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NBA EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: MAGIC v CAVALIERS

May 24, 2009

Rafer Alston

ORLANDO, FLORIDA: Game Three

Magic Â– 99
Cavaliers - 89

Q. How big was this start this time after what happened in Cleveland?
RAFER ALSTON: The start was great. I thought we needed to get off to a good start, especially here at home. We have been playing from behind a lot the first two games. It was key. It was something that, one, I thought about what I can do to get us off to a good start as opposed to what others could do. Tonight, which is uncommon for me, is to get us off to a start by scoring.

Q. You guys have had a lot of success against them, more than anybody in the League. Is it just matchups, or do you feel very confident playing this team?
RAFER ALSTON: I think not only are we confident, we are a tough cover. When you have one of the most dominant big guys in the game and you spread the floor with a lot of shooters, it forces you to guard the paint. Then you have to run out to shooters, which is -- most teams in the NBA, that's not their thing. For us, paint for Dwight and then the three-point shot with a lot of three-point shooters is our thing.

Q. Coach was just in here talking about their strategy about going after Dwight, just sort of hacking at him and playing him, sending him to the line on purpose. How much do you see that when you are out on the floor with him? And how do you think Dwight responded to it?
RAFER ALSTON: You see it a lot, especially when we are throwing the ball in there. He has a deep paint catch. They are not just going to let him go up and dunk the ball, which is a smart thing for them. He has to go to the line and make, and we have to live with that result.
And also he has to keep his composure and poise and understand that's how they are going to play him until he continues to go up there and make his free throws at a higher percentage. Tonight he did a great job doing that.

Q. (Indiscernible).
RAFER ALSTON: Technical fouls, it will hurt us and him if he keeps getting them and he has to miss a game. But we don't talk to him about that.
I think you have to understand, you can't just give away points, one, and you have to understand how many technical fouls, you are creeping up there to where you are going to be suspended for a game.

Q. It sounded like this series is getting -- has been physical. Do you look for it to get even more physical during the rest of the play-off series?
RAFER ALSTON: Yeah, it is getting physical. But it has to get physical in a competitive and smart way. You can't just be out there grabbing, throwing elbows, smacking people upside the head. You have to do things a smarter way and understand -- put the onus on the referees to decide how they want to officiate the game and call the fouls.

Q. Stan was in here being sort of sarcastic about the dagger and how that was going to psychologically affect the team and the loss the other night. How do y'all view that when something like that happens? And is more of that kind of thing made than should be?
RAFER ALSTON: It goes both ways. It depends who -- the person dealing with it. Stan deals with it different than a lot of us players. There is nothing we can do about it once it went in. You tip your hat to the player who made it, LeBron, special player made a special shot.
It hurt us. We understand right now it could easily be 3-0 Magic. But we have to deal with it now. It is 2-1. That game was quickly put behind us on the plane ride home.

Q. Did you have the sense at halftime that Dwight was going to come out in the second half and have a real big half after having to sit so long?
RAFER ALSTON: I thought yes and no. Being that he missed most of the first half, I didn't know how much of a rhythm he was going to be able to get into. He came out quick. Our job was to pound the ball inside to him and help him get into a rhythm. The good thing, he didn't get a lot of field goal attempts, but he went to the line at a higher clip tonight and he made a lot of free-throws. And that kept the pressure on those guys. Whenever they kept creeping back into the game, he was able to go to the line and make them.

Q. You talked about putting the shot -- LeBron's shot behind you on the plane ride. What was that like? Did you just joke around?
RAFER ALSTON: Yeah, we had a lot of jokes for each other. I remember telling Rashard, even in CYO basketball we tell the guy to do jumping jacks on the ball. We were joking about it. It was over. There was nothing we could do about it. We understand we had that game wrapped up if we could do a million things different on that shot. But we can't, we can't have that over again.
Again, the quicker you put it behind you and move on, it helps not only our game but it continues to allow us to play with such a confidence level that allows us to get a win like tonight.

End of FastScripts

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