Dean Wade | Cavs vs Celtics Post Game | 3.5.2024

Dean Wade | Cavs vs Celtics Post Game | 3.5.2024

So where is score outscoring the Celtics in one quarter by yourself rank for you rank’s pretty high pretty high yeah it was uh felt good fourth quarter uh the rim looked really big J was saying when you guys got within 15 you felt like this was possible is that how you felt

Yeah absolutely uh you know we were at a timeout early in the fourth we were down I don’t know if we were down 13 or 16 and uh you know from that time out we came out hit a few shots and then I felt like the whole momentum just kind of

Shifted to us and um from then on I really didn’t look at the score until like the last three minutes of the game and you know we were just playing basketball flowing it it felt good and um we were hitting shots so it helps Chris hey D what did uh Travis say to

You after the game he said he was looking if uh you know basketball didn’t work out for me and I wanted to be a backup tight end you know I got good hands so yeah he was just uh he was like yeah that was just awesome for quarter you

Know blown up like that was was great um so it was pretty cool what did it mean for you as as a Chiefs fan to have your biggest NBA night with him sitting cour side oh it was cool it was cool it really was uh you know my teammates were just giving me

Crap in there for that but uh no it it was pretty it was pretty cool and it looked like from the beginning of the game as soon as you stepped on the court you had confidence you were running with your hand up and looking for the ball obviously your

Teammates want you to have that confidence on a daily what made tonight make you feel like that from the very beginning uh so you know beginning of the game um I think I missed my first one made my second one um and then the first half I I missed the rest of them

But uh you know I went to halftime and you know my teammates were just like man like teammates and Coach staff they like you shoot 100 times in a row I don’t care if you miss all 100 you’re going to shoot him every single time and uh you

Know them having that confidence in me um really motivated me and gave myself confidence and um came out in the fourth quarter and just you know they found me every single time I was open they you know the ball was in my hands um when I

Was open and perfect timing and so um you know I just got to give it all to like my teammates just having that confidence in me you were able to also provide on a defensive end and actually got back on to do an offensive rebound

For a footb back to win the game to do so many different aspects of the game what did that mean for you to see your entire game come to fruition uh you know just it’s just playing hard really um you know I knew especially that you know

Last you know those big shots in games um a lot of people you know on the defensive end you know I caught myself doing it a couple times but um they take that last shot and everyone just turns their head and looks and it’s a perfect time to go get offensive rebound that’s

What I was thinking um and he missed it and it luckily came off the front of the rim and it was it was an easy put back but uh you know just all those little things I was just trying to get out there run the floor as hard as I could

Um going for all the offensive rebounds and then on defense you know everyone relies on each other on defense and I didn’t want to be the person to let him down that’s my whole mindset thank you s Dean self obviously the best record in the NBA practically fully

Healthy for you guys to come back from 22 with 9 minutes left in the fourth quarter what does it say about the character of this group uh you know this group you know we just we just never stopped fighting um we got full belief in uh ourselves and each other um and

You know tonight really showed you know no matter what happens we we’re going to play hard and play together and you know the fourth quarter really showed that for us I think you said it was until 3 minutes that you started looking at the score right at what point though did you

Realize like all right you you guys could have this thing um you know when that momentum shift happened in the fourth quarter you know you’re kind of aware of the score but you’re really just kind of in the flow of the game you’re not really U worried about

Anything but making the right play and um you know when I looked up there I think we were either down two or down four something like that I was like oh yeah momentum’s on our side we’re playing well right now defensively we’re getting stops um I think we’re good

We’re in a good spot and then how much of that momentum could you feel throughout the Fieldhouse tonight ah it was it was rocking it really was at Fourth quarter uh some shots went down and that place was jumping it really was it was awesome um crowd was into it like

Always um it was just a great energy in the building really so so that’s the mindset when the momentum starts to turn what are you thinking when you’re down 22 in the fourth uh you just need some some you know bounces to go your way and

Uh you know you got to keep playing hard um and you know once once uh you know maybe get a stop on defense momentum starts to kind of shift but uh um you’re really just looking for those small plays get a couple stops kind of push it

To 18 and then from then um just keep momentum rolling what can a win like this do for you guys you come out of the All-Star break not the way you wanted to Donovan’s banged up Evan goes down tonight just what can to win against the

Top team in the league yeah uh I mean that team is is is really good um they’re in first place in the NBA you know for a reason um you know they’re they’re a great team um you know we’ve been struggling since All-Star break but

I think this this win and um build some momentum off it you know kind of take it here for the next couple weeks but uh you know this one’s going to give us a bunch of confidence and uh you know you know we’re still a good team as well and

We got to remember that and you know we had a little rough rough stretch here after All-Star break but uh um you know just getting back to the winning what we were doing earlier in the season and and there’s a reason we’re second and third

In the in the East right now so um we just got get back to it and I think this win is is a good stepping stone for us to to get back to it can you articulate and like put in perspective just like what when you’re that hot in the fourth

Quarter what does that look like from your perspective like we have the different angle of it but just being in that head space what does it all kind of look like as it’s playing out in front of you uh man it’s it’s a great feeling it’s kind of like um your mind’s like

Quiet it’s just quiet and uh the rim looks huge that’s all I can tell you as soon as the ball touched my hand um you know I think I hit a three and they called timeout but that whole time run down the floor I was like if DG flips

This back to me no matter where I’m at on this court it’s going up and uh you know I just hit a couple before that and so my confidence you know I was hot and obviously DG Dro it behind him and um you know the rim looked like a swimming

Pool so um that helps so have you ever had a quarter or a game that compares to sort of that that that being that hot at one time m probably not since high school maybe before high school sorry no you’re good no I said maybe before high

School I don’t know I’m sorry last one Chris Dean Evan went out Midway through the third quarter so who knows if you finish the game or not um but you did tonight was was there any mentality once you learned that that Evan wasn’t going to return to the game that you had to

Step up you had to change your approach you had to be more aggressive anything along those lines is there a correlation um I think I mean obviously you know um you know when somebody important piece of your team goes down like that people got to step up and and make plays and um

I got to give a lot of credit to to um George you know we came out fourth quarter and he was like man empty the clip man it doesn’t matter we’re not going home with any you know if you got your shots shoot them every like every

Time uh we’re not going home with any regrets about this game um get them up and that’s what we did you know we were just free flowing we weren’t playing with any worry really we were just trying to play for each other and um um

The momentum was on our side and and we took good shots and um everyone found the ball and it was open and you know good shots so that helps okay it’s going to wrap the game

Cleveland Cavaliers forward Dean Wade spoke to the media following a 105-104 victory the Boston Celtics on March 5, 2024 at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.