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NBA FINALS: HEAT v THUNDERJune 12, 2012LeBron JamesDwyane WadeOKLAHOMA CITY, OKLAHOMA: Game One Oklahoma City – 105 Q. Dwyane, when did it get away from you guys? You led most of the game to the tail end of the third quarter. When and why did it get away from you? DWYANE WADE: I thought coming out of the third quarter they did a great job of turning up defensive pressure to get right back in it. From that point it was pretty much a one‑possession kind of game. You know, they just made more plays than us. They got a couple offensive rebounds that kind of hurt us. They got a couple open shots, and then from that point, we was kind of playing behind. Q. LeBron, you came out defensively against Perkins instead of against KD. Was that your choice and would you have liked to spend more time on him at the outset, and do you think that might change next game? LEBRON JAMES: No, it wasn't my choice, it was a suggestion that Spoel brought up, and I thought it was good early on for us. It gave us an opportunity to switch a lot of pick and rolls when Perk went down and did a screen for KD and I was able to switch off for him. Whatever the case may be, we had a good game plan to start the game, and the third quarter hurt us. Q. LeBron, you only played six guys really, a good amount of the time. You played a few more, but it was a short bench. Did that play a part in the game late in terms of getting tired? LEBRON JAMES: I don't think so. You know, we know we have to have more production for sure. We're going to have to have more guys in there to give me and D Wade a rest. And Shane, Shane played a lot of minutes. But Spoel will figure that out. We'll be more conscious about it, just trying to get a minute or two here or there so we can finish strong, but I don't think it was much of a problem tonight. Q. What was going on with you guys able to free up Shane Battier with so many open looks? LEBRON JAMES: I think offensively we just moved the ball. We moved the ball, and Shane was the recipient of those‑‑ of us moving the ball, especially in the first half. He knocked down a lot of shots, you know, and he helped us a lot to spread the floor. He's a big part of our unit, and when he knocks down shots, we're a very, very good team. He was just the recipient of us moving the ball and getting the ball from one side to another, and he was able to get some shots down. Q. Erik said that you guys felt even to the middle of the fourth quarter you were in position to make a move, and then they just, quote, went away. What do you think happened there? LEBRON JAMES: I think they made shots and we missed shots. The couple offensive rebounds they got, they didn't make many mistakes in the fourth quarter. I don't think we made many mistakes in the fourth quarter, it's just they made more plays, especially offensively. They made more shots. Russell made some big‑time shots, KD made some big‑time shots, and Nick Collison got a few offensive rebounds that allowed him to extra possessions when we did a stop. So I think that's what it's about. Q. So how do you guys get those shots, make those shots, and be in those position yourself? LEBRON JAMES: You take them with confidence, take more shots with confidence, and at the end of the day you live with it. All your shots are not going to go in, of course not, but you try to put pressure on the defense, and then when you shoot the ball, you shoot it with confidence. Q. As soon as Spoelstra came in here, he talked about adjustments that you guys were going to make in Game 2. Dwyane, getting you going, you talked about lengthening the bench and getting Bosh more minutes. What do you see as the major adjustments in such a short amount of time? DWYANE WADE: I can't say right now, man, fresh out of the game. It's one thing that we're confidence in is that our coaching staff is going to get us a game plan, the rotation that we need. This first game, as in every series, is always just a game to see. We're on the road, we come here, we try to win one. Now we make the adjustments, we come out and we try to split the next game. I'm not worried about it. I'm sure we'll find some better opportunities for ourselves, and we'll be more comfortable in Game 2. Q. Dwyane, there are games where you're just attacking and look like you're having a lot of fun and then there's games like this where you're not. It's about 50/50 throughout the Playoffs. What is that with you? DWYANE WADE: It all depends what you mean. I was attacking, getting my teammates shots, and I got shots for myself. Attacking to me is just being aggressive. Some nights I have big nights scoring and some nights I don't. That's been the season. That's just the way that it's designed for me. I'm just always staying aggressive, like I said, for myself and for my teammates to make sure they get good looks, and also be aggressive for myself to get shots. Some are going to go in, some are not. Q. You guys gave up 56 points in the paint. How do you plan on stopping that next game? LEBRON JAMES: Not give up 56 points in the paint. (Laughter). Q. Talk about going forward after this loss, you've definitely got to make adjustments on defending KD and Russell. Talk about the efforts that's going to take to stop those guys. You did do a good job on Harden because he only had five points. LEBRON JAMES: Well, first of all, those two guys are all stars for a reason. You can't stop them, you just try to limit them. And Russ made some big plays late, but I think we can live with him shooting 10 for 24 from the field. I think KD got a couple looks that we don't like. He had two transition threes that we gave up where he had nobody on him, and he had a couple jumpers that we didn't like, either, with nobody on him. We need to make adjustments with that. We will make adjustments. Like D Wade said, this was the feel out game. We come out with a lot of energy, try to steal Game 1, and now we get an opportunity to go to the chalkboard, go to the film and have a better game plan in Game 2 since we've already seen them to see to see what they're capable of doing. Q. Kevin had the big fourth quarter. Could you sense he was being aggressive and looking for his shot more? LEBRON JAMES: He's always aggressive. Any time he's on the floor, tonight 46 minutes, he's always aggressive. It doesn't matter what court it is. Q. After the first quarter and a half or so, why did the ball stop moving as well as it had been? DWYANE WADE: I think we had that answer when it kept moving. Sometimes the game goes to where guys attack a little more, especially when the ball is me and LeBron handle a lot, we attack a lot and it's not as much swing‑swing, and that's good for our team. But we'll look at it and we'll see why and we'll see if we can get better opportunities. But I thought we got good shots. I thought we got good shots for our teammates, I thought we got good shots for ourselves. Obviously we just need to make more. I wasn't disappointed in the shots we got tonight. Q. Dwyane, this morning you talked about picking and choosing your shots. How different has that been for you? Has it been a difficult process? DWYANE WADE: Sorry, man. You know, it's The Finals. I've been doing it all year. I am going to continue to do it. I'm a winner, so I'm just doing whatever I can help to help my team win. Some nights ‑‑ one night I'm going to have a big night scoring, some nights I'm going to have a big nights doing other things. Just doing whatever it takes to win the ballgame, not necessarily sitting up here worrying about scoring 30 points. I know that's going to make you guys feel better. I'm all about winning. We didn't win tonight, and that's the biggest thing, so we'll find a way to win Game 2, not necessarily worried about me scoring 30. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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