Mavs @ Lakers Playoff Post Game One Quotes "Concerned?"

What the Dallas Mavericks and the Los Angeles Lakers said 
after Game 1.

Quotes

Mavericks

Coach Rick Carlisle

(On coming back from 16 points down) "We've been battling all year. NBA games are long, 48 minutes is a long time. We still had a quarter and a half left basically. I thought Corey Brewer going in the game gave us a lot of energy. He ran the floor, hit a couple shots, he got deflections, he got his hand on balls, and made things happen…we made some plays at the end."

(On the defense Jason Kidd played at the end of the game) "Jason Kidd is one of the few guys capable of having a possession like that against a top player. There was a reason we try to keep him off Bryant a lot of the game. It's just too much, takes too much energy. We need him to do so many other things for us. That was a great sequence. We dodged a bullet at the end, but the guys earned it. Down the stretch, he’s as knowledgeable and as experienced as anybody who has ever played." "

(On Corey Brewer) "We needed energy. We needed enthusiasm. Ever since we got Brewer, he's come into practice every day with a phenomenal attitude. He has worked to get better and has gotten better. He had opportunities to go to other teams for more money and as good a winning situation as ours was. You're talking about a kid who won two national championships in a row, so he knows about big games. We got in a dire situation and he went in there and made some good things happen for us."

(On the sequence involving a foul and a technical called on his team with :00.7 seconds left in the 1st half) "The last 10 seconds of the first half are things that may never happen to this team again, ever. And so we need to forget about that...We said one of the keys to the series was be persistent and play out possessions…the other stuff, 'hey, it should've been a five point game,' and it wasn't, but there's a lot of game left so you got to keep playing."

(On the Mavs' offensive success tonight) "The best thing is we would get stops and run, and space the floor and play out of our flow game. We have veteran guys that understand the game, we try to play with as few play calls as possible, and it facilitates better when you're getting stops. If you allow them to set their defense, they're murder to play against."

Dirk Nowitzki

(On storming back from a 16 point deficit at the start of the 2nd half) "We did a great job hanging in there. We felt like we had a bad start to the third quarter, we turned the ball over three or four times in a row, Kobe got hot in the third, we weren't looking good. You just have to stick with it, try to get some stops, and not to turn the ball over, just get a shot up every time and give ourselves at least a chance to make it. If you turn the ball over that puts them in transition, and we had a tough time matching up on transitions. Kobe had some good looks. So we had to stop turning the ball over and get some stops. Obviously in the fourth quarter when we gave up 15 points, that was big. Jason Kidd tried to keep the ball out of Kobe's hands, everybody else scrambled around. It was fun to watch."

(On winning Game One of the series in Los Angeles) "Definitely a great win for us. But if you look at their last series, they lost game 1 and they came right back and won the two and had the series back in control. We'd love to go forward to game two. More of the same, turn the ball over less. We felt like we held our own on the boards, that's a big key for us, that we rebound with them. I think we kept the rebound game within four or five rebounds. I think we give ourselves a chance to get out there and win the game."

(On if this season is the most comfortable he's felt in his basketball career) "Obviously experience helps. I've been in this league now for a long time. I've been in big games. The game slows down more when you get older, you take your time and you try to get to your spot where you know you have an advantage. You just try to execute. But, we know they're going to come out in the second game and be even better, so we've got to make sure we show up as well."

(On Corey-time) "I thought Brewer came in, really changed the game for us."

(On how the Mavs kept Artest and Bynum to a combined 10 points)"I thought Ron actually had some good looks, he was just not making his shots. They've got so many weapons offensively, you've got to give up something here and there. I thought he had some good looks that he's probably going to make in game 2. So we've got to be even sharper and scramble a little more…And Tyson and Haywood tried to keep Bynum a little further off the glass. You know, when he gets deep he's a monster. He just turns around, over either shoulder and there's nothing you can do about it. So, I think they just did a good job mixing it up on them and trying to keep Bynum away from the glass."

