HEAT Head Coach Pat Riley

You said a couple weeks back that after the final game, you would reveal the bowl? Can you fill us?
The bowl was 120,0000 of these, that's all. We took on a slogan, a motto or whatever you wish, but it really was about 15 guys just being strong. There was a lot of, you know, conjecture throughout the course of the year about our team, about the character, about certain players, it wouldn't work, the chemistry. People don't know. People just don't know how much these guys really wanted it.

And so we just kept piling them in, 25,000. I had a little wheel barrel and I would dump a bunch in and Shaq would dump some in and we just kept building it up. A lot of people think it's corny, I don't. That's what it's all about.

You felt it would be special to win for Alonzo Mourning
All of these guys. I watch, G.P. and Zo, they are deserving. Shandon Anderson, the veterans, Antoine Walker, J Will, all of these guys that have been around. They have had great years and been producers.

But to be able to win a championship, it's very difficult to do it, but to make sure that they could, you know, end their careers knowing that one day, when they lay their head down on the pillow, they will never have to worry about this one again. This one has been taken care of.

I have two questions: You've had the privilege of coaching so many Hall of Famers over your years, can you talk about kind of I don't want to get ahead of ourselves, but where Dwyane Wade fits in in performance in these Finals, and do you recall getting drenched this much in the four previous titles as a coach?
Yes, I do remember those. Champagne baths were pretty common.

From a coaching standpoint, my greatest concern and fear was that I wasn't going to have enough for these guys, or for him. I don't think I've ever or we've ever depended on two players more or sort of built our offense around two players, and everybody accepted that. ,p>But he just took it to another level. He just took it to another level. You all witnessed it. You all watched it. Players like that are very hard to come by, and to watch them grow right in front of you, you know, he's making his legacy in his third year. So, I mean, we are so blessed to have him.

Congratulations.
Thank you.

Just how does this championship compare with the other ones that you've won?
I said it, I mean it, I'd give up six of them for this one. I just would have. I would have traded them all in for this one. Not that it's not disrespectful to any of them that I won. But after 18 years, and chasing, you know, you keep chasing it, you keep chasing it, you get tired. So this gives me a sense of absolute freedom from having to chase it, desperately chase it. So it's very special.

Breaking down Dwyane even more, has there been anyone you have felt as secure with the ball in his hand in the fourth quarter, above anything in the series, he also established himself as that kind of player.
Not many. You knew Magic was always going to make the right play, get the ball to the right person, be able to absolutely dictate the tempo of the game, and also make big plays.

But, no, I've never had a player like this or I have not been around a player who can absolutely at times beat five guys, and then at the same time, make great plays to players. The biggest play of the game was when he found James Posey. Pose hit I think the three in the corner. ,p>He kept finding guys all night. I was waiting for one of them to make a three. We missed about six or seven threes that were about wide open, but I think we hit a couple when we needed them.

You sat at this same podium after being down 0 2, and you're coming back here, and you told us about the Chicago series when you were down. What did you have to reach down and say to turn it around to get those three wins in Miami?
You can't talk about this all year long (holding up card) and when you get to some adversity, buckle. We went through it. In order to get the prize, you have to go through the fire, and you've got to go through it over and over. We went through it in tonight's game and I told them, you're going to have to fight that off again, they are going to come back at you, they are going to keep coming back at you.

I think at the very end what I had and what this team had was a team of established, strong, and settled players. I think at the very end, that's what wins for you, the experience, they are all established, they made plays when they had to make plays. I felt, you know, a very settling calm in the last minute and a half of the game. I really felt like we were going to win it.

My question, also, is about the motivation, when did you realize that you said the right words to trigger the right response?
You never know. All you do is keep throwing things against the wall, and some of it sticks and some of it doesn't.

We have a faith based team here. A lot of people don't understand what that means. It really is. You know, in order to in order to summon the courage and have the perseverance that we've had, to be able to overcome a lot of things as individuals, your faith transcends all of that. Once they really started to believe in each other and believe in what we were doing, sometimes it didn't look pretty, but I just believe that at the very end, there was enough courage and perseverance on their part to get it done. And they proved that and you can never take that away from them.

