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NBA FINALS: MAVERICKS v HEAT

June 12, 2011

Chris Bosh

MIAMI, FLORIDA: Game Six

Dallas Mavericks 105
Miami Heat 95

Q. Chris, Jason Kidd said all three of you were pretty classy with things you said to him. He said he could hear some of the things you were saying to each other even on the court. What were you guys talking about as you left and then in the room afterward?
CHRIS BOSH: I really don't remember. All I remember was telling those guys that they deserve it. Hands down, they were the better team in this series, and they played together well. They deserve everything they've gotten. It was really congratulating them and just moving on.

Q. Chris, this team was built, this Heat team was built to win a championship, believed to be the best team in the league all year. Why did you guys fall short? Why were they the better team?
CHRIS BOSH: Well, I think if you just look at it as far as playing the better series, they just played the best basketball. Dirk constantly knocked down open shots. I mean, today he showed a lot of perseverance in just bouncing back. They made our defense work at the end of the day. It's just a great team. I think we did everything we could to win. We made a lot of mistakes, they made a lot of mistakes. But at the end of the day, they came out on top.
All we can do is just admit it and move forward.

Q. Chris, to the best of your knowledge, physically, mentally, emotionally, was anything off for LeBron? Was he himself this series?
CHRIS BOSH: Well, I mean at the end of the day, man, you know, you always want to play your best basketball at the most opportunistic time, but it just doesn't work out like that. Everything mentally and physically was good. I think with every individual, with the team. Physically, everybody is going to go through pain. They've done the same thing. But they wanted it more than we did. They played great, we came up short, and that's really it.

Q. Chris, you talked about how they played better than you. Did they play together? You always bring that up, do you feel like your team didn't play together?
CHRIS BOSH: We played together. They just did a better job. They were the better team. That's what I mean by that. And I mean there's no hiding. In the NBA you play a series, best of seven games, usually the better team is going to win. So we've got a lot of work to do. We have to go back to the drawing board. It hurts to come this far and come up short, but it's disappointing, but hopefully we can use this for motivation going forward.

Q. Chris, was there a certain point that you felt like this game got away for you guys?
CHRIS BOSH: I mean, you never feel that way. You always play the game out. You just play the game how it goes. Plenty of times they were down, they came back. We were down, we came back. It's always a game of runs. But today they just had that whole collective effort. They had timely shots, they had timely offensive rebounds, they never got flustered. They just kept their composure and kept coming in waves. And when it was time, they just stayed tight and they executed very well. When things broke down, Jason Terry, Dirk Nowitzki and Jason Kidd, they hurt us with their shots.

Q. How do you think LeBron played out there tonight?
CHRIS BOSH: Excuse me?

Q. How do you think LeBron played out there tonight? LeBron James?
CHRIS BOSH: I mean, guys try. At the end of the day guys try. Fall short, whether it's good or bad, it doesn't really matter. We lost the game. Individual performances, whether you win or lose, it doesn't matter.

Q. Chris, considering you said they wanted it more than you did and it's painful right now, considering the 9-8 start, considering where you've been before you guys turn it on and got to this point, is it too early to ask you about the process and the fact being that most great teams lose before they win?
CHRIS BOSH: Well, I mean, just looking back on it, this was our first year. Absolutely we would like to have won it this year. But just being optimistic, looking forward, yeah, I mean, there's a bright spot, but we have to work and we have to develop that mindset to go get it and just keep it there, and use it as motivation.
It's a disappointing thing, yeah. A bunch of other great teams always come up a little short year after year in some cases. Some turn around quicker than others. The process is not -- this isn't a good feeling, you know?
We just have to move forward, man. We can't do anything about it right now. We'll never do anything about it. All we can do is look ahead.

Q. Chris, in the second half of last game, you had only three shot attempts. Tonight you only had nine shot attempts. You've been incredibly efficient in the last couple of games. Are you frustrated from the sense you weren't getting enough opportunities, particularly when you've been so effective on the offensive end?
CHRIS BOSH: Well, I mean, I was frustrated that -- I would have liked to have gotten more involved, but I was just playing the game as it went. Looking back at it, yeah, I had it going a little bit. I was in a good place for the game. I was ready to play, and I was really looking forward to having a great output. But I don't know what to say, man. Yeah, I should have shot the ball way more.

Q. Chris, so much attention was given to yourself, LeBron and Dwyane Wade going into this series. If people were going to wager on who would be the Most Valuable Player going in, most of them would have picked one of you three guys. As it turned out it was Dirk Nowitzki. What did Dirk Nowitzki do that was so difficult for you to stop? And what did he prove in this series as a player?
CHRIS BOSH: Well, I mean, Dirk was just being himself. You can't really take that away. You can't say he wasn't. There's nothing extra, there's nothing super. He was just himself. He's a consistent basketball player, a great shooter and a great leader of that team. And in these situations, I think when you're yourself and you play your basketball, the best things always happen.
I know he's worked very hard for a very long time, and you know what, he deserves it. I think we can take a page out of their book and really just pay attention to people's work ethic and how much time they put into the game. Obviously, what we did wasn't enough. Unfortunately we have to go back to the drawing board and hopefully have a consistent off-season and come back next year stronger.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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