MIAMI HEAT HEAD COACH ERIK SPOELSTRA Post-Game Interview February 12, 2013 Well both teams are going through a little bit of adversity. Our guys came in, no question, with an aggressive, confident disposition. It really set the tone defensively in the first half. Even though they scored, we were being aggressive and flying around and obviously knocking down the three s helped. On LeBron James play over the last four games, 43 of 59 shooting, 73%: We try to come up with new superlatives every single game. He s the best player in the game, and he s continuing to re-invent himself. If you had to grade shoot-a-rounds today, he was spectacular. This guy isn t trying to shy away from work ethic or preparation. He s getting after it. My film sessions, he treats them like he s a coach. Quite frankly we need it, because everybody is stepping up their game. The second half of the season is going to be very competitive. LeBron is relentless. He s just going to continue to work the game. He absolutely loves this game. He s very grateful for this opportunity to play this game for a living, but more importantly to be part of a team like this that has a chance to do something special. On the HEAT s defense setting the tone and its play in big games: Well there s no question about it that when the lights are bright and the popcorn s popping, our guys come to life. That s a great quality, that s also a quality that could drive me nuts. You have to have that. That s not something you teach. Everybody in that locker room is dying to play games like that. As soon as I get into the rotation I turn my head to look down the bench I have six or seven guys ready to get into the game. You have to have that mentality to play against the best teams in the league and the [Los Angeles] Clippers are one of the best teams in the league. On the HEAT s three point shooting tonight:
There s a great pace to our execution. Really doing it with not only details but with high engines. The spacing was terrific. The last part of that is the ball was moving and finding the open guy. Our pace and spacing tonight was excellent tonight.
Dwyane Wade MIAMI HEAT PLAYERS They are getting healthy now and today was a game for them to try and get their rhythm back and we didn t want that to happen. We didn t want them coming here and getting their rhythm back and we didn t want them getting back on us. We were short-handed but that is never an excuse. We have enough players in here that can do the job. We had to (play good defense) or this team would embarrass you. If you don t get down and if they don t see all five (players) that team will embarrass you. I thought that we did do a good job taking care of the ball. They were getting back in it and we didn t want them getting back in the groove. This is a very dangerous team. They beat us in LA (Los Angeles) and we wanted to take care of home court. On LeBron James: Every year it seems like he does the amazing. He is on a streak right now that is awesome and I love it. He shot the ball very well tonight from three point (range). We would love for him to continue to do that but one day he is going to just shoot 50 percent. We will take it. Most of the time I always believe it is going in, especially if it is in his rhythm. Most of the time he shoots high percentage shots and he is capable of hitting any shot on the court. On how he is feeling: I am okay. It s a bug, it happens. I got some rest today and got some fluids in me and I will do the same thing tonight and tomorrow. I was good enough to come out here and give it all I had in my 30 minutes of action tonight. I am fine. LeBron James On his recent streak of games: I m just confident in my abilities. It is great to see when you put in a lot of work and can then implement it into a game situation. I m just playing my game. I just go out and see what the pace of the game is bringing and then figure it out on the fly. I don t predetermine anything. If the defense backs up, I shoot. If they get up on me, I drive. I m just in that comfort place right now where I can just go out and play free.
Anytime I get an opportunity to make plays for our team it feels really good. If you look at the numbers it says that I haven t. Have I been in a groove where I felt I could do many things? Yeah I ve felt that way. As far as the shooting percentage I m on, the numbers don t lie. I want to continue to get better. I m not satisfied. I work on my game each-and-every day trying to figure out ways I can get better. I shot the ball very comfortable tonight. I was in the paint earlier and then I moved outside the paint in the second half. I just tried to be aggressive. On possibly playing a game without missing a shot: I would love to do it. Who wouldn t want to go a game without missing a shot? I don t go in putting pressure on myself saying Don t miss a shot. On Dwyane Wade He (Dwyane Wade) is getting healthier. His spring is back. His pull up jumper is feeling good. I still don t think he is 100%, but he is close to it and he is getting there.
(Los Angeles Clippers) HEAD COACH VINNY DEL NEGRO Post-Game Interview February 12, 2013 We (Los Angeles Clippers) turned the ball over and they (Miami HEAT) converted off that. We did not do a good job of guarding the three-pointer tonight; they spread us out, and shot the ball well. We just have to stay together. It is a test right now. I didn t think they felt us physically tonight. Chris Paul was back and he has to take control of the game. Physically, right now, he is just not capable of doing that. No excuses, they out-played us. You have to play well as a team and get some stops defensively. We (Los Angeles Clippers) did not do either one. We deserve what we got tonight. It was a good test for us. We beat them (Miami HEAT) at our place pretty good and they just returned the favor. Obviously we (Los Angeles) were disappointed by the way we executed tonight but it is a long season. It is a long road trip and we have to bounce back. We have to look at film, practice tomorrow, and get better. On the Miami HEAT: Dwyane Wade looked good, in terms of his physical presence and made some plays for them. They hit some tough shots. On the Los Angeles Clippers: The game is scheduled and you have to come ready to play whoever is out there. Everyone knows that we have not played with that group in a long time but they (Miami HEAT) were quicker and more physical than us. They played harder than we did and put us back on our heels. We have to do a better job and have a sense of urgency on our close- out defense. Bottom line, we can t turn the ball over the way we did. We gave them 27 points off of those. On Chris Paul: You can see he (Chris Paul) still is a little tentative and not as aggressive. It was just good to have him out there and it is something we are going to try to build on. On Grant Hill: His (Grant Hill) knee was a little bit swollen. There are not a lot of minutes out there right now. We just got some guys back. I really wanted to rest Grant Hill tonight because of his knee being sore at practice yesterday.
On Chauncey Billups: He looked good. His back got a little bit stiff but he said he felt fine. I could have went with him a little bit more. We will see how he feels tomorrow. But it was good to have him out there. LOS ANGELES CLIPPERS PLAYERS February 12, 2013 Jamal Crawford They have been together. They did a good job. They knew what they wanted to do. They went to LeBron (James) and (Dwyane) Wade. Everyone else kind of played around them. We just have to trust what we want to do. On cohesion: We have to practice. We just try to get everyone in rhythm. We just have to continue doing what we re doing. DeAndre Jordan We have to communicate better defensively. On cohesion: We had a pretty good practice. We still have to get back to playing with each other. We ll knock some of the rust off and we ll start to gel like we did in the beginning of the season. Lamar Odom We didn t adjust defensively. We realized how much we need each other. It s not about personal performance. It s about helping your team win ballgames, especially on the road. I think it s a good lesson for us. It makes us realize how much we need each other.
Chris Paul We lost to a good team over there. Those guys shot the lights out of the ball. We didn t make an impact defensively. The biggest thing is trust. We ll be alright. They never really felt us. I think it s more about us. We have to impose our will a little more. It s a marathon for us, not a sprint. On his health: Surprisingly, I felt pretty good. I think that s the most exciting thing about tonight. I asked Chauncey (Billups) how he felt, and he said he was good. I didn t feel that I can hurt the team. I think we re better now. On LeBron James: LeBron (James) is unbelievable. He can play. When he s shooting the ball like that, he s almost unguardable. That s like my brother, so I m happy for him.