Postgame Interview: Erik Spoelstra

Postgame Interview: Erik Spoelstra

How do you sum this up uh it’s a tough loss um we’re well aware of that um and you know Washington made some plays you know down the stretch uh this is not at all I know my basketball team this is not a case of uh overlooking an opponent

Uh we came in with a a disposition um you know and and the right mindset you know to approach this game but this is what uh you know competition you know is about sometimes uh you know uh another team will just make more plays uh as frustrating as that may uh be um

You know and even the two games that we just lost on the road I know I know the team in the locker room we approached both those games uh to win and I thought we did enough you know in all three games uh to win and we just

Didn’t do it and so uh you know we dropped this one um we’ll have to live with those results but you know that this is also why we love this profession we love all the context and pressure uh at this time of year um and we didn’t

Handle our business in in these three games but you know I know there will be teams in the East that don’t as well and we’re not leaving it up to them you know we’re just going to have to focus on ourselves but uh this is uh a Haro harrowing ride

Um and our our our group has the right intentions uh we will just take a day off tomorrow recalibrate uh and get ready and prepare practice on Tuesday for a big game uh on Wednesday what was your view of that final possession was it plan to go for the win in that

Situation or no not necessarily you know just the get the right available shot we were fully ready to take a a timeout you know if necessary uh and I thought we got two great looks at it I I thought the last four three-point looks we got I

Thought all four were going down uh and would that have made things you know different yeah you know they made theirs down the stretch uh and and a lot of that happened in in the two previous games as well you know we missed some shots they made theirs uh you know this

One do you know is painful we have a bunch of competitors in our locker room nobody’s you know feels great about this uh but we just have to you know get some rest recalibrate and and focus on this all these games down the stretch how

Many do we have left 18 yeah uh you know this is why I love this time of year because every team is going through it and you feel like it’s only you uh that are going through something like this uh everybody’s going to have the context and pressure and expectations uh on the

Games uh down stretch they have meaning uh it’s not as if we have to talk about the standings everybody’s well aware of the standings especially the competitive nature of the group that we have uh but you also cannot be overwhelmed with everything what we can focus on is our

Rest tomorrow we do need that uh I think we’ve had five and seven or something like that and and a crazy travel day and getting late and that’s not excused that’s not why we lost at all Washington you know made those plays down the stretch but we we can get some rest and

Get ready for practice on Tuesday and prepare for a big game on Wednesday Washington hadn’t been making a ton of Threes before and then they had that stretch the middle of the fourth did you feel like those threes were any different than what they were getting before they came about differently or is

That just Varian yeah I think it’s always dangerous they did get to a little bit of a comfortable Rhythm you know in the second half you know so that’s my view of it some of it is the karma yeah we held them probably you know six eight points under their

Average uh but um they were getting to their game a little bit too too much you know in my my view um they’re getting some of uh the free throw attempts the drives uh the um you know passes over the top versus our switches and that that created some

Over reactions and they got some open shots out of that now once you get some open shots you see the ball go in it becomes a different thing if we’re defending the way we’re capable of uh and making it physical doing things with force and just as importantly with

Discipline and if that’s the only shot they’re left with and they didn’t have the Rhythm I think the context is totally different uh but at that point you know you get to the last six minutes of the game you don’t want to give anybody anything any kind of airs space

Especially when we’re playing you know possession games you don’t want to DARE anybody uh and they made us pay you know for that so at that point the analytics are all out you can’t look at anybody’s percentages um you know with all that said they also made all of those and and

We missed some of ours and and that’s that’s what you have to live with okay thank you Lo

Mar. 10, 2024 – Erik Spoelstra speaks to the media following Sunday night’s game vs. the Washington Wizards.

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