NBA FINALS: HEAT VS. NUGGETS

June 6, 2023

Caleb Martin

Miami Heat

Practice Day

Q. What's Pat Riley's interaction with you like? Did he say something to you after the Boston series? What does he tell you when he sees you?

CALEB MARTIN: That he's just proud. He's proud of the way we've been playing, the way we've been sticking with it through the regular season. He's real positive, man. He's just proud of the way that we're playing right now.

Q. How about your game and the way you've played? Has he said anything about that?

CALEB MARTIN: Yeah, just like I said, just happy for me and happy how I've been sticking with it and proud of the progress I've been making.

I talk to him here and there and I talk to him when I see him, but just want to play hard for a guy like that. So I appreciate everything.

Q. How are you feeling after the game? I could tell you were hurting.

CALEB MARTIN: I am feeling better now. Definitely a lot better. I feel like I've almost got it out of my system, so definitely feeling a lot better than I did the last two games.

Yeah, man, just a couple of these meds and I'll be all right.

Q. Did you have a fever at all? How bad was it?

CALEB MARTIN: Not much of a fever. It was more just like cold chills, body aches, heavy, heavy migraine. I was just laying down pretty much in the dark the whole entire game.

Like I said, this is the time of year everybody is dealing with something, so nobody really cares what you're dealing with.

Q. Do you feel like after the series you had against Boston that Denver is keying more on you defensively?

CALEB MARTIN: Yeah, I definitely can feel that. I can definitely feel it's that type of energy when I'm on the court. Just the attention of detail, that's what it takes to I feel like to get a championship at this time of year.

Guys are honing in on everybody and doing whatever they can. That's on me to make adjustments and find ways to be effective, as well.

Q. Those two really big plays at the end of the game, especially how you're feeling, how does it feel just coming away with that after the win?

CALEB MARTIN: It feels great. Anywhere I can contribute, you know what I mean, and impact the game, I'm going to do it.

Like I said, I might not have really been too effective offensively in the game, but at a time I needed to knock one down, I did it. This is definitely more of a series that they've got two of the best players and scorers in the league right now, so this is definitely a defensive series for me to lock in, and I'll take offense when I can.

Q. Earlier in the series you talked about Kevin Love and Jimmy Butler preparing you guys. How is it compared to actually being here? Do you think they've prepared you well?

CALEB MARTIN: Like you said, they've been preparing us for these type of moments, and just the leadership has been amazing. No matter how -- I think that's why we always feel like we have a great chance of winning these games, just because no matter how the game is going, they keep us mentally in check.

It's hard not to listen to guys like that who's been there before. They've just been bringing great, positive energy, and we've just been feeding off that as a team, so it's been good.

Q. As far as how you're being defended, how different is it from Boston and do you take it as a sign of respect?

CALEB MARTIN: Definitely do. Like I said, it's a sign of respect, and I appreciate it. Like I said, it's my job to make adjustments and find ways to be effective. That's the cool thing about the Playoffs, though, is you get different looks and it definitely challenges your IQ and your adjustments. It's pretty cool.

It's a lot more strategic than it is the regular season, so it's a different type of game and this is the type of stuff you learn from, so I'm enjoying it.

Q. What is it about North Carolina guards? What do you all do best, I would say?

CALEB MARTIN: I just think that we just grind. We just try to get it done. Kind of got like our own different style. There's a lot of different guards from different places that like to be fast, that type of stuff.

But I feel like we're kind of blue collar. We just try to get it done however we get it done. That's kind of what I take from it.