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NBA FINALS: MAVERICKS v HEAT

June 5, 2011

Dirk Nowitzki

DALLAS, TEXAS: Game Three

Miami Heat 88
Dallas Mavericks 86

Q. Hey, Dirk, Jason Kidd was just out here, and he said you love the big stage, and you love to carry the team at the end. You scored the last nine points of Game 2. You scored their last 12 points last night. You may love the big stage, but do you need more help?
DIRK NOWITZKI: Well, I thought we had opportunities. First of all, we can't always fall down behind. I think we're always reacting. We did in the first quarter. We fell down big. Third quarter we came out slow, fell down big. Obviously it takes a lot of energy for us to fight back. But even down the stretch, I think there were opportunities. I thought Jet had a good look at the baseline. I think it was to tie it or go up two. And we had a mental breakdown, that one play Bosh gets the wide-open jumper the last minute. So I thought we had our opportunities, and just weren't good enough. You have to give them credit. Their defense is pretty good. They hold us to the low 40s every game, and they really take our shooters out of the game.

Q. Dirk, you touched on it a little bit, but the uphill climb every time. You guys make a run and you allow them to match that run, and you were playing uphill all game long, how much did they hurt you tonight?
DIRK NOWITZKI: We all understand that basketball is a game of runs. We have to stop the runs a little quicker. We can't go down 15 all the time and battle back. You can get like a five, six-point swing here and there. We can't always get in a deep hole like that.

Q. Now that you are in a 2-1 hole, how do you guys respond in the next game knowing you have to basically win back-to-back games to take the advantage now in the series?
DIRK NOWITZKI: Well, be a little sharper at the beginning. I think they came out and were really attacking. I just thought it was a little too easy there. Wade got to the basket three times there in the first quarter. James did as well. So we have to be a little sharper at the beginning and not let them get their rhythm. And I thought the crowd pushed us forward. So we're going to need the same effort out of them. It's basically a must-win situation.

Q. Dirk, do you feel I-have-to-take-this-team-on-my-back pressure offensively to win right now?
DIRK NOWITZKI: Like I said, they do a pretty good job on our shooters. If we have the open looks, we just got to make them. We haven't made enough of them. If we're going to keep shooting in the low 40s, it's going to be tough to win.
Yeah, I have to keep making plays, keep being aggressive and look for my shot.

Q. How much has turnovers been an issue?
DIRK NOWITZKI: Cut it down a little bit. We're going to turn the ball over against that team. It's just gonna happen. They're so fast, long, athletic. They do a good job swarming the ball once we put it down. We're going to turn it over some. I already thought we cut it down from Game 2 to this one, so hopefully in Game 4 we can cut down a couple more and we'll be okay.

Q. What happened on the turnover when they swarmed you there in the last minute? And what did you think of the look you got at the buzzer?
DIRK NOWITZKI: Both good plays. Shawn Marion was in the corner, and Wade just left him. I still actually kind of wanted to shoot it. I think Wade would have blocked it kind of from the side. So I wanted to swing it, and Shawn is more like slash, a cutter. He was cutting and left the corner. So that was a tough play.
And the look with four seconds to go, I think it was as good as you can get it.

Q. Dirk, you mentioned after Game 2 that you can't win an emotional game like that and come back and lose Game 3. Has your viewpoint changed on that? And do you feel like you guys --
DIRK NOWITZKI: No.

Q. -- have lost anything since Game 4, the comeback in OKC? Seems like you've been playing with fire.
DIRK NOWITZKI: My view hasn't changed. This definitely was a big game. And a very tough loss. Emotional game, fought back, and to fall short at the end is tough. But they need two more. Hopefully we can play a better all-around game and finally get some shots to go down here at home and see what happens Tuesday.
Like I said, this is a tough loss, and it's basically a must-win situation on Tuesday. We can't go down 3-1.

Q. Dirk, in the last series you guys played in 2006, Udonis Haslem defended you several times. In Game 2 it was Chris Bosh. Can you talk about what Udonis as sort of an undersized forward does against you. And how much did his defense affect your final shot tonight?
DIRK NOWITZKI: He's fronting me everywhere, trying to keep the ball out of my hands. He does a good job. He's active, he's quick on his feet. Down the stretch, I think he stayed down and made me shoot a contested shot and a shot I can make, but unfortunately it didn't go.

Q. Dirk, real quick, just to make sure, when you said in the pass to Marion you still wanted to shoot it, were you off balance then? You were between what you wanted to do?
DIRK NOWITZKI: Sometimes I do that a lot. I go in the air and still kind of probe if I can get the shot up. If it's not there, I swing it. I do it all the time. At that point, yeah, I wanted to shoot it. But Wade really made a strong effort from the side, and I don't think I would have got it up. So I tried to swing it, and Shawn was cutting. So I guess it was a miscommunication.

Q. What was the mental breakdown on the Bosh shot?
DIRK NOWITZKI: We messed up on the pick-and-roll in the middle and left I think James wide open. Tyson left the basket, had to rotate to LeBron, and he kicked it over to Bosh. I was over there with two on one, with Haslem and Bosh. Got to give Haslem credit. He set a god pick and Bosh was wide open. I don't really know what happened there in the screen-and-roll, but we definitely messed it up.

Q. Can you talk a little about the loss of Brendan Haywood for tonight's game and the play of Mahinmi out there?
DIRK NOWITZKI: I think Ian gave us energy. He's very athletic. He's quick on his feet. I actually think he played all right. But Haywood has been big for us in the paint over the last year and a half we had him. He's a big guy, and he can change a lot of shots at the rim. I actually thought Ian did his job tonight.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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