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NBA FINALS: HEAT v SPURSJune 10, 2014Erik SpoelstraMIAMI, FLORIDA: Game Three San Antonio Spurs - 111 Q.  Why were they able to get so comfortable offensively so early in the game? COACH ERIK SPOELSTRA: Well, came out at a different gear than what we were playing at, and it just seemed we were on our heels the most part of the first half. And then when we started to get to a different gear in the third quarter, it was just tough to change the energy of the game. So you have to give them credit for really coming out with an aggressive mindset on both ends. Q. You guys were able to cut them and hold them to 15 points in the third quarter. What did you guys do different defensively in the third? COACH ERIK SPOELSTRA: Played a lot harder, a lot harder, and it will take that in this type of series for four quarters, and even then that doesn't guarantee anything. You still have to play well on the other end, and the empty possessions from the turnovers are obviously very tough to overcome. Q. For as great as they played obviously in the first half with 71 points and the 91% shooting at one point or whatever it was, was it frustration, disappointment, anger? What is the mood on your end right now just about the difference in the gears in the first half? COACH ERIK SPOELSTRA: Yeah, it's probably all of the above, you know, for everybody in the locker room. So we just have to regroup tomorrow and come out with a much better game on Thursday. Q. Obviously, the offense and the way they shot the ball told a story, but how much did the turnovers hurt? And where are you right now with your point guard play? COACH ERIK SPOELSTRA: The turnovers definitely flattened us out and came at various points either to start the game to get them rolling, the pick sixes. And then throughout the course of the game the timely ones that either we were starting to shift the momentum and that just got the momentum back in their favor with the turnover. It's a big‑time possession series both ways, so you have to be able to take care of the basketball, you have to be able to rebound. You have to hopefully force the other team into mistakes. They won that battle clearly tonight. Point guard play, we'll stick with those guys, and clearly they're important to us. Q. Coach, it appears you're obviously frustrated with the energy of the team. Would you call this the most frustrating loss of the season, and how would you best describe the way you guys came out? COACH ERIK SPOELSTRA: Yeah, I don't know. I'm not going to actually try to grade it. What it feels like is the Finals, and you have to deal with all the emotions that happen in The Finals, frustration, anger, pain, elation, all of it, and it can swing back and forth. It's a long series. We have to be able to manage this, and it starts with tomorrow owning it. That will be the process that we all have to go through together, not individually. We have to go through that together and somehow collectively come out with a much better response on Thursday. Q. Was there any message you gave the team afterwards? COACH ERIK SPOELSTRA: Briefly, briefly, but it's not about that right now. The message will be tomorrow when we get together. Q. Last year Game 3 blowout. You were down 2‑1. Do you want the team to remember that or draw anything from that experience last year? COACH ERIK SPOELSTRA: Yeah, I don't know. In the back of your mind possibly you can have that, but every series, every situation is different. What we know is we have to bring a much better response. We have to play much harder, much more efficient to give ourselves a chance to win. It's great competition. You know, that's what this is about in The Finals, and we're dealing with those emotions right now. Q. Coach, you gave San Antonio the credit, and you mentioned a couple times that you're in The Finals. How does a team in their fourth Finals come out in The Finals, their first home game and get beat to the ball to get stomped the way they did? The kind of heart that your championship team has, to come out tonight like they did mentally has to be something that's a problem. COACH ERIK SPOELSTRA: Clearly. Q. How did the adjustment of starting Diaw affect the first quarter? COACH ERIK SPOELSTRA: Not sure. It's tough to say. That's been their most efficient lineup of the series. Actually for the whole playoffs it's been a big plus. We figured at this some point they'd probably go to it, if not they'd play that lineup big minutes. But it wasn't any one guy. It was the force they came out with and some of the mistakes and empty possessions we had offensively. Q. What was the cause and effect there that helped, I guess, trigger Leonard in the first quarter? COACH ERIK SPOELSTRA: He just came out extremely aggressive. And that's what happens in the playoffs often times. They've been beaten up a little bit in the media for a couple days, and he had a great response tonight. Q. Was there a particular reason that you saw why Lebron struggled in the second half as to where the team caught up to seven with him off the court? COACH ERIK SPOELSTRA: Well, there were minutes where he was on the court, so it's a collective effort. We had to peck away. We're trying to come back from a big deficit. We were just trying to get it within striking distance, and that was our best chance to get it to that distance. But he really expended a lot of energy before that to get us over that initial hump. So he was in during one of those big runs. Q. So it was fatigue for Lebron in the second half? Is that kind of what your assessment was to cause him to struggle? COACH ERIK SPOELSTRA: No, I don't know where you got that from. Q. Because you had said he expended some energy getting to that. I was more asking about Lebron in the second half. COACH ERIK SPOELSTRA: Okay, thank you. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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