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NBA EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: HEAT v PACERSMay 18, 2014LeBron JamesDwyane WadeINDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA: Game One Miami Heat - 96 Q. LeBron, you guys played a solid game all the way through with the exception of the three‑point line you guys struggled with just 26 percent. What were they doing defensively to cause you guys so many problems? LeBRON JAMES: I don't think we played a solid game all the way through. We had a lot of mistakes, and they took advantage of it. Obviously, a three‑point shot is a big thing for our team, and tonight they weren't there. No one had it going. We had some really good looks. They didn't fall, and we just got to do a better job executing in the next game. Q. If you guys could both address this one: Your priority during the season was to be healthy for the playoffs, not the No.1 seed. Toward the end, Indiana almost fumbled it away. After a game like tonight and your recent struggles in this building, do you guys feel a little bit of regret that you guys weren't able to claim that No.1 seed? DWYANE WADE: I don't know, no. Everything happens for a reason. They played a good game tonight. They got Game 1 in their building, and we take nothing from what they were able to accomplish today. So this series is so much more basketball left. These are two teams that can win in both arenas. So not at all. Q. LeBron, what was the breakdown defensively? LeBRON JAMES: A little bit of everywhere. I mean, they got some threes early on. Our pick‑and‑roll coverage had a lot of breakdowns, including myself; I broke down a few times defensively, and we allowed them to get into the paint. I mean, they shot 37 free throws to our 15, which is definitely something that we can't duplicate going into Game 2. But we had some breakdowns throughout the game, and that's what resulted in us losing this game. As a veteran ball club, we will watch the film and break it down and be better prepared in Game 2. Q. LeBron, normally your team in the playoffs especially is really good at pick‑and‑roll defense. You kind of touched on it. Is that something that you all have to go back and watch film and try to figure it out, or is it just instinct? LeBRON JAMES: It will be a little bit of both. Just because you watch it on film doesn't mean it's going to be exactly how you want to play in it. You've got to be able to read and adjust on the fly. But I think going into Game 2 we'll be more mentally prepared for their actions and have a game plan of how we're going to cover their pick‑and‑rolls. They did a great job with their pick‑and‑rolls, with Roy setting it or David setting it and exploited us. Q. Besides cleaning up the pick‑and‑roll defense, what are some of the things you guys feel like you need to do in Game 2 to even this thing up? LeBRON JAMES: The game's still so fresh. It's too hard just to say, well, we need to do this better in Game 2. We need to evaluate our mistakes and things we did well in Game 1 first before I can say what we need to bring to Game 2. Tomorrow will be a game‑‑ I mean, will be a day when we watch film and start to prepare for Tuesday. Q. LeBron, going with Shane instead of Udonis, which I think you guys had spoken about was possibly more likely, put you at the four a little bit more. Against this type of physical team, considering the success you had with U.D. in last two games against them, one, were you surprised by the lineup? And how does this change the dynamic with you having to go in the four and play smaller against us? LeBRON JAMES: We wasn't surprised because Spo told us what the lineup was going to be. So we weren't surprised. It's got to be a collective group, not just one guys or two guys. We all have to get down there and help everybody out. They outrebounded us by nine. So we've got to do a better job of that. We will see. We'll make adjustments, and we'll be a better team in Game 2. Q. LeBron, following up on that, how did you think that the small lineup at the start affected the team? LeBRON JAMES: We just gave them too many points in the first quarter. We let George Hill get into a real good groove to start the game. And from that point on, I mean, they hit 30 on us, and we just broke down defensively, had a couple of breakdowns, couple of miscommunication errors. Like I said, which we will clean up. They took care of business Game 1, and we'll figure it out going into Game 2. Q. Dwyane, you guys have certainly been in this kind of situation before in The Finals at least, the conference finals. How do you guys move on from here? And what's the key to making the adjustments to getting back into a series like this? DWYANE WADE: It's easy to move on from it because you understand‑‑ we're a team that understands where we lost the game at. It's hard to make the correct adjustments in the middle of when it's going on. You can make some, but it's hard to make everything you need, but we will. Like I said, we're a team who owns up to the things we need to do better, and I believe the things that we didn't do great today, we'll do better in Game 2, and then it will be another challenge. Like I said, this is the first game. They drew the first blood, and we got to come and figure it out. We are a confident team. We feel that we can win here. We feel we have to play a lot better on the defensive end on the floor to be able to do that. Q. When your offense staled a little bit, the team's offense staled, you got in the paint with your floater. You're illustrious for it. Is that something that you have to continue doing as the series progresses? DWYANE WADE: We need to touch the paint. We need paint points. We need myself, LeBron especially, and Mario, to attack the paint to be able to open up our shooters so they can get into a better flow, a better rhythm. That's all I was doing tonight, just trying to be aggressive. Had some opportunities and just tried to take advantage of it. Q. Do you feel that Lance gets a little bit up for the challenge of guarding you and going against you? How do you think that matchup played out tonight? DWYANE WADE: I would hope so. That would mean I did something right in my career. Matchups in this game‑‑ I don't know the percentage of time we were matched up on each other, but Lance is a competitor, and I'm a competitor. So I'm sure we both enjoy it. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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