Were you surprised that some of the veterans like Payton, Shaq and Zo, they were following Wade's lead without calling for the ball themselves and they were willingly giving it up and passing it around?
Wouldn't you? (Laughing) All of those guys experienced the same thing for years and years, the ball kept coming to them, coming to them, coming to them, coming to them.

No, I don't think they ever deferred to him. They have so much respect for him because they trusted him. They trusted that he wasn't for himself only. They trusted that he was all about winning and that, you know, a team of veterans can turn over something to him that's valuable to them because they know he's going to deliver. So Dwyane is probably one of the most respected young players this game has had in a long time. I think he proved a lot in the last four games, this sweep, the last four games.

Thank you, everybody. You all have a good year. Thank you, and I'll see you somewhere along the way.

HEAT Center Shaquille O'Neal

Two years ago, you came to Miami, and you promised a title to this team. What did that mean to you when you made that promise, and what's your thought process and what does it mean to you?
I made that promise because of D Wade. I knew he was a special player. When I was making my transition from L.A. there was only really two places I wanted to go. One of the places was in the same conference and I knew I really wouldn't get traded there, and the other place was Miami, because of D Wade.

You know, I know that being on a championship caliber team, you've got to have a great one two punch, and D Wade is a fabulous player. I felt we could have got it done last year, I felt we could have got it done last year but we were just shorthanded and we had to suffer a little bit. We regrouped and people doubted us all year, but we're a tight knit group.

A lot of people wanted to know what was in that little bowl in the locker room, it was a bunch of cards that said 15 strong, a bunch of pictures of us and our family, a bunch of pictures of us hanging together. It was a very tight knit group. This was the real definition of team.

Now that it's over, what does it mean to you?
It feels good. I didn't have the type of Finals that I'm used to. They were doubling and tripling. D Wade told me they were going to keep doing that and he was going to take over the series. As you can see, he put up MVP type numbers. He was very unselfish about it. He still kept people involved. He took the high percentage shots. He's a great player, great player.

Again on Dwyane, what changed, you've had a chance to play with some of the best players in league history, what changed from Game 2 to Game 3 and to this point?
I think what changed is everybody was counting us out. Certain people up here was planning parade routes and all that stuff. It was just, you know, we knew that they just took care of business at home. We didn't play our best games up here.

When we saw that, that they didn't give us the respect that we deserved we just wanted to take it one game at a time. So it was 2 1, and 2 2 and 3 2.

Funny story. On June 8th Pat Riley told us we were going to win on June 20th. He said, "on June 20, I'm guaranteeing you that you guys are going to win."

How about Dwyane and the way he played his game, in Game 2, he seemed very tentative, but we have not seen that from him in the last four games?
He wasn't tentative. He was just trying to keep people involved. You know, it's our job to make him look good, and, you know, a lot of people didn't play well in Game 2, including myself. ,p>But like I say, we knew that we were going home and we just had a chance to take care of business at home.

Are you surprised that the Mavericks became as tentative seemingly as they did and didn't drive later on in the game?
I don't think they couldn't drive. You know, Udonis was doing a great job on Dirk. I switched out on them a couple times. We were just trying to make them do something else. We knew Terry and Dirk were the option, so we were just trying to stay in front of them, just try to make them do something else. But Dwyane, you know, just took over the game, Pose hit a couple shots and we just played good team ball.

Like I said, we've known since the 8th came that once this day game, that we were going to win it.

When you were in Los Angeles, Kobe Bryant would have games similar to Dwyane Wade's last two games. Kobe would start out slow and then take over the game in the fourth quarter. You've played with Kobe at age 24, and how do you compare Dwyane Wade with Kobe at the same age?
I don't compare. They are two different type of people, two different type players. I just know that Dwyane Wade is a great player, very, very humble, keeps everybody involved and he's the reason why I came to Miami.

You know, I don't do comparing. Both of them are very, very hard to stop. Both of them are fabulous players. This year, you know, Dwyane is the champion.

