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NBA WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: NUGGETS v LAKERS

May 21, 2009

Chauncey Billups

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Game Two

Denver Â– 106
Los Angeles - 103

THE MODERATOR: Questions?

Q. When you came back the last three and a half minutes of the half, could you sense taking anything out of them that they didn't get back?
CHAUNCEY BILLUPS: Well, I don't know if that was it. But I just knew that we had kind of gained some momentum during that stretch. They had us down and they had us in a bad place in that first half.
And Melo, myself, we just kept saying keep fighting, keep fighting. We've given up a lot of layups, way too many layups, probably about 40 points in the first half in the paint, and you can't win any game like that.
And once we decided to start really playing and doing what we were supposed to do, we kind of turned the tide a little bit and it was a real playoff game from that point on back and forth.

Q. Fourth quarter had a very similar feel to Game 1. You guys had a little bit of a cushion. It went away. How were you able to come away with the win in Game 2 where you weren't in Game 1?
CHAUNCEY BILLUPS: I think we got a lot tougher in the last two minutes of the game. We had Kenyon. We had guys diving for loose balls. We couldn't get the rebound, give it to somebody else. We just got tougher, where we should have done that in Game 1. We learned from that and did it in Game 2.

Q. Can you talk about that inbounds play at the end of the first half, like how far into the five-second count did that pop in your head to pull it off. When was the last time you used a move like that?
CHAUNCEY BILLUPS: Last time I did that I think I was in high school and I dunked it. That tells you where my athleticism went. It was just a play I looked for Melo on a quick slip. He wasn't there. Kobe was looking for Melo to come off. Looked like he was switching it off turning his back to me the whole time.
So my read was if I could throw it off his back and still get the layup, and I seen Gasol's back was to me as well. So I figured I was just hoping he would -- and I could throw it and still pick it up and lay it in.
But it's just an instinct play that worked.

Q. They were calling them real tight out there and you guys did get a bunch of touch fouls early. Did the calls bother you?
CHAUNCEY BILLUPS: It was a little frustrating. It was a little frustrating. You know it's going to be a physical game. This is the Western Conference Finals. We're going to compete at a very high level. We're going to try to take things away from them that is part of our scouting report.
And the whistle was a little quick. But they pretty much -- the refs, they pretty much set a tone for how the game was going to be, and from that point on you just have to make adjustments.

Q. In one of the timeouts down the stretch, not the very last one -- I don't know which one it was, but it was reported that you said "we cannot let them get easy baskets." Do you remember is that what you said?
CHAUNCEY BILLUPS: I can't really tell you what it was. It was explicit. But, yeah, it was a point like I said the last three and four minutes of the game, you gotta get strong and you gotta get tough.
And you can't allow them to just get layups to get offensive rebounds and tip it back in, something that they're probably the best in the league at. Make them pay. Make them pay if we can. If they've got a free layup, make them pay. Don't give it to them easy.

Q. Linas Kleiza's contributions off the bench, can you talk about that?
CHAUNCEY BILLUPS: I'm so happy for L.K. He was great. He was huge for us in the part of the game that they were kind of running way. They kind of had it their way and L.K. stepped in after not being able to -- after not playing very much at all in the last game and even in the last series, stepped in and hit some big, big shots for us.
But not only that, got some huge rebounds for us, man. Huge rebounds. And he was big for us. I'm happy that L.K. has regained his confidence.

Q. I was just talking to some of your teammates in the locker room and they were talking about their passion tonight. A lot of them were saying they're sick hearing about how great the Lakers are. Did you sense your team kind of fed off that tonight?
CHAUNCEY BILLUPS: Probably so. But it's not even that. I think we got a chance that we're a special team. We got a chance to do something really special. And I know personally myself, I'm not really worried about what they're saying about the Lakers, they're a great team. They're the number one team in the Western Conference.
I'm more worried about trying to help my team advance the best I can. And I don't pull motivation from that. Some players might, and that's fine. I pull motivation from just us being able to be special.

Q. Game 1 was so painful for you. You played very well and you lost the game. Is this the same thing you found when you came first to Denver, or do you feel it's changed something, mentally speaking?
CHAUNCEY BILLUPS: This team's of course the same personnel but it's a different team. It's a different team. This team is playing our team is playing with a lot of confidence. We've been through a lot of battles together. We sit here in the Western Conference Finals tied up 1-to-1 with the Western Conference champions, and I don't think nobody other than the people in our locker room envisioned that for us this late in the season.
This is a different team. But a lot of hard work put into us kind of changing our personality and changing what we're trying to do.

Q. Could you talk about your scoring production tonight. You had 27 points versus the Lakers guards they didn't score very many. What can you say about your offensive production and the defensive resistance holding the Lakers down?
CHAUNCEY BILLUPS: Well, me, myself, I kind of just wanted to be aggressive, especially when the game got close, especially when Melo was a little banged up. He twisted his ankle a little bit. So I seen he was kind of laboring a little bit. So I knew that I was going to have to start making plays, trying to get to the free-throw line. Try to get other guys easy shots. And I did just that. I did just that.
As far as our defense, our defense, I'm not going to count the first half, because it was horrible. It was horrible letting them get back-door layups and just layups. Paint buckets. But from the second half on or about four minutes left in the first half and to the rest of the game I thought our defense was good.
I thought we took the challenge individually and collectively to not give them layups, to run them off the 3-point line, just to compete, man. And I got a play every game, every minute.

Q. You scored 13 of your 27 points at the free-throw line, we all know how high you shoot at the free-throw line, but George Karl said when you missed that last one he was going to kill you. I'm curious when you saw Fisher miss the 3-point, was it a sense of relief or what the feeling was?
CHAUNCEY BILLUPS: Well, that was a big miss, obviously. It was uncharacteristic of me, but it happens. It happens. I was more concerned with Derek Fisher getting a look at the basket than him making it or missing it. We said we wasn't going to let nobody get a real good look at the basket.
So I was a little disappointed in that but Nene had a great contest. He was huge. He was big on his contest, and I don't think Fisher got a good chance to get a good look off on the shot. Nonetheless, I was down there trying to rebound and trying to get my hands on the ball again, try to get back on that free-throw line.
THE MODERATOR: Thank you.

End of FastScripts

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