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NBA EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: PACERS v HEATMay 24, 2013Erik SpoelstraMIAMI, FLORIDA: Game Two Indiana Pacers    97 COACH ERIK SPOELSTRA: These are two close, competitive games that can go either way. We had our opportunities, enough opportunities, there in the fourth to close it out, particularly when we had the four‑point lead, and offensively we just did not execute and get shots or the type of shots we wanted going down the stretch. So we have to gather ourselves and get ready for Game 3, and that's our only focus right now. Q. Erik, can you talk about the two possessions, the last two turnovers by LeBron. Was it a matter of guys not being in spots, was it the way they smothered him? Is it just on LeBron? What happened in those two sets? COACH ERIK SPOELSTRA: It happens. They made two good defensive plays with deflections. I would run that again, if I had the opportunity again. So would LJ. That happens. You have to give them credit for the active hands. The possession before, if the ball would have gotten to Ray, I think he would have had a very good, clean look at it. And those are the breaks of the game. We just have to be a little more efficient going down the stretch. We had more opportunities than those two, even in transition and a couple of the turnovers and a couple of the looks that we took weren't necessarily our best opportunities. Q. Can you talk about the lack of support system. Your outside shooters Shane and Ray struggled through there. Dwyane, I know you are saying he does what's needed. In a game like this when he winds up with 14 points, maybe a few more would have helped. Is there enough support system there or is LeBron being asked to maybe do a little too much with an effort like this? COACH ERIK SPOELSTRA: We're not going to change from one game. Look, this series is very close. The lead changes. We had opportunities at the end. Everybody was raving about our depth last game and that we have an incredible amount of depth. That's one of our major strengths. And we'll continue to go to it. And we have full confidence in those guys. The storylines will change, but we know the deal. It's a very close series. We have to play well, we have to finish, we have to close out games. And we're hoping to do that in Game 3. Q. It's so rare for us to see LeBron make mistakes in crunch time. Can you ever recall two back‑to‑back turnovers like that in a situation like this? COACH ERIK SPOELSTRA: Again, it's not just those two plays. Those were plays to try to get us back into it. I think what we all are thinking about are the four‑point leads that we had going down the stretch. And we had I believe three opportunities to extend it. One in fast break‑‑ actually, two fast‑break opportunities and another execution that we could have extended that lead and weren't able to. One of them in transition went back to a three on the other end. We just didn't finish the game like we're capable of. Q. Erik, kind of playing off that a little bit, even when you were up four, even after Chris hit the three to put you up four, was there still a sense that there was still a bit of an uphill climb because of the tenor of the whole evening and you guys were playing from behind? COACH ERIK SPOELSTRA: No, that's playoff basketball. You deal with anything. The point is to grind, to go one possession at a time, put yourself in a position to win at the end and find a way. Regardless of how the game was going all the way up until that point with three and change, we're up four in our building. We're supposed to find a way to close out those games, and we didn't. You have to give them credit. They played well. And they took advantage of those opportunities from our miscues, either the turnovers or missed shots. That's not a guarantee they would be able to exploit that going down the other end. And they did. Q. LeBron looking for‑‑ it looked like both times he was trying to go to Ray. Did you see something that you can exploit with Ray being on the wing like that? COACH ERIK SPOELSTRA: No. Any of those options would have been there. We set it up with a screen. He has an opportunity to go downhill, make a play. He had been making those plays all night. It happens. David West made a deflection on the first one. Like I said, if it was there, I think Ray would have had a pretty clean look at it. But David West made a good play. And I don't even know who deflected the second one again. But he was matched up on Ray. But if there was any read that was open, LeBron was going to make. We have full confidence in him. We had plenty of plays and opportunities when we were up in the fourth quarter to close them out. Q. Erik, you talked about when you were up. You were up 4, Lance Stephenson hit a weakside three. Was there a breakdown or a good swing by them? COACH ERIK SPOELSTRA: It was off of our turnover in transition I believe. When we had an opportunity‑‑ it looked like we had an opportunity to go up six. We ended up turning it over, coughing it up and it went the other way. Before that I think we had a possession where we had another opportunity. Chris got a three‑point opportunity on that. We had opportunities to extend that. Didn't necessarily have to be a four‑point lead. We're used to extending those leads. It just didn't happen. Those are the playoff breaks. But it's a very close series, and you just have to put yourself in a position to win and make plays and finish the game. Q. Erik, you talked about their active hands, is there a team in the league that's more difficult to make a play against their set defense, like in those two situations where you turned it over in the final minute? COACH ERIK SPOELSTRA: We believe we're one of them. We have two very good committed defensive teams. And that's what it's about. These are the two best teams in the East. There's not a big margin of error either way. So you have to be able to finish. Both games are up for grabs going down the stretch. And we had leads in both of them. So we just have to go back, collect ourselves, and get ready for Game 3. Q. You talked about the breaks of the game in late‑game situations, a lot of randomness can affect the outcome. Do you feel as a coach you should be 2‑0 in this series or down 0‑2? COACH ERIK SPOELSTRA: It doesn't matter. This is what we are dealt with. I could spend all night thinking woulda, coulda, shoulda. They're probably thinking the same thing. We probably think we should have gotten both games. They probably think the same thing. That's inconsequential. It's Game 3 and it's likely to be another competitive game, you go down the stretch and you have to find ways to finish. We pride ourselves in finishing. Particularly when we have leads, to be able to finish. We just weren't able to do it tonight. So we have to go back to the drawing board and get ready for Game 3. Thank you. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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