To go back to when Pat said 6/20/06, he said it after probably the first loss of the playoffs and then you get behind 13 with six and a half to go in Game 3 of course. When he said that, deep down, what was your reaction? Was there true belief that you could turn it around so quickly?
I believe, man, I just knew that we had to take care of business at home, us being down 13 down, we've been doing that all year. You know that. We've been doing that all year. We had to just get kicked around a little bit and just say, you know what, we're tired of getting kicked around and we'll just have to bring it back. So we were more used to that than any other team in the playoffs. You know, we just once we got that win, it was like, okay, we played a horrible game, but we beat these guys. Now we'll just play a better game.

Game 4 was a little bit better and then Game 5 started out a little slow, took it over time and was able to win Game 5.

HEAT Guard Dwyane Wade

Congratulations. You're going to hear it, you've been hearing it now, you're going to hear it the rest of your career, the comparisons to Michael Jordan. Did you get in a zone these last four games, you just feel it and you know it's going in?
No comparison. My greatest role model as an athlete. Besides my father at home, he was kind of like my second father because he's the guy that I watched and felt like I was a part of Michael Jordan. The comparisons is flattering, but at the same time, I always stay away from them because there will never be another Jordan.

All I can do is continue to go out there and play the way I know how and hopefully there will be someone sitting up here that y'all can mention my name with theirs. That would be good.

Can you talk about the will to win that you put forward and especially these four games; you put this team on your back and you carried them.
I don't want to say I put this team on my back. You know, we did it together. Like Coach said, like we all been saying, it's been 15 strong. Now they gave me the opportunity about putting the ball in my hand, and my will, man, to prove people wrong, to not worry about what people say about me; when I came in the series, it was I can't shoot. I don't know where they got that from. So I proved to them I can shoot and then after that, I proved to them I can play and that's all I tried to do was prove the people wrong all the time.

To kind of go along with what you just said about proving people wrong, this team heard all year, a 30 loss team, there's no way you were going to beat Detroit. You get down 0 2, there's no way you're going to win this series. Winning the Championship is obviously the pinnacle, but how much sweeter is that you guys did overcome so much doubt, with Pat coming back and Stan stepping aside and all of the things that went on all year, how much sweeter does that make this?
First of all, we're a team that never complained about nothing that happened. We lost 30 games, we lost Shaq for 18 games early in the season and everybody forgets that. We were a team that didn't have an identity and then we had a coaching change so we had to switch then.

We knew inside this team was built for this team was built for the playoffs and we understood that. That's what makes it sweet, because not at one moment did one of us not believe in each other, no matter if you see me in the Chicago series, go after each other for 15 seconds or see Posey get thrown out in the first rounds. No matter what in the locker room it was always 15 strong.

About three and a half minutes left you got to the ball in the right wing, three Mavericks are within three feet of you, the other two watching you, when did you become aware that Pose was open in the corner?
Well, I knew he was open. Just about me seeing the defense. When they came out in the second half, I knew they was going to try to get me off the ball. They had to try to do something different, so I told Pose to be ready to shoot and shoot it every time. I told him and J Will the same thing. I told him and J Will the same thing. Pose is a great shooter, the best shooter we have on this team. He made a big shot to put us up 81 87 81, I believe.

Give Dallas a lot of credit, this is a good team, they will be back, no question about it. We wanted it and we took it.

After you guys fell down 2 0 and there was so much, so many people wrote you guys off and even here in Dallas, they printed parade routes for a victory parade. Was that any kind of motivating factor? Did you guys talk about that?
No question. It was very motivating. I think in Game 2, coach before the game showed us an article that was written, I won't say who it was written by, but it just said "Unworthy Opponents." We were unworthy to be playing against this team after one game, blew my mind, blew our teams's mind. I kept that in mind. Still got that article.

This team played great the first two games but we took it back home, and when we came back down 13, that really showed that we deserved this and deserved to be here. We took it from there, making history, winning four games in a row, it's not easy, but we did it. So it's just sweet.

