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NBA EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: CAVALIERS v HAWKSMay 25, 2015Jeff TeagueCLEVELAND, OHIO: Practice Day Q. How did you sleep last night? Were you thinking about the final play in regulation and what could have been done differently? JEFF TEAGUE: I wasn't thinking about that play. I was thinking about the play, where I think we got a steal like 22 seconds to go, 18 on the shot clock. Should have held it a little longer. That's what I was thinking about. Q. Just kind of curious. There's a prevalent, call it a notion or something, that maybe this team wasn't as good as everybody thinks because you're down 3‑0 to them. How do you think about that? And how about in the locker room? JEFF TEAGUE: We're a really good team. We played well the whole season. Things just happen. This team is playing really well. We have really good players. We never said this was going to be easy, but we're not going to discredit what we did out here. Q. Is there something to take from how close you guys came last night? JEFF TEAGUE: Yeah, we know we can play. We know we can compete at a high level. We know we can beat this team. Just a tough loss last night. We just have to bounce back. Q. Do you feel that was the best you ever played at any time, either college or pros? JEFF TEAGUE: Who, me? Q. Yes. JEFF TEAGUE: No. Q. Were you guys better technically, or was the game plan different and that worked more? JEFF TEAGUE: We just competed. We just came out and played and moved the ball, got back to moving the ball. In the first half when Al was out there, he demanded the ball on the low block, and he was scoring well for us, and Paul in the second half did the same thing too. It was just a tough break for us. Q. You're down 3‑0. How do you rally up and try to get ready for this next game? JEFF TEAGUE: We enjoy playing basketball. So we want to continue to keep playing. Nobody wants their season to end. We love each other in the locker room. We enjoy playing with one another. So we know we've just got to keep playing harder and harder to keep surviving. Q. Jeff, obviously, the postseason is a different animal entirely and teams are tougher. Do you feel you guys have ever approached the same level in this last five, six weeks that you had at times during the regular season, just in terms of the way you guys were so in sync? JEFF TEAGUE: I don't think we've played to our best ability in every game, but we have moments where we're really good, and we have moments where we've not been that good. This team's been working hard all year. We've been playing together all year, and we'll continue to keep playing together. Q. I know, if you knew the answer, you would have said something before, but you guys seemed to play so differently last night than you did in Game 2. I'm just wondering how frustrating it is when you think back to Game 2. JEFF TEAGUE: Yeah, that hurt. We had a good opportunity in Game 1 and 2, but they played well, we didn't. We came out in Game 3 and played hard. We just needed that same effort in both 1 and 2. Q. What has this postseason told you about what it might take to sort of get to the next level? JEFF TEAGUE: We've just got to keep working. It's only our second year together. We've got to keep working, stay at a team and grow as a team and as players individually. The series is not over. We still have an opportunity to do something special. Q. Do you think you've been up against too much in terms of losing Kyle and Al last night and DeMarre playing with just one leg? JEFF TEAGUE: It's part of the game. Injuries happen. Things happen during the course of the game. The good teams recover and bounce back from those kinds of things. That's what we have to do. Q. If you guys had played the first two games of the series with sort of the passion and emotion and edge that you played with last night, do you think it would have been a different outcome? JEFF TEAGUE: Yeah, definitely, especially with your home crowd behind you and being familiar with that gym. So that's on us that we didn't play as well as we could in Game 1 and 2, but we still have an opportunity in Game 4. Q. DeMarre said after the game he was really thinking about all the plays he didn't make, but to see him really dealing with that knee and battling out there, how inspiring has his performance been in this series for you? JEFF TEAGUE: DeMarre's a high character guy, great teammate, and he always puts his body on the line for us. His effort is always great on the floor. So him being out there on one leg basically and giving us his all, you can't do nothing else but respect what he does and try to go out there and give your best effort. Q. Jeff, I guess, took such pride this season in the fact that you didn't have that one guy like LeBron out there or whatever. It was kind of a full team effort, all five guys. Do you think there was less margin for error when you have like DeMarre hurt or Al goes out or anything else, that it's tougher to sustain what you guys have built because it's so dependent on all five together? JEFF TEAGUE: I mean, we depend on everyone on our team. So guys had an opportunity to come in and step up, and I think guys came in and played well last night. It just‑‑ we just came up short. That's all that really happened. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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