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NBA EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: MAGIC v CAVALIERS

May 29, 2009

LeBron James

ORLANDO, FLORIDA: Practice Day

Q. Did you sleep well? Obviously you expended a heck of a lot of energy.
LeBRON JAMES: Yeah, man. I slept really well. Difficult to sleep at 5:00 in the morning, you know what I'm saying? Wake up late in the afternoon but feel good.

Q. Who is the pressure on now? Has it transferred over to Orlando after last night?
LeBRON JAMES: Both teams. Both teams need to win. We need to win to keep on going, and they need to win to close out.
Pressure -- I have never been a big believer in pressure. I don't really believe in it. So I'm the wrong man to ask about pressure.

Q. I just asked Delonte what happens when you draft to the basket and Dwight is there. He said that's two of the most athletic bodies meeting in midair. How would you describe it?
LeBRON JAMES: It's a challenge. We all know how big and strong he is. I try to bring that same intensity when I go to the hole and just try to meet at the ends, I guess.
It's tough. It's tough sometimes. You get beat up sometimes going in the air, but you got to continue to be aggressive, continue to try to get him in foul trouble.

Q. Your teammates are talking about how you have been really smart about trying to get him into foul trouble. What do you do to do that?
LeBRON JAMES: Just try to attack. They are a very good team. My game is all towards attacking and what the defense gives me.
You know, Dwight is their anchor on defense. If you attack the anchor, then it is tough for that defense to standstill. We got to continue to be aggressive.

Q. What does it mean to you guys when he does foul out of the game? Does that open things up to you?
LeBRON JAMES: I mean, any time you get the Defensive Player of the Year off the court, it's a lot. Imagine if KG fouled out last year in the playoffs, it is a totally different ball game so that's key.

Q. What gives you the most confidence about coming in here and winning Game 6?
LeBRON JAMES: I think what we did in Game 4. We pretty much lost that game on an out-of-bounds play giving it to Rashard. We know we can play well.
I mean, a team is dangerous when they know they are on their last limb and especially with us. I think we are very dangerous at this point. I mean, it is going to be a crazy atmosphere. We look forward to the challenge.

Q. You looked like Paul Pierce here in the fourth quarter playing on that elbow.
LeBRON JAMES: Paul probably -- Paul and Kobe are the best guys that we have in our game, and Dirk, at that elbow right there, sending it to the free-throw line. So I stole a little bit from those guys.

Q. You got it in your game, but you haven't done a whole lot of that.
LeBRON JAMES: No, I haven't. But against this team, I think you have to change up sometimes and that's the point on the floor where most teams can't dole from because I can see both sides of the court.
If I'm on one side, they make them load from one side. Me being in the middle of the court with shooters on both sides, it is tough for a team to defend that. It is probably going to be something we go to late in the game.

Q. Remind me, did you do some of that with the Olympic team? I think I remember something.
LeBRON JAMES: Yeah, especially when teams went zone. Coach K would put me at the free-throw line. I would be that guy I caught it at the elbow, I can either attack or I can see both sides of the floor having Carmelo and Kobe on both wings. So I did that a lot.

Q. How much did that experience influence what you're doing?
LeBRON JAMES: It helped, of course. I mean, any time you can do some things in the game, you know, in a previous situation, you get comfortable with it.
And I was very comfortable being at that position last night, just catching the ball with a live dribble at the free-throw line with shooters on both sides.

Q. How much did you and Dwight go at it in practice during the Olympics?
LeBRON JAMES: A lot. When Coach broke up the teams -- we were in the starting lineup, of course. When Coach broke up the teams, we all went at it, all 12 guys. You got 12 of the best players in the world. We helped each other get better every day.

Q. How much did you learn from going against him in those situations? Did you learn about him and his game?
LeBRON JAMES: He's challenging. He's great. Dwight is going to be the most dominant player in our league for a long time to come.
Dwight is going to be great, man. He's young. I'm young. We are just going to continue to grow.

Q. Other than making shots, did you notice anything different maybe in Mo's pace at all?
LeBRON JAMES: Mo's pace is always high. When he's making shots, he's confident. He believes he can make any shot on the court. He came off an opening. He is going to be aggressive, and he's going to take shots. He's going to live if he misses them. He is going to live if he makes them.
He wasn't worried about the consequences of missed shots. He just came out and believed he would make every one.

Q. With the strategy you guys used last night in the fourth with you at the top of the key possession after possession after possession, some of the television analysts I hear them say it is too much load for a guy to carry for two games, three games to keep doing that. Do you buy into that?
LeBRON JAMES: It's been five games.

Q. Last night it was every possession almost.
LeBRON JAMES: It has been every possession for five straight games.

Q. Six years.
LeBRON JAMES: Exactly. So I was built for it, man. I don't -- I don't die down. I didn't die down at no point in the game last night. Wasn't tired. Felt great.
It is just -- when you haven't seen something like that for a long time in this league, it is easy to say there is too much pressure on a guy. I live for the moment. I'm okay with it.

Q. Have you noticed fatigue coming from Orlando?
LeBRON JAMES: There is fatigue on both teams. It is almost June. There should be fatigue. We can only -- the body can only take so much.
But both teams are just trying to get through and just trying to stay mentally focused. At this point, fatigue is a factor, but mentally you have to be more in shape than you have to be physically.

Q. This may be hard to quantify. All the fourth quarters you sat, the two eight-day rest periods, is that helping your legs right now?
LeBRON JAMES: Oh, yeah. The rest that I've gotten during the season with the way we was playing the basketball throughout the season has definitely helped me. I only averaged 36 minutes a the game throughout the regular season.
I knew in the playoffs it could bump up, and I was ready for it. Throughout this series I averaged 40-plus minutes and felt like the same 36 minutes I played during the regular season.

End of FastScripts

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