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NBA FINALS: MAGIC v LAKERS

June 9, 2009

Phil Jackson

ORLANDO, FLORIDA: Game Three

Los Angeles Lakers - 104
Orlando Magic - 108

PHIL JACKSON: Well, they made some plays down the stretch we weren't able to match, even though we got the best in that fourth quarter. We weren't able to sustain that lead. They shot the ball well. Very tight game. I thought it was a very well played game.

Q. The first half Orlando shot 75 percent, but it was like a two- or three-point game and you led most of the half. Did you take that as good news or bad news?
PHIL JACKSON: Well, I thought we controlled the tempo of the game, the way we wanted to play the game. They were able to come up with some plays at the end of the half to take that lead, but we told the guys at halftime we're playing the way we want to play.

Q. Even with them making all their shots?
PHIL JACKSON: Well, that tends to even out. That tends to even out in a game.

Q. Can you talk about what your last-minute instructions were for the final minutes, seconds, that Kobe took that shot? What was the designed play for the final seconds?
PHIL JACKSON: Well, we consistently ran something similar down the stretch. Fish got a three, Kobe got through, got the ball to Pau. We had a number of plays that worked significantly, but they were able to strip the ball away and get the deciding stop, basically. And Pau came up with the ball and gave it to Kobe and then lost it again, and fouled, created the gap that made this game impossible to reach.

Q. Looked like you really cut back the rotation, Sasha didn't play in the second half, Shannon Brown didn't play at all. Can you talk about that decision?
PHIL JACKSON: I thought Jordan was playing well, so I stuck with him in the second half. He came out and I thought played very well consistently, made shots, kept our offense flowing. Trevor I thought was doing a good job. Luke had shorter minutes. I thought their bench is what was the difference really. Pietrus getting those 18 points off the bench.

Q. After Kobe had that 17-point stretch the last five minutes or so in the first quarter, why do you think he wasn't able to get back to that rhythm that he found?
PHIL JACKSON: Their defense. I thought they really started coming hard to him. Howard was consistently coming at him on shots, making it difficult. He never really got in rhythm again the same way he was at that time.

Q. Were you disappointed in your post players' rebounding? Lamar had two rebounds, Pau only had three, Bynum had four.
PHIL JACKSON: What kind of rebounds are they going to get?

Q. Howard had 14, though.
PHIL JACKSON: They have five offensive rebounds in the game. That's a pretty good job out there from our team rebounding. Obviously making the amount of shots they made, there's not a whole lot of rebounds to be had out there. Lamar is playing Lewis at the three-point line. Pretty tough to get some boards out of that. We understand the ramifications of where guys are on the floor, whether they get the ball or not.
Big rebound was Pietrus getting that offensive goal -- rebound, probably goaltending, but that rebound at the goal.

Q. Kobe has closed so many games for you guys and won them. He had opportunities tonight. Why wasn't he able to?
PHIL JACKSON: You know, we're all frail as humans. Sometimes not as much as others.

Q. They were shooting 62 percent, is that more to do with them just being hot, or did you guys break down defensively?
PHIL JACKSON: Well, I guess if you look down at the paint, points in the paint, we were 40, they were 36. We did give up numbers I didn't like to Alston. I thought Howard had a much better ballgame in the paint obviously, but I thought they hit shots. I thought we did a pretty good job closing out on guys and playing defense. They were shooting very well.

Q. Kobe seemed tired at the end. Is that why you sat him?
PHIL JACKSON: Yeah, I wanted to move it even farther. Seven-minute mark is what I wanted to move it to, but it looked like we were going to have to get back on the seven-and-a-half-minute mark.

Q. But he looked tired, though?
PHIL JACKSON: Yeah. He'll say no.

Q. There seemed to be a couple of occasions when you were concerned about something going on on the floor with regard to Howard. Could you elaborate on that, something that he was doing that you wanted to bring to the officials' attention?
PHIL JACKSON: Well, he was just using strength out there. We're obviously concerned about his physical contact out there and the amount of picks he's laying on our defenders, Trevor and Fish. Those things are -- they did give an offensive foul to him at one point tonight, but we thought there were three or four occasions where there were offensive fouls.

Q. When Kobe is frustrated at certain times, he doesn't shy away from sometimes directing that at his teammates, sometimes it even looks like disgust. Do you ever think that has a negative effect on how his teammates play after that?
PHIL JACKSON: If they can't stand up to that, they can't play on this team. You have to be able to stand up to that and play through it. That's part of the expectations that we have for players is that they have to fulfill their roles. Kobe is demanding that way. I think we are as a coaching staff, too.

Q. Is there a way to explain missed free throws, or is it just one of those things?
PHIL JACKSON: Maybe it was that guy throwing that red flag up in the air like this?
I don't know, who knows what the difference is out there. These guys are professionals. A number of them went in and came back out. Those are the kinds of things that change a game. This is a very unusual thing, Kobe shooting 5 for 10 after hitting 14 in a row at the end of the game the other night. That's a difference maker.

End of FastScripts

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