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NBA FINALS: MAVERICKS v HEAT

June 7, 2011

Jason Terry

DALLAS, TEXAS: Game Four

Miami Heat 83
Dallas Mavericks 86

Q. Jason, you guys changed the lineup in the beginning of the game. You changed to the zone at the end. Did it feel like tonight you guys pulled out all the tricks you had to to beat a team like that?
JASON TERRY: Those aren't necessarily tricks. It was a situation we didn't want to give them a steady dose of our coverages and man. Dwyane Wade was having a spectacular game. And to change up the pace a little bit, we went to the zone. And it worked out for us. It was successful.

Q. Jason, can you talk about your performance tonight coming off the bench and getting involved immediately. And also defensively, you guys putting LeBron in witness protection today.
JASON TERRY: The aggression was there for me personally. And I like that that I was on the attack, which I said I would be. But as far as that relating into baskets, it didn't really happen for me. But again, if I continue to get the looks that I'm getting, I'm going to have some success. I'm going to have to continue to be aggressive and take advantage of my opportunities.

Q. Jason, talk about the progression when you learned that Dirk wasn't feeling well and had the fever. Was there anything different in the strategy or the mindset of how you approached the game?
JASON TERRY: Nothing different at all. We knew he was sick at shoot-around. He wasn't feeling good. We knew he would be here to play. Dirk has never missed a game because he had the flu or the cold or what have you. So there was no concern and there was no adjustment that needed to be made.

Q. Jet, you said before this game that you would be interested to see if LeBron James could guard you like that for a full seven games. What were you able to exploit in that matchup in the fourth quarter?
JASON TERRY: Being aggressive, looking to attack instead of settling for the jumpshot. His length obviously is going to bother me if I shoot it in his face, it's going to be contested. So percentages on those shots are going to go down. But if I can get in the paint and draw the defense and then make the pass or make the shot, then that's going to be advantageous for us. That's something I looked to do tonight.

Q. Jet, obviously you couldn't go down three games to one. Dirk said a must-win. Is Game 5 the same mind-set for you, must-win?
JASON TERRY: Same mindset. Game 5 is Game 7 for us. There's no other way. This is the last game in front of our fans at home this season, and we want to go out with a bang.

Q. Jason, how do you characterize the individual effort tonight? There was a lot of different adversity from yourself in the fourth quarter to Dirk to DeShawn coming off the bench, Tyson with no backup. How do you characterize the individual performances?
JASON TERRY: We have to look at the X factors. DeShawn Stevenson for one being taken out of the starting lineup prior to this game. He stayed with it. His confidence was there. He knew where his shots were going to come. And the defensive job he's doing in this series is very underrated. He's having to guard both those guys for the majority of the time. And I think he's holding his own. He's doing an outstanding job.
Tyson Chandler what he did on the boards for us was huge. Then getting to the free-throw line, stepping up big and making some big free throws there in the fourth quarter was key.

Q. Jet, you stated yesterday that you felt you guys couldn't win a game at 85, 90-point pace. You wanted it at 100. Talk about how unlikely a win this was given you held them to nine points over the last ten minutes. And what was said in the huddle down nine?
JASON TERRY: 39%, 21 from three. Very uncharacteristic of us. It's just been the way the series has been going. It's not going to be easy. They're a great defensive team. They close out to the shooters very well. We have to keep grinding. Because percentages say it's going to fall in our favor, and we're going to knock down some of those shots.
As far as in that timeout, we just said, stick with it. It's the same story for us. All four of these games have been close. They've been situations where we have had to come back. We have been down. I would like to see us play from in front. It's not happening, so we're going to continue to grind it out.

Q. Clearly, Jet, this was not Dirk's masterpiece game. But what he overcame reminded me a little bit of what Jordan overcame some years ago when he was real sick.
JASON TERRY: Wow. A Jordanism? Really? (Laughter).

Q. What do you think?
JASON TERRY: I wouldn't quite call it that, but hitting that shot down the stretch was key. It was a similar situation in Game 3. Same one in Game 2. Iso, free-throw line, took it to the rack, got it done. Big time.

Q. No matter how sick he is, is he the guy you want to go to in that situation, no matter what?
JASON TERRY: Yes. You have three of us, him, myself, J-Kidd, any one of us at the end of the game in those type of situations, we're looking for the moment.

Q. Jason, you and your teammates seemed to do a particularly good job of attacking LeBron when he left his feet to make those jump-passes. Is that something you talked about or just good reads?
JASON TERRY: LeBron is so difficult. He can see over the defense. He's having to facilitate a lot of times for his teammates and get them involved. But we're just trying to get our hands up, distract him a little bit and when he puts his second hand on the ball, we're trying to be there to distract him.

Q. Can you talk a little bit about the job Trix (Marion) did on defense guarding LeBron in this one?
JASON TERRY: Phenomenal. Trix is such a key factor of what we have. He's another one that guards LeBron, he guards Wade. He has his hands full. He's getting a little bit of help from Kidd and DeShawn where he can rest a little bit. More important than that, offensively, the way he played in the third quarter getting to the basket, getting some dunks, some tip-ins. We need him to do that. When he does that, we take our game to a different level.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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