Dwyane, growing up outside Chicago, watching Jordan, how often after he would put on performances would you go out and copy those moves and can you take us back to dreaming of becoming that guy?
I'm a big dreamer. I think you've got to dream in life to know what you want. I remember when the Bulls won their first championship, sitting at home on my floor watching the games. And then Jordan did his shot, famous shot, I went right in the backyard, turned the lights on and couldn't do it myself. I had no athletic ability, I was young. Every time I seen Jordan or Pippen, my favorite players, do anything, I always go in the backyard and act like I was part of the team or two, playing against them guys.

Like I said I've been a big dreamer all my life and I'm going to continue to be a big dreamer. The Bulls was a special team and I'm just happy that I can sit up here and talk about them now.

Do you think kids will do the same thing with you now?
I don't think I had any moves like that. (Laughter) I don't think I did anything special like that in the series.

You know, to me, it's still crazy when I walk around and I see people wearing my jersey, people wearing my shoes, people out there, the demand for "Wade" stuff, it's truly a blessing and still weird to me. I'm sure some kids will go in the backyard and try to be like me, and that's great. But it's one kid that really does it, and that's my son at home. I see him do it every day. He want to be Dwyane Wade, and, you know, it's just great, man.

What did you think the first time Coach Riley introduced the ball with the cards in it, and what did it come to mean to you during the series?
Well, it started off very small, something he just threw in the middle of the floor early on, and we didn't understand at first until he explained it. He said that's what it's all about. He walked around and gave everyone a card, that says, we're 15 strong, there's a lot of doubters out there, and the only way you can do this is stick together. Every game he put more and more and more. It just got bigger and our belief just got stronger and stronger in each other. So, you know, Coach Riley, everyone knows, is one of the best motivational speakers to ever live, and he motivated this team many a times to help us go out there and bring the National Championship, world championship, to Miami. So, I can't wait to get to Miami, man. Man.

This team always believe, you don't get a Gary Payton to come down here, you don't get an Alonzo Mourning to come back, you don't get an Antoine Walker to come down here. After we had a good team last year, if it wasn't a belief, if guys didn't want to take their roles, everyone has a role, Shaq has a role, Antoine has a role and everyone accepted their roles. That's the reason we're sitting here today, smiling, feeling good with champagne all over.

Thank you, guys.

HEAT Guard/Forward James Posey

How did this team come together?
Just accepting your role and going out there and doing the best you can and that’s what we did. It took us a minute, but we stuck together and we worked together. Everybody did what they needed to do to get us this far here.

Tell us why you were so much better in this particular role? What was the transition for you?
Like I said, it’s all about winning. So whatever I could do to help this team win that’s what I do. Like I said, I tried to do the best I could, regardless of whatever, I did the best I could.

Does winning an NBA Championship feel as good as you thought it would?
Yeah. You’ve seen it on TV. I’ve seen it on TV, all the celebration going on, the bubbly is spraying everywhere. Everybody here is just excited and happy because this is our ultimate goal. Our ultimate goal is to win it all, to be a champion. It’s official now.

Talk about the team effort defensively.
Everybody did a good job. We tag teamed on them. We just made them work for everything and that’s key. It got us to this point and I think tonight when he (Dirk Nowitzki) was tired out there tonight and his shots weren’t falling, we made him work for everything. That’s all we did, we stuck with it, we kept playing.

HEAT Forward Udonis Haslem

How satisfying is this for you, going from an undrafted player to an NBA champion?
All my life I have never been given anything and this is the same situation. And the team, nobody ever gave us anything this year. We lost the first couple of games and no one gave us a chance, but we kept fighting and stuck together.

What do you feel right now?
Man, I’m just trying to hold my tears back. I’ve been crying for the last 15 minutes. I love all these guys and we just kept fighting when nobody gave us a chance.

Was there ever a moment when you or anyone doubted this would happen?
I never doubted this team. We’ve been bouncing back all year, but the thing about this team is the love and respect and we knew we would get better and that’s what we did.

