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NBA EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: MAGIC v CAVALIERS

May 26, 2009

LeBron James

ORLANDO, FLORIDA: Game Four

Magic Â– 116
Cavaliers - 114

Q. Did you make any conscious effort to get the other guys involved tonight, especially in the first quarter? It looked like you were -- it looked like you were looking to distribute the ball.
LeBRON JAMES: I think the guys really knew that they had to play well for us to have a chance in this game tonight. Those guys definitely made shots the whole first half, and it was good to see that. Mo definitely put a lot of pressure on himself and he played well. And I think our bench came in in the first half and gave us a great lift.

Q. You guys are close most of the time in the fourth quarters. What can you guys do differently to close out these games to help you all out?
LeBRON JAMES: We just got to continue to play hard, man. We've had -- we've lost two games off inbound plays. And being up two in Game 1, being up one, you know, tonight, and we've lost two games off inbound plays.
So we got to be more in tune in our inbound plays. You got to communicate during that situation and not give up open shots or good looks down the stretch like that.

Q. That final shot, did you think it was going down? And before that did you tell Mo, like in Game 2, definitely come to me?
LeBRON JAMES: Of course I want the shot, man. I always feel like I can make any shot that I take. As it traveled, it didn't look good. It felt good leaving my hand but didn't look good in the air.
Those are the breaks we have gotten this series, man. It just didn't go.

Q. Did Game 2 go through your mind at all, the shot?
LeBRON JAMES: Well, it was a different situation because we had no time-outs. So we weren't able to get it at half court because we had to use our last time-out before I hit the 3 before that play.
So it didn't go -- you know, I didn't go back to Game 2 and review it in my mind. I was just hoping that I could make one more.

Q. What's Dwight doing out on the floor that's working so well, especially in that overtime?
LeBRON JAMES: Well, we just allowed Dwight to get a lot of paint catches. And I think in that instance, if he got dunks, we got to try to wrap him up and try to foul him and make two free throws.
I think Dwight has done a great job of making his free throws. But, you know, statistically he might miss one. And we know he ain't going to miss no dunks or no lay-ups. We got to foul him in those situations, especially in a close game like that.

Q. As you look forward to the next game, what are the main things you want to focus on?
LeBRON JAMES: We got to close out games right away. We are giving ourselves a chance, and we are breaking down in areas that we haven't broke down all year.
It is a great three-point shooting team. We got to give up something. I mean, Dwight is playing well, and he's a beast down the middle. So you try to shrink the floor. We open it up to their shooters, and then Dwight continues to get dunks and lay-ups. But we are executing on the other end. We need one stop. We haven't got one stop to win a ball game yet.

Q. You played 49 minutes, had some turnovers there at the end. Does fatigue become a factor during -- at any point?
LeBRON JAMES: I feel good, man. This is the best I felt during the post-season in my NBA career. So fatigue hasn't played a factor. I continue to try to help our team, put our team in a position to win ball games.
The ball is in my hand a lot, and I may have a few turnovers. That happens. But I have to figure out how to not have eight. Eight is unacceptable for me. That's way over what I've done throughout the whole playoffs or throughout this series. I won't turn the ball over as much. Some of them is just misqueue, some of them is just trying to make the right play. But fatigue has nothing to do with it.

Q. Given how the season has gone for you guys, how the playoffs went, find yourself down three games, put it in perspective. How do you guys deal with this?
LeBRON JAMES: Well, you deal with it, move on to the next game. We had our chances tonight. And we didn't execute. You move on to the next game. You try to get the game on Thursday back home and come back down here and try to get Game 6. We are looking forward to the challenge.
I know I am. I'm up for the challenge, and I think my play, my leadership has spoke for that. So I will be ready, and I think our guys will be ready also.

Q. Going back to that final shot attempt of yours. I saw that you were double teamed obviously coming out. Were you forced into that shot? In your mind, did you have something else you wanted to try to do?
LeBRON JAMES: We had another play called. But I was doubled at the time-out. Courtney Lee played under and Pietrus played right behind. So by any means, I went to go get the ball. That's the shot I can definitely make from that range. Just didn't go.

Q. At the end of regulation, a 3 would have won it and you chose to drive. Did you not have a good shot at a 3?
LeBRON JAMES: If I was Rashard Lewis, we would have won. I would have took the 3. But me being who I am, I took the two and got fouled and went up there and made two free throws.

End of FastScripts

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