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NBA EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: CELTICS v HEATJune 5, 2012Paul PierceMickael PietrusRajon RondoMIAMI, FLORIDA: Game Five Boston Celtics - 94 Miami Heat - 90 Q. Rajon, can you talk about the first three quarters and how you were playing, the back‑court violation, the missed shots, and then in the fourth quarter kind of attacking the basket and kind of setting everything up for the run? RAJON RONDO: It was just a matter of time. My teammates told me to keep attacking. I made some mistakes I usually don't make. I missed a lot of shots I usually make. But that's irrelevant. We stuck with it and my teammates believed in me. Nobody played well except for KG and Pietrus. Other than that, we kept fighting and we found a way to get the win. Q. Rajon, can you talk about both fourth quarter plays where in scrambles you directed rebounds to really big jumpshots, one by Pietrus. RAJON RONDO: It's just the will. I think I just try to find a way to get us the will to win. The ball came out, when D‑Wade made a block on B‑Bass's dunk, I sought Pietrus out of the corner of my eye, and I tried to tap it to him as quick as possible because I knew LeBron was coming. I think the same thing happened on the second play. These guys deserve all the credit. We wouldn't be up 3‑2 if it weren't for our entire team. Q. Paul, Doc said he wanted you to take the ball to the basket on that three, but then he saw your footwork and knew you were going up with it. Were you thinking three the whole time? PAUL PIERCE: You know, it's kind of hard to say in those situations and things are going so fast, you kind of play on instincts. I saw him back up, he gave me a step. I knew it was within my range. The shot clock was winding down, just took a shot. That's just being in those moments so many times and understanding what your team needs, and being able to concentrate and get the best shot for us. I thought that was the best shot. Once I saw him back up, then I was able to knock it down. Q. Paul, Game 5 last year, obviously was a different scenario and different situation and all that, but it was LeBron closing you out then. Did you take anything extra in the last couple of minutes the way you guys were able to take control the way you couldn't in Game 5 in this building a year ago? PAUL PIERCE: I mean, we're not even thinking about last year, truthfully. Last year happened, it is what it is. We're focused on the players that are here and what we can do today right now. Just because things that happened last year happened last year. You have no control over it. This is a whole new ballclub. We came in with the right focus. That was the key for us, I think, coming into Game 5. I saw it in shootaround. Our focus. You kind of could feel it. Doc always says in the locker room where he can feel it when we're locked in. It was one of those games where we were locked in. We went down seven in the third. We were able to make a run and end the third with the lead. From that point on we said we wanted to try to close this game out. We gave ourselves a chance, and we were able to do it. Q. Paul, you played with Kevin for a while now. Where would you put the way he's playing right now alongside or in the range of all the time you've played with him? PAUL PIERCE: It's right up there probably since the first year when he came, and he was 20‑10 every night in the playoffs, just dominating. We're taking advantage of him. We're giving him the ball in the spots where he can score. He's rebounding, playing good defense. He's doing everything we're asking for him. You're finally seeing a healthy Kevin. He hasn't been healthy the last couple of years. When you have a surgery of that magnitude, it's tough on big man. It looks like he's has healthy legs. He's playing long minutes. He's giving everything he can. Q. Mickael, can you talk about the feeling of coming up with those big shots in the fourth? MICKAEL PIETRUS: You know yesterday I got a text from Shaq telling me keep believing and keep playing. So that's what I did. And when Rondo took that rebound and kicked it out to me, I knew I had to take the shot and make it. So that's what I did. I'm very happy the way we've been playing defensively, and I think it's up to us to go home and close it out. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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