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NBA EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: PACERS v HEATMay 29, 2013Paul GeorgeMIAMI, FLORIDA: Practice Day PAUL GEORGE: Practice was good. We didn't really do too much. But we did cover some stuff that we need to work on going into Game 5. Q. How do you make sure this team doesn't get too overexcited? It seems you guys are still chill and doing what you do during the regular season? PAUL GEORGE: We stay even‑keeled. But this time around we've got to understand the champions are going to‑‑ they're going to come back ready to play a game. Them being at home should be another level that they'll kick it to. So we've got to come out and just match that energy. Q. Coming off a win, keeping the edge, it's very easy for the desperate team to come out and play well. Is it more difficult for you guys going into this thing? PAUL GEORGE: Not really. Not really. We just got to come out and continue to keep playing how we play. Don't let nothing distract us, but let nothing take away from what we do. Everybody play within themselves and continue to play how they've been playing this postseason. We know our defense, if it's as good as we want it to be, we'll have a shot at winning here. Q. Given the magnitude of these games and what you've been able to do at this point, has it been a challenge to remain patient when they sort of take it out of your hands and try to turn you into a creator with so much defensive help? PAUL GEORGE: It is. It is. Because I'm not a player to try to force things to happen. I usually just try to let the game come to me. At times‑‑ especially last night‑‑ not being able to be on the floor for as long as I've been playing on the floor, I just tried to make up for lost time being on the bench and tried to make big plays and be aggressive. Got to do a better job with that. But the good thing is we had Lance Stephenson last night. Q. You talked about going into the playoffs and not shrinking from moments and really looking forward to this. These are about as big a moments as you have seen to this point. What do you anticipate from yourself now? PAUL GEORGE: Continue to keep rising to the occasion and continue to try to lead, and be someone that my team can rely on down the stretch. Q. Roy talked a little about how relentless and resilient this team has been. How have you been able to keep that attitude? PAUL GEORGE: Again, just staying even‑keeled. How we play is that next play. Playing for that next possession and just forgetting whatever happened the last possession. It's been a key, especially down‑‑ when you're playing in postseason, because games can turn so quick, and possessions are so big. We just got to go with the flow and let that last possession kind of air out of our minds and get ready for the next one. Q. Earlier in the playoffs there's little longer breaks here and there. Sometimes it's stretched out too long, maybe. This is a game every other day. Now you're in the situation game, travel, game, travel. How much of a grind is this now? PAUL GEORGE: I mean it's a real grind. But we prefer it to be this way instead of having a couple of days, because you can lose your rhythm and lose your touch. I prefer‑‑ I think our team prefers to play every other day just to stay in tune, because we're playing great basketball right now. Q. You won in Miami already. What do you recall, reflect on that game, that allowed you to win down there? PAUL GEORGE: Well, we played a full 48 minutes. In Game 1 we played about 47. Going into OT that last couple of seconds we slipped up. We played a full 48 minutes in that win in Miami. That's what it's going to take. We did it on the defensive end. We got off to a great start. We were able to rally their comeback and still find ways to score late. Q. How good is Roy right now? PAUL GEORGE: He's playing phenomenal. Other than Timmy, he's been the best center in this game right now, thus far in this postseason. That's the reason why we've done so well. Because we're getting a huge contribute from the post‑area. Q. How much of a recognition do you have that that's where this team's advantage is and you have to take advantage of that in the post? PAUL GEORGE: Yeah, that's huge. That's huge. Because their half‑court defense is so tough to score on. Roy takes it upon himself to create opportunities for us. Myself, Lance, George, we try to get our buckets in transition and early‑offense strikes. But when it's late in the shot clock, Roy finds a way to duck himself down there and get some easy baskets for us. Q. Do you look at tomorrow like an elimination game? PAUL GEORGE: Yeah. Yeah. Because we want to come out with energy. It's a three‑game series right now. We don't want to have to rely on doing our work here to not get eliminated. So we want to continue to keep the pressure on them. Q. You brought up Game 1. In the back of your minds at all‑‑ here you are 2‑2‑‑ do you think what if at this point? PAUL GEORGE: Yeah, but it is what it is. We will‑‑ I will say ‑‑ settle. We have to settle for 2‑2. We wish it would have been 3‑1. We didn't take care of business when we needed to. So it just makes the job a little tougher. But that's the playoffs. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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