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NBA WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: THUNDER v MAVERICKS

May 25, 2011

Rick Carlisle

DALLAS, TEXAS: Game Five

Dallas Mavericks Â– 100
Oklahoma City Thunder - 96

Q. How does it feel to close out a series against such a formidable opponent in Oklahoma City?
RICK CARLISLE: Well, you know, Oklahoma City is a great young team. They played with unbelievable fight and spirit. I mean, the game tonight, all the games I've been involved with over the years in the Playoffs, this is as hard a game as I've ever been involved with, just because of some of the adjustments they made, how they attacked.
Psychologically there was stuff that could have gotten us down, but our guys stayed with it. And their time will come, but it's not now. We feel like now is our time to move on. This is a great moment, but we've got a lot of work left to do.

Q. How would you describe the poise and savvy of your team in the fourth quarter down the stretch to make all the big plays, whether it was on defense or offensive end?
RICK CARLISLE: Well, we had to stay patient and disciplined. You know, Westbrook kept flying at the rim. Durant kept throwing in shots. You know, there were a lot of plays that could have been deflating plays. But all year long we've kept playing. Game 4, same thing. We kept playing.
And tonight, you know, coming home and everything, it looks like it's tailor-made, you know, just go out there and get the crowd behind you. But Oklahoma City had other ideas, and they played a great game. That franchise is set up for a lot of long Playoff runs. But I'm proud of the way our guys hung in.

Q. Can you talk about the matrix, Shawn? These last few games he's been on fire, defense, shooting, rebounding, he just came on big.
RICK CARLISLE: Yeah, Shawn Marion the last three games was -- as great as Dirk has been and all the talk about what he did in the last game, Shawn's defense in all three games. And then tonight the plays he made at the end of the game to finish the foul, making the free throw, that gave us enough breathing room and it took a little bit of the wind out of their sails because they were really going.
You know, Shawn is a guy that has had such an underrated career. If you look at his stats for his career, you know, he's top five in almost every Phoenix Suns category. He's top two or three in most. He's been a franchise-type player for a lot of years.
And when he came here, our team was built differently than the run and gun Suns. He had brief stints in Toronto and Miami, but there was some frustration the first year, and he really had to reinvent his game to some degree to figure out the way he was going to fit in with us. I give him a lot of credit. You know, he's proven right now to everybody that he's about one thing, and that's winning. He's an integral part of what we're doing. He's one of our stars.

Q. You talk about the adjustments that they made. They went small and stuck with that lineup. Can you talk about the challenges, but also you guys seemed to find a weakness in Maynor and kind of went at him.
RICK CARLISLE: Well, you know, it was very challenging with all the match-ups and the quickness. We went small for a while. We were having success getting shots, but we had no rim coverage, and we were struggling to get rebounds. So we went back big and basically went with the finishing group that has been pretty much our closing team most of the year. And those guys delivered stops, and they were resourceful finding ways to get the ball in the basket.
You know, sometimes you don't know exactly how the points are going to come. But with us, when we get the stops and the ball keeps moving, good things happen.

Q. What were your thoughts on Kidd tonight, ten assists, one turnover? He did his usual feed to Dirk that gave you the three and then got the offensive rebound at the end of the game?
RICK CARLISLE: Yeah, Kidd, he's one of our superstars. It's as simple as that. When he's on the court, it just -- it elevates our overall confidence, and then he impacts so many areas. You know, in the huddles, talking about things that we're anticipating, things that he's anticipating, keeping guys engaged that way. You know, he's always calm, collected. His eyes are completely focused on the task at hand. You know, again, you're talking about a guy that's one of the greatest ever to play.
The plays he made at the end, just knowing who to find when, getting hands on balls, all that kind of stuff, he makes it look easy. He makes it look second nature. But it's more difficult than that.

Q. How do you think exciting is it for Dirk to get finally his second chance to get the ring?
RICK CARLISLE: Well, Dirk I know is excited. Look, this is what our season has been about. It's been about advancing and getting an opportunity for a title, because it's the one thing that he and Jason haven't done, and Jason Terry and Shawn Marion, and Stojakovic, we've got some guys with some very decorated careers here that have taken on different types of roles on a team that's building a strength in numbers type team. It's exciting, but my sense is we're very grounded. We'll enjoy this moment for a day, watch the game tomorrow night and see where things are.
We have a lot of work left to do.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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