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NBA WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: SUNS v LAKERS

May 27, 2010

Steve Nash

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Game Five

Lakers Â– 103
Suns - 101

THE MODERATOR: Questions for Steve Nash.

Q. Steve, in this series you haven't really looked to score that much until tonight. What was it that made you to get more involved defensively?
STEVE NASH: They changed their defense tonight, they switched more pick-and-rolls, so more opportunities to isolate.
So that's really, again, we stick to what we do and just try to read the defense and make the right play. And tonight, since they changed, I tried to change.

Q. What's the feeling for doing what you guys do coming all the way back, tying it and then they beat you on the rebound?
STEVE NASH: You know, everything's okay. We came back obviously with a great effort. Maybe we deserve this game maybe we didn't. And lost. And they held home court. We'll go back and do the same and we'll come back here for Game 7.

Q. Playing like you did in the fourth quarter, it's like you feel you're in a zone and you can make every play. You have this feeling at this moment?
STEVE NASH: I was just determined to try to win. And I kept getting opportunities and was just concentrating and trying to do what I could to win the game.
Some nights you have opportunities and some nights it's other guys, and some nights it's my opportunity. And I tried to do what I could for my team.

Q. Steve, just talk about the difference in emotions you guys felt in both plays and how crazily things changed?
STEVE NASH: It was a crazy game. It had a bit of everything and we found a way to tie it up and then we lost in the last second put-back.
Just when we thought it was okay in overtime we lose. So that's life. We have to take a lot of positives from tonight and realize we have to go home and play as well we did at home in Games 3 and 4 and give ourselves a chance to come back in Game 7.

Q. You had a lot of pick-and-rolls in the fourth quarter where you found yourself isolated with Pau, was that a matchup you were happy to see and more of what you hope to do in Game 6?
STEVE NASH: It's how they play it. I think our offense is good no matter how they decide to play, and I think we can get good looks. So I'm not going to say one way or another what I hope for. Whatever they throw at us, I think there's something that we can do to use our abilities and tonight it happened to be they were switching.
They had a big guy on me. I tried to be aggressive, and the next game I'll do the same, or if they change it, we'll go to whatever else they're giving up.

Q. Steve, you've obviously had a lot of playoff success in your career. You've also been on the receiving end of some pretty tough moments. 2007 against San Antonio and I guess maybe this one. Do you get tired trying to find a positive after games like this?
STEVE NASH: No. I think you have to realize that we lost the game. And it doesn't matter how you lost it, you lost the game. And we go home. We've got a chance to hold serve at home. And if we do that, we've got a wonderful opportunity to come back and make up for this one.
So our attitude has to be great. We have to go home with a lot of strength from this game.

Q. Steve, the great comeback, but how do you look at it from the point of trying to keep yourself from having a demoralizing loss going into the next game and just shutting it off and just moving on?
STEVE NASH: You know, we got a great group of guys that's really stuck together this year. So we got back in the locker room, we already started shifting our focus to Game 6.
So if we continue to encourage each other, continue to draw the best out of each other, you know, I think we can have a lot of positive energy back home in Game 6. Our fans will be terrific. And we have a lot of belief.

Q. Do you think that the Suns -- you held the Lakers to about 42 percent, that the defense has kind of figured out what you need to do. I know they scored about 100 points. But that the Suns defense is improving?
STEVE NASH: Yeah, I mean, our defense is getting better. I think we did a good job again tonight. I thought there were stretches of the game where we got stagnant. And, you know, particularly I would say second and third quarters. But I think we'll learn from it and hopefully at home we'll be a little better.
And if we can get Game 6 we'll come back and maybe learn a little bit from this one tonight.

Q. Usually when you're in a situation like that, with Kobe taking a potential game-winning shot, you do the best job you can, but then you're stuck watching the flight of the ball, is it going to go in, is it not. Can you describe seeing and knowing that it was going to be short and thinking that you guys did what you needed to do and then to have the outcome that happened?
STEVE NASH: I mean, we played it well. We just didn't keep them off the glass. And that happens. And we just got to be really fortunate it didn't happen in a deciding game.
So at the end of it, we go home and got a chance to hold serve. And, like I said, we have a great opportunity after that to come back here for a Game 7 and avenge this one.
THE MODERATOR: Thank you, Steve.

End of FastScripts

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