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NBA FINALS: HEAT v SPURSJune 8, 2014Chris BoshSAN ANTONIO, TEXAS: Game Two Miami Heat - 98 Q.  How important was it to keep them out of the paint for the final four minutes? CHRIS BOSH: I didn't even know we kept them out of the paint, to be honest with you. It's always important. It's one of the first priorities in our defense, but against this team it's extremely tough because they spread you out, and they don't hesitate to shoot when they get opportunities. So we had to take the challenge one‑on‑one and do a better job with that, contain the pick‑and‑rolls two‑on‑two to give our backside defense more help and more opportunities to make plays. Q. Chris, if LeBron is the easiest target, where do you think you rank in the NBA?  And do you feel like the need to validate yourself all the time? CHRIS BOSH: I think validating yourself is a constant process. I really let that go a long time ago. I don't care about those things. I just care about the game. I focus on the game and what we're supposed to do with it. We have a chance to compete for another championship. That's all that matters to me right now. And to answer your first question, I'm probably the second. Q. What do you think about LeBron's confidence in you down the stretch even though he was hot? CHRIS BOSH: I mean, we've always played together unselfishly, since we came together. Just me knowing how LeBron is, you always have to be poised and ready to shoot the basketball. He's the most unselfish player I've ever played with, and especially with the talent that he has playing the game, the way he plays the game. He doesn't, you know, try to force anything. Even if he is hot, he'll still hit you if you're wide open. And that's what makes this team special because your best player is willing to sacrifice a shot, a good shot for a great shot. You just have to commend him for that. Q. As a fan of the game, just watching LeBron go off like that, what do you think about when you watch him go off like that? CHRIS BOSH: Get a stop so he can do it again. He makes it a little easier for our offense sometimes. It was a big spurt for him. As far as confidence is concerned, you know, that made them get out of their game plan and play him closer because he had his jump shot going. But when he does that, we want to make sure we capitalize and get timely stops. And that got us right back into the game. Q. On that last possession, was that basket by Wade something you drew up or a play you saw in the moment? CHRIS BOSH: It was a broken play they came and doubled LeBron and they denied him, so I wanted to make a play to the basket. Everybody was hugged up to the outside, trying to get steal and everything. As soon as I saw Boris step up, it's a part of our spacing. We had both guards and bigs to get down to that baseline and be ready to receive passes. He did a great job. He's done it before, so as soon as I saw it was Dwyane, I was able to make a good pass and let him do the rest. Q. Chris, LeBron made that same pass to you in the corner against Indiana and in Brooklyn. There was a lot of talk about those passes. But can you go through this particular one, kind of what you were reading when they left you in the corner there. CHRIS BOSH: No, I keep it simple, man. As soon as my guy leaves, one of two things are going to happen: LeBron is going to shoot it and I'm getting back on defense, or he's going to pass to me and I'm going to shoot it. I know some people always question the motive and, you know, your opportunity. When you have the chance you take it. He was unselfish enough, like I said before. I had plenty of time to shoot the ball, and you let repetition take over. Q. Your team has put together some impressive numbers when it comes to resiliency, 47 playoff games without losing two in a row, the way you come back when you're down 0‑1. Where is that coming from? Is it confidence? Is it fear in a way? What's playing a role there? CHRIS BOSH: I think everything plays a role in it. Yeah, you do have a healthy dose of fear and it makes you focus more, makes you play better, play harder. When your back is against the wall, it's a very unique feeling. Especially coming on the road, being in an environment like this; this is a tough place to play. But we still have to have confidence in each other, we still trust each other and we rely on each individual guy to do his job. When we do that, we just stick together and continue to motivate each other, good things happen. Q.  How did the substitution pattern in this game compared to Game 1 affect the way you guys played in the fourth quarter? Did you guys have more energy? CHRIS BOSH: I don't know if it gave us more energy. It was tough. After the last game‑‑ the last game was a very unique game, as everybody knows. But the last one we had guys in foul trouble. It was just a weird game as far as flow was concerned. Coach had a difficult time really responding to that. And he always makes good adjustments in hindsight. So coming into today, he talked to us and let us know the chances that we would have. And when you know that you're going to get a sub, you can play a lot harder, because you know that your guy is going to come in and back you up. And we have confidence in our bench and guys to come in and do their job. Q. So you told you guys before the game, we're going to do this differently. So don't worry about saving energy for the end? CHRIS BOSH: He didn't say that, but he said that the substitution pattern was going to change a little bit. So it's nothing out of the ordinary, nothing we haven't done before. If we make a substitution changes, we should continue to pick up our play. Q. Do you think the turning point of the game was when the Spurs missed four free throws in a row after the flagrant to Tony Parker and a couple of misses by Tim Duncan? CHRIS BOSH: I'm not sure. We still had to score after that. I don't think it was a turning point. They had an opportunity to stop us. We had to show a little bit of resiliency in that situation and put everything behind us and get a stop. But missed free‑throws are a part of the game. I don't think it was a turning point. The game was still back and forth and they still had the lead after that. So I don't think so. Q. When you see that, though, does that have any ripple affect on you guys when the team misses an opportunity? And it's Tony and Tim, those guys usually knock those down. Is there a ripple affect? CHRIS BOSH: It can be anybody who misses it first, but if you're in a precarious situation and they have a chance to capitalize and they don't, that gives you a little bit more wind to capitalize because it could have been worse. We were just thinking about getting a good bucket and not fouling and playing better defense down the stretch. Q. When people criticize your game, how do you block that out? When do you learn how to block that criticism out to make sure it doesn't affect you on the court? CHRIS BOSH: I don't care. That's the main part. I don't really care about criticism. If it doesn't help me, then I don't listen to it. Throughout my career, it's changed, ever since I've gotten here, but you just have to put that behind you. Everybody gets criticized, and I understand that. I'm not immune to it. To know that that's happened before, I'm not the first, I won't be the last. This team won't be the first or the last. Each guy gets picked on. But I think it makes you stronger as a person and I believe in my craft. I work hard at my game and that's all that matters. THE MODERATOR: Thank you. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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