Jason Kidd

(On tonight's Win) "I think the big thing is we got to win. Character was a big factor in tonight’s game. We lost our composure today at the end of the second quarter, and then came out and lost the ball three straight times and found ourselves down. But everybody’s role is to keep playing and try and cut into the lead and see what happens."

(On overcoming a 16 point deficit) "I think everybody on this team has been in a situation where they've been down. We can all reflect on that first round that we were down 20, and we were up 20 plus and lost the lead and the game, so sometimes you can reflect as close as that last series and pull from it. But guys started to relax I think a little bit and we started making plays."

(On Kobe Bryant's last-second 3-pt shot) "When he shot it, I didn't look. I was just going to listen to the crowd.''

(On demanding to defend Kobe lategame in the first place) "I’m a competitor. Maybe it’s being old, too, being hard-headed and naïve and thinking I can slow him down."

(On the importance of tonight's win) "We can say that we didn't play our best game but we found a way to win. That's the bottom line this time of year. You want to be the first team to four, and we found a way to win Game One but again the Lakers have been in this position a lot of times and they've found a way to win the series. So we haven't done anything yet."

Jason Terry

(On Corey) "I saw Brewer in the tunnel at halftime. I told him to be ready. He came in, provided a spark and everybody has got to be ready in this series."

(On overcoming a 16 point deficit) "That's what we've been living on all year. You know, we're a veteran team, when we face adversity we don't get down, we stick together and we find a way. That's what we do."

(On the Mavericks bench play) "Well we did our job. Our job is to come in, provide energy, make plays and maintain or assist in the lead and I thought we did that for the most part. And again, we still didn't play our best game, we got some things to look at and go forward."

(On what was learned from tonight's game) "That we're not going to quit. We're not going to back down. At the same time it wasn't our best game. I mean, if you look at it, they get a 16 point lead on us and that's tough. It's tough to fight back from that far."

(On the Mavs play) "We’re not happy right now. We’re not satisfied. We didn’t play our best basketball. When we watch the film, we’ll realize what we did out there wasn’t that great."

Corey Brewer

(On him getting on the court in the third) "I just hoped I'd have a chance to get in. He put me in the game and said, 'Let's go.' I just tried to bring some energy and get our team going."

(On his playing time) "It shows that the guys are counting on me. "They want me to go in and do good for the team. And for a guy like JET to tell me to be ready, ‘You know, we’re gonna need you,’ it means a lot. I just tried to go in and bring some energy, help the team any way I can."

(On defending Kobe) "It's tough, man, especially when he's got it going and he had it going already. You just try to make it tough, but he made some tough shots."

Tyson Chandler

(On the team's focus) "I think what we've been doing since training camp. You know, we fought each other hard in training camp and we set a common goal and we're far from that goal but we're on the right path."

(On the Mavericks' team defense) "We played defense. Jason Kidd looked like the young Jason Kidd out there running all over the place. Our communication was great and I think we match up well with their bigs down low."

(On the Mavericks' chances and the Lakers size) "I like our chances; I think we match up well. We've got to constantly keep bodies on those guys. You know, Pau's one of the more skilled big men in the league and Bynum is one of the more bigger big men in the league, so definitely we've got to keep them away from the basket, keep them away from easy things but when you break down the tape from our previous games you see a lot of mistakes that we made."

(On the Mavs not folding) "This is not the same the same old Mavs of the past where you beat them up and we give up, and you get aggressive and they back down. This is a different team, different squad, different players, different look. Hopefully, we get a different outcome."

(On hearing comments about the Mavs of the past) "I’m honestly sick of hearing it."

(On sticking to the game plan) "We just stuck with our game plan. Just trusting one another, continuing to grind it out. We knew Kobe came out hot, he looked aggressive, and hit a lot of shots but we felt like if we continued to stick to our game plan eventually we'd wear down on them."

(On the Mavs) "We set a common goal. We’re far from that goal, but we’re on the right path.

(On Bryant's night) "It’s just Kobe. You’ve just got to keep your focus. He’s one of the greatest players of all-time, and he does some amazing things out there. But regardless of what he does you’ve got to stick to your principles and continue to play."

(On Kidd's defense on Kobe) "He played incredible defense. He looked like the young Jason Kidd."

