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NBA WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: SUNS v MAVERICKSMay 24, 2006Avery JohnsonDALLAS, TEXAS: Game One COACH AVERY JOHNSON: Tonight we weren't very good. They had a little bit more energy than what we did. Our defense wasn't very good. Obviously we scored enough points to win the game, but you know even though we had the lead we just couldn't hold the lead at the end. We didn't execute. So we were just bad tonight in a lot of different areas that we have to improve on in a hurry. We obviously had some pretty good offensive performance from some guys. But, again, defensively, Nash, too easy. Diaw, too easy. I know they're really good players, but we just gotta play better defense. We'll get back to work tomorrow and hopefully bounce back in Game 2. Q. Coach, if you can talk about losing Josh and some of the things that you had to do and how much of a void that was once he was gone? COACH AVERY JOHNSON: Obviously it's a big void. You know you're talking about a guy capable of getting 20 points and 10 rebounds especially in a game like this. His athleticism, trying to have someone else to guard Marion. Marion is a tough cover because he's really athletic, so, again, we miss Josh but it's still no excuse. We still had a chance to win this game, and we had a lead with a couple of minutes to go and we just couldn't hold it. Q. Seems like they created a lot of mismatch for you down at the post with Diaw on Devin Harris. How do you look at that? COACH AVERY JOHNSON: They were kind of burning us on the pick-and-roll. And you know there was some emergent situations where we had to switch. And Diaw was down there we tried to trap him and get it out of his hands. He passed it, he burned us on a couple of times. We'll have to take a look at it see how we can be much more effective the next time. Q. How important was Devin in that third quarter run and how important was it to have somebody make Nash play defense? COACH AVERY JOHNSON: I think it's really important. We tried to do that. Devin was very effective. You know and then we tried to go to it late, and it was the strangest of situations. I've never seen a point guard turn the corner and get called for an offensive foul. But so that was one of the turning points of the game right there. On his offensive foul. He clearly had his man beat. But for some strange reason, you know, he got called for an offensive foul in that situation. Q. What kind of tempo would you like to run with this team? COACH AVERY JOHNSON: I think we're still trying to find it, find what's good and what's bad. And we'll take a look at it tomorrow, because there's a tempo that we're comfortable with. But, again, if you told me, shoot, score 118 points and shoot 50% from the field, I think we have a really good chance to win. But our defense wasn't very good. Q. You had a moment at the end where he hits the two threes and the other one, was that breakdowns on your end? COACH AVERY JOHNSON: I think it's a situation where we've talked about no lead is safe with these guys, and when you're in a situation like that, Nash loves to go for the 3. And you know he did it. And we just didn't execute defensively on it.
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