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NBA EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: HEAT v BULLS

May 25, 2011

Erik Spoelstra

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS: Practice Day

ERIK SPOELSTRA: We have an opportunity, as everybody is well aware of, as we go up to Chicago. What I've encouraged our guys to do is stay in the moment, stick to the process of our details and our habits as we go up there in what is likely to be an extremely physical possession game.

Q. Erik, guys as they came in last night sort of echoed you with that. LeBron talked about (Indiscernible) Wade talked about desperation. Is that just music to your ears right now; there's no exhalation, there's no sense of relaxing?
ERIK SPOELSTRA: It's really been a make or miss rebound or not rebound series. It's been so close. Other than that skirmish there in the fourth quarter of Game 1, it's been a possession game all the way until the end in the fourth quarters. We know there isn't a large margin of error or this could look different, a couple of misses or makes either way.
It will be a possession game tomorrow. We need to stick to our process and continue to do the things that we've been trying to emphasize, that are a whole lot easier said than done. The rebounding is a big tale to this series. It's a major challenge for us. But it allows us to control some of the things that happened in the series.

Q. Having beat them on their own court, having put them in uncharted territory, does it give you a mental edge?
ERIK SPOELSTRA: I doubt it. That's a tough-minded team. Both teams are resilient, tough. It will come down to who plays better probably tomorrow. They have a lot of pride. They're playing at home. However it happens, it will be a possession game.

Q. Coach, how important is it to not let down (Indiscernible)?
ERIK SPOELSTRA: It's obviously important because of the physicality and nature of this series. Anytime you have an opportunity to close it, you want to take advantage of it, not let it stretch out.

Q. How big was Mike Miller last night, and especially after the birth of his daughter and what he went through?
ERIK SPOELSTRA: We're all very happy for him. He hasn't gotten much sleep in the last few days, and our thoughts are with him and his family. It's also been great to see him get an opportunity where he's been able to play without thinking about injuries. It's been a frustrating year for him due to his array of injuries he's had to battle all season long. But now when we need him the most, he's been able to contribute in a way we hoped for and anticipated when we signed him this summer.

Q. Can you talk about LeBron, the way he impacted the offense for himself and for others at the end of the first and to the second and obviously the big defensive plays he had?
ERIK SPOELSTRA: This whole playoff run he's been showing his versatility defensively in guarding multiple players and playing big minutes, and usually in the last four or five minutes, defending the biggest threat on the other team. He was able to do that last night. It's not easy guarding a player like Rose. You have to have people behind you. But he gives it a different element (Indiscernible)
I think he's been doing a very good job offensively of reading (Indiscernible) being aggressive, but also reading what we need. And we needed him to score last night. There were times where our offense was slowing down, we couldn't get into a normal type of production or efficiency, and he had to put some points on the board for us to stay in there.

Q. There was a point last night, listening to Derrick -- I don't know if you got a chance to hear it -- but he seemed exasperated by the fact that it's LeBron James, it's Dwyane Wade, two of the best players in the world, and they can throw them at me non-stop. What am I supposed to do about that? It's not a checkmate until you're all done, but it's strategically (Indiscernible) he's in a bad spot?
ERIK SPOELSTRA: He's an MVP going against an MVP. We have great respect for what he's capable of. That speed and explosiveness and his ability to get into the smallest creases of your defense and break it down, it really makes it tough.
What we've tried to do is not reinvent the wheel, but to stick to our habits of defending the way we've been doing all season long. Everybody on a string and doing their job, trying to get bodies in front of him and protect the paint. It's a lot easier said than done. Ultimately, we want to try to put different guys on him, different looks. Great players require that.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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