Shawn Marion

(On tonight's win) "It's a good win. Way to fight back and way to stay after it. I think we didn't give up and we stayed aggressive on both ends of the floor."

(On the first round series' impact) "I think that was a good series for us. We saw a lot of things that we're capable of and it helped get us to where we need to be at. I think this is a great game. Neither team scored 100, right? So I guess that's a streak too. Portland didn't score 100 against us did they? I just look at it like we're playing good 'D' out there and we've got to take advantage of that and just helping each other on the floor."

Lakers

Coach Phil Jackson

(On the Loss) "Well we went in the locker room and we gave it the game away. I'm not so sure Dallas didn't outplay us, but I just felt like we gave it away. A couple misplays on the offensive end, and the foul at the end to put them on the line kind of makes it difficult to win those kind of games."

(On if he thinks his team played "Dallas' game" by shooting a lot from the perimeter) "No. Their defense was good, they took the foul, we stopped executing our offense, and we took some shots from the outside. We were open, guys had looks, but we didn't shoot that well."

(On how Dallas won the game tonight) "We just took open shots, didn't move the ball, work the ball around. And all of a sudden you're [Dallas] back in the ball game, three point ball game. It took a lot of energy out of us and put a lot of energy in them to be able to come back and do that. So that shows a lot of heart on their part to be able to do that. They changed the tempo of the game, they had run-outs, got some turnovers, and made us pay for it."

(On the Mavericks defense against Andrew Bynum) "They took good fouls on him in the lane, and they wouldn't let him get his turn so he couldn't get a turnaround on them and drop step. They kept him out of the lane for the most part."

Kobe Bryant

(On the Lakers' execution down the stretch)
"It wasn't very good. We turned to ball over a couple times. I had a turnover. Pau had a turnover. We didn't execute well."

(On if the Mavericks did anything different offensively tonight compared to regualar season) "No, we just blew a lot of coverages. We gave them a lot of shooters open looks and they missed. But then they knocked some down and it got them back in the game. We have to sure up that part of our defense."

(On how worried he is that the Lakers gave the Mavs hope) "They always had hope. They're in the second round and they're here to play. I don't really see it as being a big deal. We just have to compete."

(On how to neutralize Dirk's shot-making in Game 2) "We'll think about doing some things a little different, but he's going to make shots. He's going to make tough shots. That's what he does."

(On if losing Game 1 has helped the Lakers recently - actual question, y'all!) "I don't think it helps. I think if anything, it can hurt you because you get complacent. You get over-confident that Game 2 is a formality and that you're going to go in and win it. So we have to still have that sense of urgency and significance to win Game 2."

(On if things got too easy in the third quarter) "Yeah, we made a point to talk about that. We've been in games like this where things are grooving and it's really easy, then all of a sudden, you're in a dogfight. Turnovers do that. We missed some pot-shots too that we should have made."

(On his level of concern) "I'm highly concerned. This team can beat us. It's clear. We just have to come in ready to play Game 2."

(On becoming Charles Barkley's Grandmother) "I don't give a [$100,000]"

Pau Gasol

(On the game tonight) "They [Mavericks] made big runs when they most needed to and we couldn't control the game when we needed to. We had good leads, especially in that 3rd quarter and they made a lot of plays to come back into the game. They had a good run and they gave themselves a chance."

(On what prevented the Lakers from winning the game tonight) "We should've been able to control that stretch better and we didn't. We just let them get really close and at the end obviously it was a really bad ending turnout for us. It was a tough loss because we should've won that game, but give them [Mavericks] credit. They fought back and got the W."

(On if there is a concern losing tonight) "We're definitely capable of it, we know that. Obviously at this point we just lost…but come back tomorrow and watch what we did wrong, what we could've done better and come back on Wednesday ready to get a win."

Andrew Bynum

(On their lead in the 3rd quarter and why it got away) "For me, personally, I didn't have a very good game…defensively just collapsed…"

(On their 16 points in the 4th quarter) "We stopped moving the basketball and playing the right way."

