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NBA EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: MAGIC v CAVALIERSMay 22, 2009Dwight HowardCLEVELAND, OHIO: Game Two Cavaliers - 96 Magic - 96 Q. Dwight, you guys have been beaten at the buzzer four times in the playoffs. Do you shake your head at how this has gone, four tough buzzer-beaters? DWIGHT HOWARD: Yeah, we have been beat by some tough shots. But we just got to come back Sunday and make sure that it doesn't happen again. But, you know, LeBron hit a tough shot, and nothing you can do about it. Q. Dwight, you had frustrations against the Celtics series about not getting the ball enough. You had 20 shots in Game 1 and only eight today. Is that part of the game plan? Does that bother you? DWIGHT HOWARD: No, I'm fine. We almost had a chance to win and without me getting a lot of shots, so I'm not upset about that. My guys made some tough shots tonight. So there is no need for me to get frustrated because I didn't get enough touches. I think I did a good job of rebounding and defending. Then it came down to the last-second shot. Q. Game 1 ends on Rashard's 3, you guys win. LeBron hits the 3. I mean, can these teams be more evenly matched? The points are the same, it is 1-1. You are going back. Just your thoughts on this has the making of a seven-game dramatic series? DWIGHT HOWARD: Well, I think we really got to come out better in the first half. And we can't allow a team like Cleveland to get off to a good start. They will get in a big lead and we will fight our way back. If we want to win this series, we got to come out better. We got to be more mentally tough from the beginning of the game to the end of the game. Q. Turk's last play, run it down to the very end, the shot that Turk made and the emotional swing that you guys got from that. DWIGHT HOWARD: I thought he took a tough shot. Coach said try to get the last shot, and one second left, LeBron through up a shot. And, man, it was crazy watching the ball when he threw it up. It was like watching a movie. The ball was just spinning. It was like watching a real movie. He hit the shot. It was a tough shot. We got to come back Sunday and get a win. Q. To come so close to sweeping the Cavs here, what kind of confidence do you have going back home, especially given what it was like during the regular season? DWIGHT HOWARD: We understand what we have to do to beat this team. We got -- one, we got to get off to a better start. Two, we got to be able to run and move the ball and make the big guys on their team move their feet. And we didn't start the game off that way. We allowed them to come out, guys hit big 3s, dunks, whatever. And took us a while to recover. So when we go home, we really got to capitalize on what we do best so we can get two good wins. Q. (Indiscernible). DWIGHT HOWARD: No. You know, we got to understand that playing against a team like Cleveland they come out hard in the first quarter and we got to be able to match their intensity. With two games we haven't done it and we had to fight our way back, which is not good, especially in the playoffs, especially against a team like Cleveland. Q. Dwight, what do you think you have to do different throughout the play-off series, not that you are not effective, because you are, but a more strong factor in getting more points in the game to win? DWIGHT HOWARD: You know, it is not about scoring every night. I think that's -- people look at the box score and they say you didn't have a lot of points, that's not a productive night. But rebounding, trying to be aggressive on defense is what really matters. That's what got us back into the game tonight is not me getting points up. That's not me just going out there and trying to be a factor on offense but being a factor on defense, first of all. And I know my shots will come. I just got to be more aggressive going to the offensive glass, which I will do in the next game. But we come out and play Magic basketball, we should win. Q. Down here in the front you practiced with him, with the Olympic team, LeBron. I don't know how heated the practices were and everything like that. Are you really shocked that he made that shot, I mean, from what you played with him, saw? DWIGHT HOWARD: It was a tough shot, you know? I'm shocked anybody would make that shot. Everybody is watching. It was a tough shot. Turk played great defense. There was nothing he could do about it. LeBron hit a tough shot. He is MVP of the League, and that's what he do best. Q. What do you do to emotionally recover from a shot like that? You have dealt with a few of them in the playoffs and played well the next night. What do you do to clear your mind of it and get focused on Game 3? DWIGHT HOWARD: It's tough when you got to go home and watch it on T.V. over and over again, thanks to Rachel Nichols and ESPN. I know I won't be able to sleep and the rest of my teammates won't be able to sleep. We got to get over it. The series is tied 1-1. We are going home, and we know what we have to do to beat this team, but we have to do it for 48 minutes. End of FastScripts |
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