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NBA EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: HEAT v PACERSMay 23, 2014Chris BoshMIAMI, FLORIDA: Practice Day Q. Chris, Greg said he could go out there and play for you guys in Game 2. What are some of the challenges of bringing a guy in who hasn't played in that long, just kind of inserting him into the lineup, the rotation? CHRIS BOSH: Well, it's tough on him to go from not playing to playing. It's extremely tough no matter what you do off the court, the training that you do, if you're working out extremely hard, the game is just a different beast, especially in the playoffs. So that's something we've always had in our back pocket, and if Greg is healthy enough and Coach feels he can give us some minutes, then that's great. Q. Just asked D‑Wade about the fact that you guys haven't lost any games at home this postseason, and he noted all the teams that you guys have lost to in the past in this building in the playoffs. Do you guys remember that? How important is it to you to protect home court? CHRIS BOSH: Well, it's always the most important thing, especially in a situation like this, having the home court advantage but not having as many home games as usual. This is just an order that we haven't played many times. I think right now it's extremely important. But we don't pay much attention to what our record is, home or away. We want to make sure that we're taking care of business. We need to play at a high level, and if we take care of the ball, we can do a better job of rebounding, we do all the small things, we'll have a chance to win. That's all you can ask for. Q. Paul George still not a certainty for Game 3 with a concussion. What are your thoughts about how to prepare whether he's there or whether he's not? CHRIS BOSH: We prepare for him like he's going to play. That's the best that we can do. If he doesn't go, it still really doesn't matter. They're going to run the same sets. We figure that more guys will be aggressive, and many so times it's harder to play guys‑‑ play a team when their main guy is out. So no matter what happens, we still have to play our game. We feel, if we get to our game, whether Paul is playing or not, it suits us better. Q. Why is it harder sometimes when a guy like Rasual Butler will step into the starting lineup? CHRIS BOSH: Because he's eager. He knows‑‑ I mean, guys want to do well. This is NBA. We're all competitive. Guys want to set the stage and play well for themselves, their team, their family, and show they can play. That's a major incentive to do well sometimes. Especially if a guy doesn't get to play much, he gets out there, he's like, hey, this is my chance. I have nothing to lose. He can play with a free mind, and that's a dangerous guy. Q. Do you think you guys have improved defending Roy Hibbert over the past year? CHRIS BOSH: Well, yeah. Before, there were certainly things we were trying to do. It wasn't really working for us, and that played to his advantage. I think now our coverages are a little bit better. They can get better as they go. But it's a work in progress. We still need to continue to play him well, try our best to keep him off the boards, and if we limit them to one shot, that plays into our hands and gets him running a little bit more, and that's the game we want to get to. Q.  When he tries to back you down into the basket, what do you have to do? CHRIS BOSH: Just stand your ground. We've played post defense on plenty of guys. He's not the biggest or strongest guy in the league. We're okay. Q. What do you think of Mark Cuban's comments yesterday? CHRIS BOSH: I don't know. It's a very interesting perspective, I guess. He feels a certain way, and he stands by it. But it's a sensitivity issue. It's one of those things where guys can be really sensitive. So he had some points, but at the same time, I understand what he's trying to do. He's trying to say, hey, this is me. He's trying to put himself out there. But you know there are consequences to that. We'll see how it goes. Q. Were you offended? CHRIS BOSH: Was I offended? No, I wasn't offended. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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