(On what he needs to do for himself to get going) "I'm just going to be so much more aggressive. I felt like I wasn't aggressive at all, getting in low-post position, nothing. I kept letting them Mavericks hit me first. It's going to be different."

(On what he got out of their game plan offensively) "I think defensively we just relaxed."

Lamar Odom

(On how he thinks they lost tonight) "It's a funny game because even though we got up I didn't really feel like we played at the speed that we wanted to play at. Coming down, taking quick shots. That's how they want to play, we kind of have to control the tempo a lot better, and move the ball, try to put our bodies on them, get some offensive rebounds; things like that."

(On their 16-point fourth quarter) "I think they controlled the game as far as speed was concerned. I didn't really like the tempo that we played at. This is a team that they want to take a lot of shots…we never really played at our tempo tonight."

(On if he is concerned about the "big picture" at all) "I mean, it's one game…of course it was right there for us to win it, but we lost. Put it behind you, move on and get better, and get ready for the next one."

Vids

Kindler

70 Foot Smarts

Dirk Elbow

LA crucial Turnover

Smart Foul, too

Game Recap

Lakers' Edit

Postgame Dirk Kobe Rick (per AP)

NBA.com/Lakers.com PostgameLinks (not on YT yet)

Carlisle | Dirk | Phil | Kobe | Brown | Gasol | Odom | Bynum

Links

MMB | Rottcap

Kidd's lockdown defense forced a turnover and a foul. He only hit one of two to put Dallas up two with three seconds to play. But then Bryant tried a three on the Lakers' final play and couldn't hit, and the Mavericks stole game one, 96-94.

Silver Screen and Roll How to make Charles Barkley look good

The Lakers almost got away with it. They very nearly escaped Game One with a victory despite no-shows from a few of their key guys and sloppy execution from the rest. Unfortunately, the Dallas Mavericks are not the New Orleans Hornets. They play with a skilled precision befitting their German star, and they're plenty good enough to punish the Lakers when the latter succumb to their worst habits.

[...]

It's very possible that a foul was committed on the Kobe-Gasol turnover debacle. Kidd made some contact with both Kobe and Pau, though admittedly not much in either case. Kobe fell because he lost his balance trying to cut. Pau was jostled but still should've held onto the ball. I can't blame the refs for swallowing the whistle on this one. It was crap execution, and the Lakers didn't deserve the bail-out.

The champs didn't lose this because of the refs. They lost because they didn't play intelligently, because they strayed from the offensive precepts that have powered them to so many victories this year, because Dallas had more role players step up and because Bynum got taken out of the game. That's partly his fault, partly the fault of teammates who wouldn't pass to him and partly strong work from the Maverick bigs.

NBA.com Composure

They were on the road, in the third different city in as many outings, facing an opponent that knows all about winning in the clutch, and were down 16 points early in the third quarter and heading toward a blowout loss. Worst of all for the Mavericks, they were coming unhinged, making foolish decisions.

Then, they made a stand.

The Mavericks.

They made a stand.

ESPN LA Lakers can't change Mavs' game

Jackson had to put his postseason countdown on hold after the game, writing "11 report" on the white board in the locker room to indicate Tuesday's practice time rather than "11 mo'" to signify that the team was one win closer to a championship.

"I'm highly concerned," Bryant said. "This team can beat us. It's clear."

He sounded focused. It's a shame the same couldn't be said for the Lakers all game long.

Land o' Lakers At the buzzer

From beyond the arc, Dallas hit five-of-nine. Credit the Mavs for their excellent ball movement, as they racked up 16 assists on the aforementioned field goals, consistently forcing the Lakers into awkward rotations and patiently using the entire floor to generate clean looks deep into possessions. Chide L.A. for sloppiness on their end.

Hoopdata Boxscore | No Notes for Mavs Lakers yet

Dallas was 6-14 at the Rim yet 33-65 elsewhere, LAL 17-26 atR, 19-58 elsewhere .

