Jimmy Butler, Coach Spo, Bam x Caleb Martin React To Heat Game 4 vs Celtics | May 23, 2023

I know he'll get checked again tomorrow, but was there, what's the level of concern with Gabe? Um, yeah, we'll have to find out tomorrow. Whenever you ask these guys, they're like, I'm fine, you know, so, you know, we'll see. I didn't even see the replay of it. Um, yeah, okay. Coach, uh, want to talk about his grit, uh, when he went to the locker room and came back out. What did that, uh, mean to you? I mean, Gabe is as tough as they come. He was just like, he just wanted to, he said, let me retape it. Uh, we have a lot of guys in the locker room like that. Uh, you know, all year long they've been putting themselves out there. So, uh, yeah, that, uh, that's why he has so much respect in that locker room. You guys were able to build that nine point lead early in the third quarter. What kind of changed from there on both ends, um, as far as them starting to get hot from three and then maybe the ball sticking a little bit? Yeah, that, that's probably right out of my thought process. Um, you know, played a little bit slower, uh, um, and yeah, there, there wasn't a lot of flow to the offense. And then they, they capitalize on that, you know, you know, getting out in transition, which they've been trying to do is speed this thing up a little bit. And then they knocked down some threes, uh, um, and it just, you know, they got the, the two point lead just like that. Um, and then from that point, um, you know, they, they mostly had control of that second half. You have to credit them for that. They defensively, uh, uh, took advantage of our ball holding. Um, and we're, you know, a little bit, uh, late getting into our, our stuff. Um, you know, and they have, they have good individual defenders. So, you know, we have to do the same collectively. That's when we're at our best. Uh, and then obviously really dial into, you know, the transition and the threes, you know, when they, when they get, you know, a couple to go down, they're just like us, you know, then, then it, uh, can turn into more. That's what I was going to ask you about the three point shooting. I know it's a make or miss league, but was there something they did that kept you down on your three attempts at conversions and something you didn't do that? Let's let them have this sort of breakout game. Well, last game as well, they had 42 threes. Um, you know, they had 45 tonight. Uh, so they're not going to shoot that poorly, uh, you know, that many times in a row, particularly if they're getting some open ones, they got a lot of clean ones tonight. Um, so I'll have to see what kind of efforts or, and, or breakdowns, uh, we had with that. Um, and then, yeah, I think it's probably pretty easy to, to keep our three point shooting down. Um, you know, we just weren't doing things with a lot of oomph to it offensively. Spoke not to harp on the three, that was obviously such a big difference maker in the game tonight, as you were watching it, did it feel like they were getting cleaner looks to you? Or did it feel like maybe they were just catching fire a little bit? Uh, actually a little bit of both. I, yeah, I did feel like they got some clean looks, some definitely cleaner looks than they got in the first two games. Uh, but you, you, you have to give them credit. I mean, that's, that's who they've been all season long. Uh, so it takes extraordinary efforts and focus and a commitment, you know, to, uh, be in the right spot, um, and, and to get them off the line, but also make those second, third, fourth, fifth efforts, whatever's necessary, uh, to get it done. Um, for the most part on, on those threes, I think there were probably like one or two effort, you know, uh, plays, and it's not an indictment. Uh, our guys really want this, you know, it just sometimes, it just sometimes happens that way. Uh, you know, offensively, we just didn't get into a great rhythm. I thought offense probably hurt us as equal as, um, you know, some things with our floor balance defensively. Um, so we, we have some work to do to shore that up. Tatum had a, he had a handful of early turnovers and as the game went on, it seemed like you kind of stabilized. Is there anything that defense wasn't doing that you had done in the previous three games that maybe let him get some traction? Uh, you know, great scores, they're going to, to figure it out, you know, you know, at some point, um, you have to try to make it as tough as possible. He had some, some good clean looks in transition, open threes, kind of end of possession stuff. Uh, look, there's no easy way, you know, particularly when you get to this point, you're not expecting, uh, a great player like Tatum, uh, to have multiple, you know, off nights. You have to do things that will exceed it. And if guys bring their a game, we've proven that we can still win, you know, uh, regardless. Uh, I just don't think, um, that we made those necessary efforts, uh, focus. It wasn't all like, Oh, just lack of effort. It was, you know, all being on the same page, um, defensively when we're at our best, really disrupting the timing and rhythm, uh, even against great offenses and great offensive players. Uh, but you know, I think also, you know, the offensive, uh, I guess the offensive, I don't know how to say it, the stagnant, there's a, another word for that, but we were a little bit stagnant offensively that kind of led to a lot of that, uh, um, lack of flow, both ends. And that's a good point, uh, spoke just that the second half overall, when you see the shots aren't falling in that recipe of the turnovers to, um, just what stands out to you from that too, does that affect the flow to offensively for the heat? Yeah, both teams pride themselves on, uh, winning possession games. Uh, I have not glanced at this closely enough, but I think categorically they won the possession game. They won the transition game. They won the three point game. They won the, probably won the free throw game and they definitely won the rebounding game that that's tough to overcome. Now, even us, we can find ways to win, even if we lose all those, but that's not a good recipe. It seems like their pace really went up in the second half that allowed them to open up some of those three pointers to see, uh, from your team to kind of come back without a doubt. Uh, they're trying to speed it up. Uh, that's not like, uh, you know, that's a shocker. Uh, you know, that's, and that's also the lineup they had for most of the year. Um, a lot of, a lot of, uh, spacing. Um, so guys have gaps, uh, but we've proven that we can do that, uh, defend at a high level, even against high powered offenses. Uh, but it, it takes a great commitment, uh, and, uh, and stability offensively as well. Um, you know, so you can get in that flow. So you praised, uh, the