The thing we wanted to do is jump on them quick. When a team is not having a good year, when you jump on them early and hit them first it's hard for them to get back up.
It's hard to play them when they're shooting the ball with that confidence. They did a good job running the ball and running 1,000 pick-and-rolls and they made their shots.
It doesn't matter what I think. It was a good lesson for ourselves -- for what we'll have to fight against the favored team. It showed us reality. It showed us that we'll only get what we give ourselves. It was good because we know we have to play a notch higher.
In the first half, I was aggressive and then in a very good scoring rhythm making buckets. In the second half, they had to do something. They started digging in and forcing me to pass the ball and I'm glad to do it.
I ain't gonna lie, I was aware of it. I know I needed the assists and I was hoping that Mike Miller was going to make one of those shots (in the fourth quarter). I had a good game sharing the ball and making the right decisions.
It was frustrating. We were turning the ball over without making them work for it. It was really an intense game for a while, and we had a very good chance to be right there. We lost it for a few minutes, and we paid for it.
We're a good defensive team. We've just got to stop them earlier. We've got to figure out a way to get them out of their rhythm and their plays. We've got to make them take tough shots and force turnovers. I'm really excited about Game 3 being a different story.
The coach has put a lot of trust in me to make good decisions in the post.
It was good the way we shared the ball tonight and made shots.
This was a good lesson for us. It lets us find out what's in store for us in the playoffs. Perhaps we have to step it up one notch.
It's all very positive. If Mike would get that, and me making All-Star team, it says how well we're doing collectively. We wouldn't be getting any individual awards or respect if collectively we weren't doing a good job.