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NBA WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: NUGGETS v LAKERS

May 27, 2009

Pau Gasol

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Game Five

Los Angeles Â– 103
Denver - 94

Q. Pau, yesterday I read that you said you wanted to get the ball more. At the beginning of the game it didn't seem to happen. Then in the fourth quarter the team went to you. Was that some of your teammates, the way they were covering? How did that play out tonight?
PAU GASOL: Obviously when we started with the first unit is a little harder for me to get the ball in the post because Andrew is in there. And he got a lot of touches, I think, or a few touches in the first quarter.
So that was good. I mean, it doesn't have to be really me. I think Andrew can do a good job also of attacking the paint and being aggressive.
I think he did pretty good when he was there. I couldn't get going much in the first quarter, first half, even, but I just kept working tonight. It was a game you just had to work really hard to be able to get a win and fight through everything. And I think we did that. We were able to get back in the game when we were down and get the lead and really tighten up on defense.
I think the defensive effort in the second half was quite outstanding and we're going to have to do that if we want to win the next game or the series, period.

Q. You heard Lamar say he felt like he needed to play with more energy, did you feel the same applied to you and is that what you saw, five blocked shots and nine defensive rebounds?
PAU GASOL: Yeah, I was just trying to, again, leave everything that I have out there. It was a game that we knew we were going to have to earn and take.
And Denver's a team that attacks you and challenges you at the paint, at the rim. Their goal is to get in the paint and get a lot of points in the paint and free throws and stuff like that.
So you have to be able to challenge them back and be able to be effective by changing shots or blocking shots and after that getting the rebounds.
So it's a good work. We were able to do that well, better in the fourth quarter. And that's basically how we are going to come up with wins.

Q. Kind of along those lines, you guys had a stretch there at the end of the third and start of the fourth, 11 straight defensive stops. Was there something that's momentum building or what happened or what really worked well in that sequence?
PAU GASOL: I think once you get a couple stops and then you get more confident, more aggressive on your defense, then you get a crowd also more into the game and you get them going, too.
So if we're able to put stretches of stops defensively, I think we're going to have a better chance to win ball games.
And we did that tonight. I think we definitely gained momentum in that period of time. That's what gave us a nice lead and we were able to contain it or maintain it until the end of the game.

Q. The start of that stretch Shannon Brown came off the bench, dunked right over Andersen. How much did that change the energy in the building and for you guys?
PAU GASOL: That was good. That was really good. We got a couple of steals in a row and I was able to get the fastbreak and I saw Shannon there, I saw Chris. I know Chris was going to try to block everything. And I was uses trying to time it. So Shannon had to take two steps and dunk it. Because I know he's a great athlete. So I just kept looking at Chris Andersen's eyes and delivered it to Shannon and Shannon finished it really well.
Those kind of plays obviously get the crowd and the team going. It's important that we're able to finish those plays and be effective.

Q. So much of your scoring has come from Kobe in this series. Was part of the game plan tonight to move the ball around a little more and get other guys involved, get them going?
PAU GASOL: Well, that should be the game plan every night. I mean, I think Denver is a team that also loads up on the strong side and you have to move the ball to be able to get wide-open shots. If we do that -- because they can send two guys with Kobe with the pick-and-roll they try and trap him. They trapped me in the post tonight all game long.
So if we move the ball and we're able to swing it, we'll get wide-open shots on the weak side and attack. I think we did a good job of that tonight, and that's how we kind of scored a lot.

Q. What are you going to have to do in Game 6 to extinguish the crowd's enthusiasm and the team's enthusiasm in Denver? How can you package this win and take it to Denver and close out Game 6?
PAU GASOL: I think our mindset has to be extremely aggressive and tough. I think we have to make very few mistakes there. We can't afford any mistakes, because they capitalize them well, very well.
They get really going there. And then we have to make sure we rebound the ball well. We have to put buys on people and limit them to one shot don't give them second opportunities. That's what killed us mostly on Game 4.
So if we do that and then we execute, we move the ball offensively, we have a chance, we have a real good chance to close the series.
But it's easier said than done, also.

Q. Building on what you just said about the disparity in rebounding in Game 4, seemed like you guys lost every fifty/fifty rebound in Game 4 to the tune of being outrebounded by 18. Were you cognizant of what was happening tonight that you guys were getting more of those?
PAU GASOL: 100 percent. 100 percent. Obviously tonight we couldn't allow that to happen. So we went and put buys on people and they went after it also.
But tonight we challenged them a lot better than we did in Game 4. Obviously that difference was huge and their three bigs got over I think 13-plus rebounds each. And it's something that we can't afford. We just can't afford too many chances to a really good team.

Q. Obviously the blood was boiling. Did you feel you got the ball enough in the pivots, is that enough feeding of the Spaniard?
PAU GASOL: I'm just happy for the win, that's all. I think I worked really hard to help my team to win. That was my mission tonight.
Whether if I'm happier now with more touches or not, that doesn't matter. I'm going to continue to do what it takes to help my team to win. I want to move on. I want to play the NBA Finals and get that ring.
So I'm just trying really hard to help my team and I'm devoted to it. So it is what it is right now.
THE MODERATOR: Thanks, Pau.

End of FastScripts

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