HEAT Guard Gary Payton

What was the most important thing Pat Riley told you guys to do during The Finals?
He just always told us to play together. Stay strong – 15 strong, and we’d be champions. And that’s what we did. Today he gave us great inspiration when he took his mother’s chains and his daughter’s chains and his five rings and they were all on one chain. And he said he’d give up all of his rings if we could get one – so come out and play like one. Don’t be watching, leave it all out on the floor – and that’s what we did.

How does it feel for you to get one?
It feels great. It feels good. I’ve been working hard, for sixteen years trying to get one and now I’ve got one. And this, it’s beautiful. To have the opportunity to have this and hold this (Payton is holding the Trophy) – it feels great.

Are you going to think about your future?
No, I ain’t going to think about anything. Thank you very much.

When you lost in 2004, did you think you were going to get another chance to get one (a championship)? Did you think that was going to be your last year?
I don’t know. We can’t say that. We can’t predict the future. I know that this was a good team and we came to pull together with each other. We can’t think about what would have happened – but it’s all here now.

Dallas Mavericks Head Coach Avery Johnson

There was a time there when you had several quick 3 pointers that went awry; was that kind of the start of the beginning of the end there?
Yeah, we were in a situation there where we came down and took two back to back threes and missed both of them. That kind of changed the momentum. But we still had a chance to win.

I am just so proud of our team. Just before somebody asks, I'll just tell you that I just told them how much I love them, through thick and thin. I loved them during the 13 game winning streak, the three game losing streak in the regular season, this four game losing streak. I told them that I loved them, I think that we've made a lot of progress this year. We got knocked out in the first round two years ago, second round last year. We aimed high this year, and I told them that a lot of teams have to go through this.

This is going to really hurt this summer, and I hope it makes them work out harder; it makes me a better coach, because I'm willing to try it again.

You came short of your goal for the Championship, but can you still look back, will you still be able to look back and say that you had a great season?
Well, again, it all depends on what you how you determine great. You know, for us, I would say a great season is actually winning it. But whatever the step below that is, you know, that's what we've done. When we took over, we talked about aiming high and winning a championship. We didn't talk about getting here. But this was a tremendous learning experience for our players and coaches. And you can't really get this good on the job experience like this until you're here.

So we came up short. We know they don't give any awards for coming in second, but we've provided we provided an awful lot for the whole City of Dallas and our families and fans. We don't have anything to necessarily be ashamed of.

As far as Dirk in the fourth quarter, was it something that they were doing or it just seemed like it was tough for him to get opportunities.
Well, we tried to get him the ball. You know, in that last play there, we really didn't we didn't want Shaq in the play, but he got in the play. They were trying to trap him just as much as we were trying to trap Wade and get the ball out of his hands.

But Dirk's a warrior. He tried. No excuses. Miami deserved to win. They have had an incredible year. Like I said early on, I don't think when the season started anybody picked Dallas and Miami to be in The Finals. So take your hats off to them. We've had a lot of highs and lows. You guys have seen me at my best and at my worst this series. I just think it's no excuses. They deserved to win, and we'll come back.

You left hear up 0 2, and it seemed like it was right there, the difference in these four games was Dwyane Wade. Can you talk about his performance and how it just seemed that he just had a will to win?
Yes, he did. And you know, some of that stuff, you just can't teach, all right. When a player is making those kind of plays, it's really no tricky play. He's beating double teams, he's beating triple teams. There's no tricks there. It's a straight isolation play.

But he had a lot of will to win. You've seen a lot of players, like Jordan, a lot of players in history that have really had those type of performances. We tried a lot of different things, but he just had a lot of desire to get it done.

How do you build on next year to go to the next two more games that you were lacking for this year?
You know, really, I didn't plan on giving this speech. So I think more than anything, you know, you've got to try to keep your core together. Like I said, we've fought a lot of adversity, especially during these Finals. We've had a guy suspended; Mark's gotten fined. We've had a lot of different things that happened throughout the course of these Finals. But our guys, they are fighters, all right. We've kind of shared that label of kind of being a soft team. I don't think you can be soft and try to fight through a lot of the stuff we did. We had a chance to win Game 3, came up short. Had a chance to really win Game 5 without Stack, and had a chance to win this game. But the ball didn't bounce our way, no excuses.

