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NBA FINALS: LAKERS v CELTICS

June 5, 2008

Doc Rivers

BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS: Game One

Q. Well, first of all, how is Paul? And can you talk about the impact of him coming back in like that?
COACH DOC RIVERS: Well, obviously it was great to see him come back, and obviously we were concerned when he went down. A guy grabs his knee, you know, there's no good thoughts. I was really proud, honestly, of our team during the stretch when he was in the locker room. I thought that was the biggest part of the game. We could have easily felt sorry for ourselves. We actually made a little run there. But then when he came out he was big for us.
Obviously him coming back lifted us up. But I thought the stretch where he was out, we didn't show any panic, was really good for our team.

Q. Just talk about your defense tonight, overall and also in the second half.
COACH DOC RIVERS: Well, it was only in the second half. We didn't play any in the first half. We didn't get back in the first half. We gambled in the first half. We gave them uncontested shots in the first half.
In the second half we did our jobs. We got back on defense for the most part, we contested shots. I mean, that's how we have to play -- I really thought we got away with something in the first half because we didn't have the defensive energy that we've played with all year. Who knows why, but we didn't. In the second half, we did. We didn't make any adjustments, and that's how we have to play.

Q. Anything in particular you said at halftime?
COACH DOC RIVERS: Basically that. Probably differently, but basically that. I think I counted nine points that they had where we were guarding a guy and our hands were down and they just shot the ball. We've got to have contested twos, and they got a lot of open shots.
So we can be better defensively for two halves. They're tough, though. They're a tough offensive basketball team.

Q. Paul said something in his on-court interview about maybe his knee being sprained. Do you know what the official diagnosis is?
COACH DOC RIVERS: I'm going to tell you what I've told the guys who have been here, Doc is a nickname. It's not for real (laughter).
But I didn't ask, honestly. I'm going to find out obviously. Eddie Lacerte, our trainer, when he came out -- he ran out to the scorer's table, and unless somebody tells me he can go in, I didn't know if he just ran out -- disarray for a minute because I didn't know if he should go in or not. Eddie sent the assistant trainer out. Once he went out and then Eddie came and said he was okay. But he did say sprained knee and then he was fine, and we got a test, but I thought he moved well. I was watching him, and if he didn't move well I was going to take him out, and we have until Sunday to get him right, and that was my thinking. But then he moved okay, so it was no big deal.

Q. What is it about Paul's mental approach and attitude that he wanted to race back in there and that he then hit some kind of shots and fought the way he did?
COACH DOC RIVERS: Probably the wait, a long time. It's been a long wait. I don't think he wants to get here and then sit on the sidelines. But you have to be real careful honestly, and I just wasn't sure, and I watched him closely and I thought he moved well. Those two threes were huge for us and probably big for him.

Q. Just following up on that, what was your thought, though, when you saw him being carried off the court? And can you tell us about Kendrick, what you know about him?
COACH DOC RIVERS: Kendrick sprained his ankle. He told me at the beginning of the fourth, he said, "I can give you 60 percent." I don't know how he knew it was that percent (laughter), but he said 60 percent, so I was thinking, well, that's not good enough, and we'll reevaluate that. Honestly I thought the worst. When they carried Paul off -- I've had the injury, I've seen it, I just assumed it was the knee.

Q. Initially, though, did you suspect a broken bone?
COACH DOC RIVERS: I just thought knee, and when it's knee, it could be anything. All I told the guys was, I reminded them of Cheetah (phonetic) actually in the huddle, the guy from South Africa, who told us there will be adversity and you've got to overcome it. I said, this is it right here.
I was really proud of our guys that one little stretch.

Q. Can you talk about the spark you got from Sam Cassell. He went three for five in the second quarter, coming off the tough series he came off, fourth quarter he had the loose ball and he hit the big jumper, a big boost for your team.
COACH DOC RIVERS: Yeah, Sam, you almost live and die with his jump shots. I thought he played terrific in the first half and obviously made a big shot in the second half. I got on him for taking a quick shot out of our time-out when I thought we had an obvious advantage on the post. That's the only stretch offensively that I didn't like, when we came out the beginning of the fourth. We had four shooters with Kevin, and we went down there twice and then just ignored him. I thought, we came out to go to the post and we went four straight jump shots in a row. Other than that, everybody played pretty well, and Sam was terrific. I thought we needed his offense in the first half.

Q. For a lot of these guys, this is the biggest game or these are the biggest games that they've played in their lives. Did you address that at all, or was there anything you had to say to keep them calm?
COACH DOC RIVERS: Not really. I told them it was basketball, no different. I told them before the game we're where we thought we would be, but it's not where we want to end up. To just focus on our process, the results take care of itself, and I thought they did that for the most part.

End of FastScripts

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