It's a game of mistakes. Like Doc said in his interview yesterday, 'every possession is the final possession of the game in the playoffs' and it couldn't be stated better. That's what it is all about.
On Tiago's defense
As we have said many times with Dirk, you do the best job you can. That's what you have to live with. I thought Tiago couldn't have done a better job. He is going to work at it no matter what. Dirk is going to score, you can't stop that, but as long as we can make him work hard that is the goal. We know we can't stop him from scoring.