In the third quarter, Marquis Daniels comes off the bench and takes the ball to the hole and steps it out. You talk about will; how pleased were you with his performance?
Again, he gave us a big lift right there. In that stretch, you know, his fiancee was in labor, so he got to the game late, so what a valiant effort by Marquis tonight.

Do you feel that Game 3 was the turning point in this series?
Well, you know, that will be debatable. We were up 12 and we didn't put a finish on it. Normally we play really well in the fourth quarter. Obviously we had won that game, then we would be playing a Game 7, had we lost these three games.

It will be something that we will go back and look at. Again, we shoot 37 percent from the field tonight. You know, we shoot over 40 percent, we probably have a chance to win this game.

But I go down with my guys. I'll try to get better this summer. They will try to get better. But we've had an incredible year, and I think you guys have been really fair to us.

Mavericks Forward Dirk Nowitzki

Fourth quarter as far as you getting opportunity, it seemed to be a lot less. Was it something that they were doing, that you weren't able to get the ball as often as you would have liked?
Well, you know, I had a couple looks there, two or three, that I should make. Obviously once I drove, they really collapsed in the lane and had to kick it out. But, what can I say? I mean, it's a tough loss.

You started off fast and you started going inside and that's when you took the 15 point lead. What happened to cause you to stop doing that and go back to start shooting from the perimeter?
I thought we really spread the game up from the beginning and that's what really got us the lead. We were pushing it. We were in transition, and that's really how we got the lead, not by going inside. We had good looks and we got to the basket. Obviously once we play against their set defense, they are really, really good. They just clog up the paint. They have got great shot blockers in there. Then you're forced to shoot jumpers.

I thought we didn't do a good job defensively after that. Obviously to get in transition, you've got to get stops. I wasn't doing that.

Dirk, they had a lot more players and coaches with a lot more Finals experience; what kind of role do you think that played?
Yeah, they made some adjustments. I thought once they got back home, they were great, obviously Dwyane was great. After Game 2, whatever, he was unstoppable. He really, you know, really won them the Championship. You know, from Game 3 when we were up 10, he just took over since then. He never let up. He was great.

So, yeah, they had some experience, we didn't, so obviously, I think a lot of good teams have to, you know, take tough losses and come back stronger next year.

How can you use this as a motivating factor for this season?
Well, it's tough right now. You play your heart out for, whatever, eight, nine months, every night and give it your best and play all the way until middle of June. You know, you make it to the final, to the big stage, then go home; second is tough. Right now, it's a tough one to swallow. But I'm sure that the more time goes by, we can be proud of what we did this year. I think we had a heck of a year. Nobody really expected us to come out of the West. We kept getting better and kept fighting. So we can be proud of what we did. But obviously, right now, the frustration is high. You know, once the summer gets along a little bit more, we can be proud of what we did.

What did you prove to yourself this NBA season and postseason?
To myself? Nothing really. Try to do more of the same that I did in the regular season and that's help the team win games. After, obviously, I had a disappointing playoff run last year and we got bounced in the second round, I thought we did a lot better obviously this year. We made it to The Finals. But like I said, we go home frustrated right now.

How do you not play or playing the What If Game, you're up 2 0 and you're up in Game 3, if Game 5 is a little different; how much "what if" do you do this summer?
Yeah, you always go back when some time goes by. You think about certain possessions, certain plays that could have gone either way, a couple bounces here or there. And obviously, yeah, that Game 3 was big. I mean, we were up ten, we had the game under control with a couple minutes left, and if we win that, the series is probably pretty much over, and we just maybe were starting to celebrate too early or I don't know what happened. We didn't execute and we didn't finish the game. In The Finals you've got to play for 48 minutes, not for 43 or 44. That was a tough loss and that really changed the whole momentum of the series. After that, they got confidence. They played a lot better afterwards. Everybody kept making shots. And, yeah, if you look back at that Game 3 loss, it was a momentum changer.

