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NBA EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: CELTICS v HEATJune 9, 2012Chris BoshMIAMI, FLORIDA: Game Seven Boston Celtics - 88 Miami Heat - 101 Q.  Chris, how unusual, when you look back at this game, will it be that maybe it's best remembered for you hitting three threes for the first time probably in your natural life? CHRIS BOSH: I know it will surprise a lot of other people, but I've been practicing those things all year. We've been getting a lot of shots up all year. We kind of knew in big‑time situations that they were going to be open, and I would be able to shoot it without hesitation. I've just been working hard. I have to give the credit to hard work. Just making sure I'm always in the gym working on my game, and working on the things that will help this team. It just really helped out tonight. Just the energy from the crowd helped me to succeed. Q. Chris, as this series developed and you played in these three games, did you start to feel more and more comfortable? Were you even thinking about so many issues when the series started how healthy you were going to be, were you even thinking about it during the game? CHRIS BOSH: No, there was no time to think. I just wanted to get out there as soon as possible and contribute to this team. That's all I kept thinking about from the moment I went out against Indiana in the second round. It was very deflating at first, but I just had to keep my mind. That was the biggest challenge that I ever had in my life, to make sure I stay ready, so when the time did come, I would be able to contribute instead of trying to get my legs under me and be a non‑factor. I thought about it every day. I worked hard with the coaching staff and the doctors and the trainers, and we just relentlessly worked every day. Now those things are paying off. So we're here now. We've been here before, and this time we want to capitalize. Q. Chris, where are you at health‑wise heading into The Finals? Back to 100%? CHRIS BOSH: We've been making jokes. I think I said 99 yesterday or the day before I think I said 99.1 today. I think I can upgrade to 99.2. Hopefully it will get better come Tuesday. Things have just been great. Just being able to work as hard as I possibly can with everybody. The coaching staff and everybody has been so diligent with me in coming in when nobody else came in. Some off‑days, when we had off‑days, we would come in and we were just working away, not knowing if there was going to be a tomorrow. But we worked and worked and worked. I'm able to be in this position now. Q. What exactly could you do I guess rehab‑wise, considering it was such a difficult injury? CHRIS BOSH: You can't do much. You use your core a lot. You would be surprised how much you use it, and you don't really know until you have some pain in that area. That helped me not take things for granted. Once I got out there, I just wanted to contribute as much as possible, and, you know, just realizing the opportunity that I was going to have when I came back, it really helped me out. But the pain was a wake‑up call for me. Whatever that call was, it helped me out a lot. We get a chance to extend the season. Q. Chris, how much did your performance last year, your performances last year in the Conference Finals and The Finals help you sort of seamlessly come back and have a game like that in just your third one back in a Game 7? CHRIS BOSH: You know, it's not only last year. It's been moments throughout my lifetime. Ever since I played little league, I remember playing championship games in my backyard with my ten‑and‑under teams. That's when it started for me. And I think about those moments all the time. Sometimes I fail, but most of the times I succeeded. And that helped me believe in myself. It helped me believe in the situation and my teammates as well. And it gave me the supreme confidence that I needed coming into this game. When you play like you don't know there's a tomorrow, you know, you can play free. You can be yourself, and you can let everything go and just play the game you love. That's what I did tonight. Q. Chris, can you just talk about LeBron's last two games in this series. And just given the tremendous pressure he feels, the scrutiny he gets, and the fact he rose all above it the last two games. CHRIS BOSH: Played incredible. I don't think there's anybody out there performing as best as he is right now. You have to credit all the times that he just thinks about what happened last year. He thinks about how he can improve. And when that moment comes again, he had to seize it. We were in this moment again. Today was a very tough game against a very tough team. And he just has to believe in his ability and be himself. He doesn't have to step outside of who he is. He's the best basketball player in the world. He just has to show up and do what he's been working on and believe in himself, because we believe in him. If he does that, we all like where we stand when the smoke clears. Q. Chris, I know you want to enjoy this, but could you just give initial thoughts about facing the Thunder in The Finals. CHRIS BOSH: I mean, they're a very, very good, very talented team. They've gotten over humps themselves. They beat the hottest team in the league at the time in the San Antonio Spurs. And they present a lot of challenges. But that's what The Finals are about, playing tough teams and having big challenges ahead of you. We know that they have home court, so we're going to have to play our best basketball in order to overcome that team. Because we know it's not going to be easy, and they're going to come out swinging; so are we. And they're a very good team, and they execute well and they play together well. But you know, we do the same thing. The winner will go‑‑ that trophy is going to go to whoever plays the best series. Q. Chris, you've had a pretty eventful six weeks here. A lot of stuff has happened to you, including tonight. Have you thought about this at all and put this in perspective, what this has been‑‑ this has been the craziest six weeks of your life? CHRIS BOSH: It has been. I think about those things every day. What I've experienced, what I've seen. One thing that has helped me is that you never know when you'll be able to play this game again. You never know what tomorrow brings. And so you might as well have fun, let it all hang out and just do what you were put on this Earth to do while you're here. And I just want to maximize my time playing this game. I know I can't play it forever. These situations don't come every day. Game 7, Eastern Conference Finals, I've been thinking about things like this since I was a kid. I just wanted to seize the moment. The way I could do it is being relaxed, being myself and do what I do. You don't have to do anything more than that. Q. I know there are a million other reasons to enjoy this game. Are you taking a small piece of satisfaction in hitting those threes in such a big spot, when big men tend to take a fair bit of criticism for adding anything to their game that's away from the basket? CHRIS BOSH: Well, you can't‑‑ the make‑up of this team is a little different. And I knew where things were changing where I could help this team out. I know the stigmas and the criticisms that are out there. That's not going to help you win basketball games. Dedication and belief in yourself is going to help you win basketball games. I didn't give it much time for people to see it coming. It just kind of happened very quickly. It's been a good shot for me. As long as I'm open and whenever it's needed, I know I can go inside. But LeBron and Dwyane have it going so well, they need somebody to space the floor. I was put in that situation, and I told myself I was going to do the best job I possibly can to bring that to this team. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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