An advanced Boxscore at Arturo

Kept expecting the axe to fall on the Mavs in this one in the shape of the refs. Other than that unlikely sequence it didn’t. Dirk & Kidd over Odom and Gasol. I wonder if anyone picked that

Forum Blue & Gold Recap

And really, that’s the story to this game: the Mavs held on. When they were down big, the Lakers allowed them to get back in the game quickly enough that it was like that big lead never happened. With the game close, the Mavs found ways to make shots and get stops to ensure that in the closing minutes they’d have a chance to get the ball to their closer and he delivered. It’s not that Kobe couldn’t match Dirk (because for the most part he did) but instead it was about the Lakers over-reliance on Kobe making those shots for them to win this game. And when you rely on one player in isolation the way the Lakers did, sometimes the shots just won’t fall. The Mavs proved as much by moving the ball in and out of Nowitzki’s hands in those final minutes to both get him good looks but also set up other players. The Lakers never adjusted and it hurt them in the end.

BDL BTB

no dice

Basketballprospectus Stunned at Home

Dallas 96, L.A. Lakers 94 (Dallas leads series 1-0)
Pace: 87.7
Offensive Ratings: Dallas 109.5, L.A. Lakers 107.2

Key number: According the Synergy Sports Technology, the Lakers averaged just .63 points on their post-ups. They were at .94 points per play on posts in the regular season, the third-best in the league. The Mavericks were the fourth-best team defensively on those plays at .83 PPP. So the Lakers' performance, especially after halftime, was on the extreme end. L.A. has to get back to playing inside-out basketball.

NBAPlaybook Zone Preview | Sloppy Execution

After taking the basketball the length of the court after a timeout, Kobe Bryant was fouled by Jason Kidd, taking the Mavericks foul to give in the final minutes. The result was the Lakers taking the ball on the side, looking to get a look trailing by one point. Without taking a timeout, Phil Jackson instructed his team to run one of their late game go-to sets when taking the ball out from the side. However, poor execution resulted in a turnover from the Lakers, who eventually lost the game.

PBT Dallas hits, Kobe misses

Are these Dallas Mavericks different?

Different than the team that falls short, that so many pundits thought didn’t know how to close, that was too old or too soft. The one that keeps getting smoked in the playoffs.

Or was it just the Lakers having one of their patented lapses? Combined with Kobe missing a good look at a three to win it?

One game does not answer those questions.

2MG's Difference

The Mavs didn’t win Game 1 because they hit big shots or made big stops. They won because of consistent execution. They won because of patience. They won because even when the passes were errant and the shots were drawing iron, they continued to run their sets and cut hard and work toward quality shots.

Stats

FT-Watch

Haywood bricked nil of [nada] from the line. Why oh why don't you chop that wood, Portland Lakers? He is now 3-15 on FTs in 7 games. Celebration for our third-best Center, Beaches! [nsfw]

Dirk missed zero FTs, Kidd & Chandler each 1 of 2. The less they get, the better they hit?

20-20-4 Watch

Chandler 11-9-3, Haywood 2-0-1. Mahinmi DNP-Playoffs/French. Bynum 8-5-1. *Marv Albert*

Field Goals

Mavs 39, Lakers 36.

PIP-Boys

LAL 46 DAL 36. Within REACH!

Double Bonus

Disclaimer: If you couldn't tell by now, all italic sentences are made up thoughts, not actual quotes. Props to Lakers.com. Furthermore, 243 Photos, half of them on Celebrities? You're killing me, Gettys. Also, the Lakers don't foul. (12) But neither do the Mavs. (17)

Finally....KneeJerk Recap (TM) Jonthefon v3.01

The Mavs (beat/lost to) [the Los Angeles Lakers]¹ tonight (thanks to/despite) 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 Jason Kidd/Tyson Chandler². Especially useless was Jason Terry/Shawn Marion/Jose Barea/Peja Stojakovic/Brendan Haywood/DeShawn Stevenson³ and it is (GUESS WHAT) THEY’RE ALMOST NOT ALL USELESS!

¹ Inserted Opponent

² Only one of them, mind you. Kidd's Team: 30 Assists on 39 FGs.

³ Two at the minimum, up to all six seven of them. Demon Bird Mothballs and Honest Abe were the only Mavs with below 50% shooting from the Field. I mean, how dare they?