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NBA FINALS: LAKERS v CELTICS

June 10, 2008

Ray Allen

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Game Three

Q. The key possession late in that game, about 45 seconds left where Kobe was isoed against you out toward center court, can you just kind of explain what the defensive strategy was from a team standpoint against him at that point and what you tried to do yourself in stopping him on that play?
RAY ALLEN: I just was trying to stay in front of him. I think on like the first two games, I think defensively we were showing a lot of gaps in our defense, and I think that's what he was seeing. He was attacking them. The first two games we filled those gaps and we made it uncomfortable for him with the guys we were rotating, and we made him pass to other guys. It was an adjustment. We gotta make sure we keep our paint tight.

Q. Could you just talk about your game tonight and do you feel like you guys let one slip away?
RAY ALLEN: We definitely had opportunities. There was a point where Eddie House had the shot to tie the game, and then they go down and Vujacic shoots a three and then Fisher goes to the free-throw line and they go up seven. That was a big swing. That's the fourth quarter, and I don't know how much time was left, but it was two or three minutes left in the fourth quarter.
As bad as we played, we still had opportunities. I mean, that's, I think, the positive. We can look at it, but I don't think throughout the whole game either side of the floor we were good. We had so much more room for improvement.

Q. Anything in your play?
RAY ALLEN: I was just trying to just keep the team in it, just trying to put as much energy as I could out there. I don't know, it just seemed like offensively I was just trying to give us a boost of adrenaline out there. The ball came my way and I was just trying to carry the team for a little bit there, but defensively, you know, it was just -- I think it was all about energy tonight, and I think our energy wasn't right.

Q. With the four wins that you guys had this year, there seems to be an air of invincibility. Do you think maybe there's a chink in your armor now that they were able to get that first victory?
RAY ALLEN: I think you can say that about any team that loses in the playoffs. Team wins, you look at the team with the losses, and you're always going to see the team that lost. You're going to see the team got out-rebounded and the team turned the ball over a lot and the other team got to the free-throw line more. That's part of it.
I think the way we look at it, and I think it is the truth, a true perspective, is that in this loss there's things that we did that wasn't particularly what we do as a team, the way we executed or the lack of execution, I think, on the offensive end, and defensively we weren't good. Those are the things we need to pick up on, and we'll watch the film and know exactly where our breakdowns were. The solace in this whole thing for us is we know we can be better. And even in Game 2 we had breakdowns and we knew we could get better.
All year we've talked about it, and there's always been room for improvement, and I think that's why we're here today, because we never rested on what we did well. We just continued to say we want to improve on what we've been doing.

Q. Do you feel like you guys settled for way too many jump shots tonight instead of just driving to the hole?
RAY ALLEN: We definitely did. We definitely did. I think there was a lot of opportunities for us to just attack them, be a little more aggressive, and we did. We settled for a lot of jump shots. I think the Lakers, they're a team that like to run, and that ball bounces long, and when it does, they got out in transition on us, and that's where they like to score, as well. We've got to be more aggressive on to them.

Q. Apparently your team was not in good offensive shape today, especially Garnett. But in the fourth quarter you were not taking all those shots. What was the situation?
RAY ALLEN: That's just where the offense went. I think from a coaching perspective, that's where the plays were directed. That's what we ran. For me, any time my number gets called, I'm going to be ready to shoot the ball, ready to make a play, whatever it is.

Q. Wasn't your number called in the fourth quarter?
RAY ALLEN: What you saw is what we got. Like I said, whenever I got the ball, I was going to try to be aggressive and make plays. But I have faith in my teammates. I think the moment when I did get in there my teammates found me and I was able to help the team. We've just got to do a better job. Make sure Paul gets the ball, Kevin, vice versa, Leon in Game 2. Again, that's why I say our execution wasn't that great, you know, on both sides. When we know there's something that's working, we've got to stick with it.

Q. How tough was it for you to play in this arena, if at all?
RAY ALLEN: It wasn't tough. We're just on the road. We've been in many situations this year where we've been good all year on the road, and then we've gotten to the playoffs, and the first couple rounds we hadn't won any games. We've been in a lot of different situations where we've faced a lot of adversity. Tonight it was just a different test. We were used to it pretty much, and I think we didn't do a great job with it, but this is playoff basketball, The Finals, and everybody has to face it. We look forward to the challenge.

Q. Why do you think they're having more success with their smaller lineup?
RAY ALLEN: It's tough to say. They're a running team, they like to run and get up in transition. I think maybe it forced us to stay a little more spread than we would have liked otherwise. We keep the paint tight, and Kobe was getting in gaps and he was scoring, and with that, we were still spread and they were shooting threes. So typically what we've done all year is keep the paint tight and rotate out to the shooters, and I think we started out out on the perimeter, and we let a lot of penetration get to the run defense.

Q. Can you talk about the points of Sasha Vujacic tonight?
RAY ALLEN: Well, he was one of the guys in the scouting report that we were planning for. Kobe is so tough; we went to similar situations in dealing with Cleveland, making sure that they didn't let their three-point shooters get off and paying so much attention to LeBron. That was a similar situation here, like heavily watching Kobe all night the first two games, and the importance is on the other guys. We can't allow Sasha and Radmanovic and these other guys, their shooters, to get great shots where we're not getting out and contesting those shots. I think there were a couple times we got the ball and we dared them to shoot the ball, and I think that's something we relied on all year is not to dare their shooters to get shots up and just run them off of it, and I think tonight we didn't do a good job of that.

Q. What was the major difference in the Lakers tonight than the first two games in Boston?
RAY ALLEN: I think they attacked us more. They attacked us, and then we attacked back, I think, then they attacked. I think for the most part, the gentleman said earlier that we shot a lot of jump shots and we took the pressure off of them. But the first two games we continually attacked. We continually put the ball in the hole and in the post and drove to the hole. We still got good shots. We got shots that we're capable of making, but we put pressure on their defense in the first two games, and I think tonight we were a little lax on them defensively, and it gave them some rhythm. The shots were long, they ran it and they got good shots.

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