As you look at it and the way this series did slip away, you guys talked about being confident and being confident coming home, but was your confidence really too shaken after losing those three?
Ah, I don't know, I think we were confident that we could win at home. We won two at the beginning of the series, and we won big games at home all season long.

So I thought we were confident that we could win it. I looked in everybody's eyes yesterday after when we came home and today, and everybody felt good. And that's how we came out. I mean, we really came out firing from all angles.

So I think we were confident enough to win it. But obviously, they closed the gap and kept it a close game, and then we just didn't have it in the fourth, didn't have enough to win.

When did you feel tonight's game was slipping away?
Well, you know, it's a close game, so in a close game, you never feel a game is slipping away. Obviously, you're right there. We had a couple great looks at the basket from three that could have gone in, a couple bounces here and there. So in a close game, you never feel the game slipping away. But obviously when it went up five and down the stretch, we kept on hustling, we still had a shot to tie it. So it just didn't go in.

Of course, Wade was the MVP, but when you look at Shaq's play, what did you think about his play in the latter games and how effective was he?
Well, you know, everything starts with Shaq, really. The way he's dominant in the post, it opens up everything for the outside guys. If you don't double team him, he's just going to walk you under the basket and score every time.

So he kinds of makes you scramble and rotate all over the place, because he's still, you know, the most dominant player in this league. Obviously, you know, Dwyane was great, but everything starts with Shaq. They are both unbelievable players and they showed it in the series.

Mavericks Guard Jason Terry

What are you feeling?
Tough to look back on it right now, but we definitely gave it our all, and I really want to thank the organization and thank the fans, just for their effort. We definitely left it all out there on the floor. We just have to get back to this same level with the same group of guys, and take from this experience.

How would you describe tonight’s game?
We had our chances, same as just about every game in this series, and we didn’t capitalize. It’s disheartening on one hand, and encouraging on another to know we were that close. Hopefully we keep everything intact. We’ll get better, and we’ll really use this offseason to just get better, and take it to another level next year.

Are you committed to being back next year?
That will take care of itself. This is a great organization, with great people, and I wouldn’t trade this experience for the world. I’m looking to be right back here next year.

When do you feel like momentum shifted in this series?
It really didn’t. The momentum was in our favor in every game, with the exception of Game 4. We still felt confident every time we stepped on the floor, and we had our chances time and time again. It’s going to eat at us. It’s like last year. Getting knocked out in the second round was a learning experience. This year, we took it all the way to the Finals, and from here, we’re just going to keep getting better. The good teams and the great players get stronger from defeat.

Does the closeness of the losses really bother you?
A loss is a loss is a loss. We had our opportunity, but it just wasn’t our time. At the end, I have to take my hat off to the Miami Heat. They have a lot of veterans on that team, and this was there year. They played hard.

Mavericks Guard Devin Harris

What happened down the stretch of this series?
They played great the last four games. A lot of close games. We didn’t execute down the stretch of games, and the ball just went their way at times.

What was the difference in your team over the last four games?
It all came down to fourth quarters. Over the first three quarters of games, we were playing well, and they were able to make runs in the fourth quarter. Dwyane (Wade) really played great in those quarters. We just didn’t find a way to stop him.

How much did experience play a factor in this series?
I don’t know how much. They had a lot of first-timers on their team as well. I don’t know how much you can put into that. We’ve been playing the playoffs for over a month now. It’s hard to say how much of a factor it was.

In the first quarter, you guys were taking the ball strong, then as the game went on, began settling for jumpshots. Talk about that.
I really don’t know what happened.

What did Avery Johnson say to you guys after the game?
He didn’t say much. He just said he wanted us to stay together as a team. Let it hurt so bad that you want to come back next year and step it up to another level.

Was Jason Terry and Dirk Nowitzki both going cold at the same time too much to handle?
There was a point where we really struggled to score. We found ways, and we fought back. Give us credit for that. We even had a shot to tie it at the end, but it just didn’t bounce our way.