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NBA EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: CELTICS v HEATMay 28, 2012Dwyane WadeMIAMI, FLORIDA: Game One Boston Celtics79 Q. Dwyane, you guys had been off since Thursday. They played obviously late on Saturday night. How much was your game plan to sort of go at them because of the fatigue factor? And how much do you think the first and third quarters maybe had something to do with that, with the energy that you guys maybe had? DWYANE WADE: Well, our game plan was to use‑‑ we had a rest the last few days. Our game plan was to use our energy and effort here at home, throughout the game. So I thought we did a great job, especially coming out at halftime, of trying to push the pace. First half we couldn't do it as much because they got nine offensive rebounds, so it was hard for us to get out. We knew throughout this series there was going to be a lot of adjustments made. In Game 1 let's go out and play and use our energy and effort to get this win. Q. Dwyane, you dominated the last four third quarters, outscoring your opponent by 37 points. What's been the key to that? DWYANE WADE: The ball going in the basket. That's the biggest key. For us, we're playing great team ball, especially in the fourth quarter. We're not playing as much hero ball that we played last year. We're getting off the ball. We're penetrating. We trusting each other a lot more. It comes with time. In the fourth quarter we believe in each other, and that's been a success for us. Q. Dwyane, talk about your own offensive game today.  A little bit, it seemed like it took a little bit of time to work into it, and then you started finding openings, and figuring out ways to get to the basket. DWYANE WADE: I was just being patient. I had to come out and see how those guys was guarding me. I seen early on they wasn't really letting me come off pick‑and‑rolls. They were staying on it until I got off it. I was being patient until my time came when I can pick and choose when I can attack. That's how I have to be throughout the series, see the way they are playing me and see when I can attack. I was able to do that tonight. But I was getting off the ball, getting my teammates some shots when they had two defenders on me. Q. Dwyane, it was 50/50 early in the third, then I think Battier had a block on Rondo. Shane hits the three. That little run where you had the touchdown pass to LeBron, how crucial were those couple of minutes to calm things down and get you guys back on track after so much went haywire in the second quarter? DWYANE WADE: It was very crucial. We come out of halftime figuring out it was a tie game, because the Joel Anthony basket didn't count. With a team like that, you don't want to spar with them too much. Especially with the point guard that they have in Rondo. He's able to make so many things happen. So for us to be able to have it start on the defensive end, to have their run start off defensively, rebound the ball, getting out in transition, making shots, making baskets, that's ideal for us. That's our perfect game, when we are getting stops and we're able to run. Whether it's for threes, whether it's for dunks or lay‑ups. That's the way we would love to start it every time. Q. You and LeBron by the end, especially in the fourth quarter, seemed to be so comfortable out there. You were making some shots the guys in the booths were describing as basically trick shots. How do you describe the rhythm you two are in right now? DWYANE WADE: I think we're doing a good job of playing off each other. Both being aggressive at the same time, also understanding when another guy has certain match‑ups that he can expose, whether it's to get his own shot or whether it's to get a double team. So we're just playing good basketball right now. We're playing a lot of minutes together. LeBron is playing a lot of minutes. We're playing a lot of minutes together. So it allows both of us to play on the ball and off the ball, because both of us can handle the ball as well. We just have to keep it up. Q. Can you talk about, obviously what LeBron did was expected. What you did was sort of expected. When you see at the stat line and see Shane with a double‑double, 10 rebounds and 10 points, what does that mean for this offense and how do you go from there? DWYANE WADE: Shane is everything, man. He does it all for our team. I know me and LeBron, we love Shane Battier on this ballclub. Not only his defensive effort, he does all the little things. He's pesky. He gets under other guys' skin a little bit. He does a great job of blocking out. Tonight he was able to capitalize and get those rebounds. So he's a guy that he shot 2 for 9 tonight from the three, he can shoot 2 for 15, it doesn't matter. His effect on the game for us is bigger than that. Like I said, we love him. And we want to continue to be comfortable, the way he was tonight and continue to shoot. He's going to have a game where he's going to score more because he's going to be able‑‑ he's going to get those shots, he's going to knock more down. Big game for him, though. Q. You said a minute ago you're not playing as much hero ball, I guess as you did last year. Can you talk more about exactly what you mean by that? DWYANE WADE: Just too much isolation, which we have good‑‑ myself and LeBron, we have good individual iso guys. But I thought last year as we were trying to work our game and get comfortable, I thought a lot of times we played‑‑ we relied on our ability too much. And it can get other guys just standing around and not being involved. I think this year, especially in fourth quarters when it gets tight, we still have the ability to still run the play. If that don't work, run another play. Other guys are shooting those shots as well. Just a little different. Just us getting more comfortable with our game after playing a full year together. Q. What did you see or did you feel any sort of difference in guarding Ray than you normally do? Did he seem particularly slow or anything else? And also just talk about if you can your respect level for him and what‑‑ not just what he brings to this team, but what the guy can do even when he's banged up? DWYANE WADE: Well, I mean he played 38 minutes. Every minute he's on the floor he has to be accounted for. Every shot he shoots, you think is going in. He's obviously one of the greatest shooters this game has ever seen. He missed some. I think the biggest thing he was 3 for 7 from the free‑throw line. You never see Ray Allen miss two free throws in a row. But we always got to account for him whenever he's on the floor. He's making us pull triggers whether he's shooting the ball or not. My job is to keep chasing him, like I normally do, when I guard him. But other guys guard him as well. I thought we did a good job mixing him up, having other guys guard him. He's going to be a big key to this series. We have to pull triggers, we have to be aware of him, whether he's making shots or not. And I think Doc understands that. That's why I think he runs a lot of plays to keep us honest. Q. You guys get 11 blocks as a team tonight. I know it gets the crowd pumped up. How much does it ignite you guys on the offensive end just getting the blocks on the defensive end? DWYANE WADE: Yeah, a block is like a dunk; it gets your team going. We was very active, protecting the rim. We're not the biggest team, but we make up for it in a lot of different ways. Just being active. Coach loves us when we're that way. A lot of times it's great when we get the block and able to get out and go. We're going to have to keep that up. We have to keep protecting each other. When a guy gets beat, come over and help a guy out. If it's not a block, it's an altered shot or a charge. That's the kind of team we have to be to win. Q. Not having Bosh, has that forced you guys to play better team basketball in a sense? DWYANE WADE: I mean, we have to‑‑ we have to execute a lot better. We don't have another guy that we can throw the ball down to and say okay, get us a bucket.  So when obviously when you run a lot of pick‑and‑rolls, you run a lot of post‑ups. But we have to execute better. We have to get better looks because we have one less guy that can get us 20 points a game. So we have to find another way to get better shots for us to be able to score. So I think we have been doing a better job, since Chris has been out, of trying to execute a lot better. Trying to get even better looks, because we don't have the luxury of having his 20 points. THE MODERATOR: Thank you. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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