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NBA EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: MAGIC v CAVALIERS

May 30, 2009

Mo Williams

ORLANDO, FLORIDA: Game Six

Magic - 103
Cavaliers - 90

Q. Can you talk about that second quarter when they outscored you guys by 13 points? And personally, from your perspective, it seemed like LeBron was looking for some other players like last game, to sort of step up and score some points, and it just didn't happen in that second quarter.
MO WILLIAMS: Well, I thought today was a big difference in the way -- the way the series has been officiated. I think Bron went to the hole a lot today, which he had been all series, and it was unfortunate tonight he wasn't getting those same calls even when he was getting hit at times.
I think that kind of hurt us in the second quarter. And then with me picking up my third foul on a -- you know, whatever play about six, seven minutes left to go in the second, it was tough. It was tough in that second quarter.
I think with our backs against the wall coming into the third, you saw a lot of guys aggressive and we made a push. But I thought Dwight was tremendous today for them as far as commanding the ball, commanding the team. If he doubled, he made the right pass. And if we didn't double, he scored.

Q. LeBron walked off the court looking very frustrated. He obviously put a lot into this series. He was trying to end a drought for a city that hasn't had a championship in a long time. How is he doing right now?
MO WILLIAMS: It is very frustrating for us as a basketball team. Playing against a good basketball team, Orlando, I think we both had a 50/50 chance of winning this series. I don't think we was overmatched or they was overmatched. I think whoever's strategy works.
They put us in a tough predicament the whole series. We was kind of put in a position that we were hoping they would miss shots, and it seemed like they shot 100 percent from the 3 the whole series. That's what it kind of felt like. When they did miss, it was still good looks.
It is tough to guard. It is tough to guard.

Q. In the very beginning of the series, you said you gave the Magic too much respect and you were guaranteeing wins. Do you think you underestimated them?
MO WILLIAMS: No. I don't think I underestimated them. I think they're a good basketball team. You got to give them credit. I don't think -- I don't want to turn this into what I said. You got to give the Magic credit. They did what they had to do. They beat us four games to two and they are going to the NBA Finals.
What I said throughout the series shouldn't rain on their parade. This is their day. This is a terrible day for the Cleveland Cavaliers, but at the same time we got a lot to be thankful for as a basketball team, what we've done this season.
I guarantee you everybody that's sitting out here with a laptop or with a recorder in your hand, you would have never thought that we would have won 66 games this season. Going into the season, you never would have thought that. You never would have thought we would be in the Eastern Conference Finals playing the first game and swept the first round and second round. Nobody out there would have thought that.
At the same time, you got to give this team and my teammates and my coaching staff a lot of credit, because we had a hell of a year.

Q. For the better part of the game you were double figures behind, 11, 12, 13. You were right there. Why were you unable to get it under ten to where you could really apply some pressure and really make a run?
MO WILLIAMS: I can give you a number of reasons. Dwight had 40 and 14. Rashard 3 3s, 18 points.
I think it is tough to be down to a team where if they wanted to get good looks they can. We had to help our bigs on Dwight. I mean, he was -- he was a beast this series. So we're not a team -- we're not a team that leaves one guy out to dry.
You watched us all season. You know that. We helped on Dwight, and he made the right pass. You know, we got to give up something. We gave up a lot.

Q. Is it as simple as they really had an answer for every run you made?
MO WILLIAMS: Yes.

Q. Is that what it comes down to?
MO WILLIAMS: To put it in a better choice of words, yeah, they had an answer. They had an answer. They calmed down. They didn't panic at all and they threw the ball down to Dwight and said either double him, play him straight up or Dwight get us a bucket. He did a great job.

Q. You kind of hinted that maybe you guy could have done something different defensively several times in this series. Could you guys have played a different style of defense that maybe wasn't your typical style?
MO WILLIAMS: I didn't think we should have did anything different. I just said the game plan that we went in. They just did a good job of executing. Any defense you play is a whole -- it doesn't matter who you are, any defense is geared to stop something and to give up something. Not per se give up something. But if a team exploits that and makes that play, so the swing-swing jumper was open, they made a lot of corner 3s because they helped us on Dwight. If we didn't do that, Dwight probably would have averaged 80 this series with that pick-and-roll and driving down the lane.
I think we did a great job of helping out the bigs and closing out the lane. The one thing we will give up is three-point shots because they are the lowest percentage shots on the court. We are a team shooting a lot of 3s, and this is unfortunate for us that we were playing against a great shooting team, a three-point shooting team that is.

Q. LeBron, he got dressed quickly and went straight to the bus and didn't talk to the media. What did he say to you guys and have you ever seen him this upset and angry?
MO WILLIAMS: Going into the playoffs we were confident that we were going to be in the NBA Finals and we were confident that we were going to win it. So obviously you are going to be disappointed, and obviously you are going to be hurting inside because you know that you're a great team. You know that you had the team to get it done.
And I can understand that disappointment because I'm feeling the same disappointment. But at the end of the day, LeBron is a great professional. He is a very intelligent basketball player. This is motivation to drive for him, and I'm 110 percent sure that he'll be all right. I think I told a reporter that it is basically like, you know, you're at Christmastime and you want that remote control car you have been begging your mom for the whole time and Christmas come and you open up a present and you open up another present, another present, and you never see that remote control car.
You can have ten presents; you don't have that remote control car, you are going to be sad and disappointed anyway. So, I mean, but you will get over it. You will get over it. You will look at all the bright spots we had in the season, because we had a lot of them. I think --
I want to give thanks to our fans. I think they deserve a lot of credit for what they have done for us throughout the season, packing the Q up, being as loud as they are, supporting the way they are.
Even when we went back 3-1, that was as loud as I ever heard them, and they willed us to win down the stretch. I want to say thank you to all the Cavs fans and all the Cavs followers, even the ones on the road that we had. We had road games we felt the energy from our fans. So to you guys on behalf of my organization, the Cleveland Cavaliers, I want to give thanks to you guys. And keep supporting us. We had a great, great GM, great coaches, and a great owner that's willing to put players around No. 23 that's competing for a championship. Hopefully you guys feel the same way I do when we come back and get this thing next year. That's our goal now. That's our motivation.

Q. When you look back at this series, is there anything you wish you could have done better?
MO WILLIAMS: No.

End of FastScripts

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