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NBA EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: CAVALIERS v PISTONS

May 30, 2007

Richard Hamilton

DETROIT, MICHIGAN: Practice Day

Q. What's your mindset?
RIP HAMILTON: Our mindset is we won the first two at home, they went home and won the next two, so it's our job to, you know, come out here and take care of home and get a win.

Q. Is there a greater sense of urgency? It's basically a three-game series at this point.
RIP HAMILTON: Like I said, we want to win. You play for home-court advantage all season. We've got the opportunity, like I said, to come out and get a win in front of our fans.

Q. How are you and Chauncey doing with more criticism than you guys are used to? Talk about how different things have been the last two games.
RIP HAMILTON: It's nothing, nothing at all. We know that people look at us to try and lead the team. When you win, you get the glory; when you lose, they're on you, and that's how it's supposed to be.

Q. Do you think it's deserved?
RIP HAMILTON: I don't read the papers so I don't know. Only thing I know is we look at everything, and wins and losses, and we have to come out and get a win.

Q. When you look at the second half yesterday, today what stood out to you? A few shots go in and it's a different story.
RIP HAMILTON: Like I said, we turned the ball over, late in the game, you know. We turned the ball over a lot more times than what we usually do, and when you lose possession, you know, with a game that close, it hurts. We're usually a better team than that.

Q. Has Cleveland surprised you in any way?
RIP HAMILTON: No, not although all. They have a great leader in LeBron James, and they have a couple of other guys doing a good job, nothing unexpected.

Q. They have been able to impose their will early and you guys have been playing uphill for the last four games, what's it take to hit them first?
RIP HAMILTON: We have to be aggressive, fight early, kind of like what we did in Chicago. Win the first quarter, got to get better at that.

Q. This team's trademark has long been its composure, did you guys think you lost a little of that last night?
RIP HAMILTON: Well, it came down to us turning the ball over and we have to be better than that.

Q. Do you take lessons out of last year's series or is it more important to take it out of this year's series?
RIP HAMILTON: The last five years going to the Conference Finals, it's nothing new to us. We've been here before, we're doing what we have to be doing, you know, it's something that I hate, we hate, you know, but we've got to get better at it.

Q. You don't sense it's a do or die given their success at home and your inability to beat them two games there?
RIP HAMILTON: We've got to win, take one game at a time. We don't look at the game in Cleveland. We have to give our fans something to cheer about.

Q. Does it seem like you missed shots that you normally would make last night?
RIP HAMILTON: Every shot I made was great, you know. I got every one I wanted to get to, and you know, that was the most important thing.

Q. One of the biggest changes in the way they played is the fact that a guy like Gibson can come up like he did last night.
RIP HAMILTON: Anytime the focus -- LeBron brings so much focus it gives other guys opportunities, and they hit their shots, you know, and we've got to get better at it, sometimes you can deal with other guys making shots, but we've just got to get better at it.

Q. Most fans are saying the Spurs are going to finish it off on the other end, and that's something that cost you last year, you guys went seven while Miami ended early. Can you allow that to happen this year? Did you want to get this done quick?
RIP HAMILTON: We can't be concerned about what they do on that side, you know.
Our job is to try to win the next game.

End of FastScripts

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