focus of the group throughout the postseason. Are you concerned at all about the human element of a letdown of, Hey, we were at home, we were up three Oh, and we just couldn't close right now. No, I, I, I don't, I didn't sense any of that, you know, uh, at some point, this is great competition. You know, sometimes they can get skewed because, uh, whatever the three Oh, but we have great respect for Boston, what they're capable of. They're a dynamic offensive team. It takes extraordinary, uh, efforts and commitment, you know, uh, to get the job done. But Boston has something to say about it as well, just like we do, you know, uh, sometimes things don't go exactly, uh, as planned. Um, you know, a lot of what we've done this year has been the hard way, you know, and, and we've been able to figure out ways to win, even if the teams are playing well, if we're not in a perfect flow, um, and they got us tonight, you have to get, you have to give them credit for that. Uh, there's no doubt about it. There's no questioning it. There's not, uh, we're not wondering about that. You know, they deserve to win, uh, tonight. Um, we know we have to regroup and get ready for, uh, you know, a great opportunity, uh, in Boston. Okay. Thank you. Bam, you guys were doing such a good job through the first three games, keeping them up to three point line and limiting those, those shots. What went differently tonight where they were able to get hot, uh, from there? Say that again? Definitely tonight, what, since they were able to get hot from three tonight? Uh, I mean, we're doing differently. They made shots. Uh, they shot 50 from the field and 40 from three. Um, and this is, you know, we always said the last one to get is the hardest one to get. Uh, so we knew coming into this game that it was going to be desperate. Uh, and now we got, we got to finish business in Boston. Bam, this reminds me a little of after that game in New York, when you came into the interview room there and said you had to do better and how to do more, was there something specifically they held you down with tonight? And do you exit this game with that same feeling you sort of spoke to us about in New York? Uh, yeah, you know, I have four turnovers, uh, only shot the ball seven times. So, yeah, uh, I missed two free throws back to back. Um, so for me, man, next game's, uh, I gotta be better. Uh, Bam, it felt like Boston was maybe making a more concerted effort tonight to crowd the paint, uh, regardless of who got in there. Did you notice anything they did differently defensively that kind of changed the way you guys played offense? I mean, they're desperate. Uh, like I said, the back is, backs are against the wall. So, you know, they're going to play desperate. They're going to try to figure out ways to, you know, disrupt our, our, our game flow. But, you know, the biggest thing about us, we, you know, we got to retaliate. Bam, Jason can obviously, you can get his, his points, but was there anything that wasn't happening today defensively against him that maybe had been happening down the stretch of the last few games? Uh, I think he just got hot. Uh, you know, he's a, he, he's one of the tough players in his league. Uh, he got hot tonight. Bam, uh, closeout games seem to be hard, um, at home, but on the road, they seem to be harder. Um, what, what is it going to take for you guys to rally the troops and get the job done on the road? Um, after losing, uh, the first home game this post-season? I mean, come out and set the tone. I feel like that's the biggest thing, set the tone and, uh, stick to our identity and play more detailed basketball. Bam, obviously you, you mentioned your turnovers there, but obviously as a team, you know, they capitalize on it, on the turnovers that you guys commit, um, commit as a team. Uh, you, you mentioned the frustration, but can you stand out what stood out to the flow of the offense though, when you see that recipe, like I asked Coach Bull about the recipe of the turnovers and shots not falling? Uh, I mean, if you're turning the ball over and you're not getting shots on goal, it's going to be, it's going to be hard to win in this league. You know, the biggest thing for us is get shots on goal and take care of the ball. Like a lot of other people. Caleb, early on, uh, you and Gabe, uh, were providing a lot of energy points. There was a lot of aggression and then it just turned in the second half. Was there a specific reason, something you stopped doing, something they'd started doing? How did the energy of the game just switch so dramatically there? I think we just missed shots that we typically were making. Um, sometimes this is how the game goes. I mean, you didn't miss a couple. They're going to, you know, they're going to run and they hit a couple of shots and, uh, floodgates kind of open for him and the basket got a little water for guys. And, um, sometimes it just happens. Uh, Caleb, it felt like a lot of your guys turnovers tonight came in the paint. It looked like it was really crowded in there. Did you felt like maybe Boston was trying, uh, adjusting defensively? Did it feel more crowded or what do you think kind of resulted in some of those terms? Uh, definitely. Yeah. I think they were, you know, crowding the paint. Um, they were being very active and, you know what I mean? They had a couple of turnovers, couple of deflections that led to turnovers for us. Um, you know, um, they just, uh, you know, that's what happens, you know, play desperately knowing the season's online and, you know, uh, you know, guys are active and they're playing hard and, you know, they did what they're supposed to do. Uh, Jimmy was just up here and he didn't seem too concerned after the loss, but what, what do you feel like needs to be better, um, in Boston in a couple of days? Oh, just get better at what we were doing. You know, um, really the biggest thing is putting this one behind us and understand that we had another one. That's the, um, that's the good thing about, you know, having to go to four is that we got another one and, uh, have the opportunity to go play them at their place. And, um, you know, so, um, that's a, that's a, that's the good thing about the position that we're in right now is that, you know, we have the opportunity and we just got to make sure we come correctly and come and go take care of business in Boston. Caleb, they've probably got too many shooters to shoot poorly, you know, forever, but was there any difference in the, the quality of looks they were getting or on the same way where your guys' closeouts the same as they had been the first three games? Uh, yeah, I just, you know, we definitely didn't, uh, make them miss as much as that we, that we did throughout the series is one of them games that, um, they got open looks and guys were going there and making the right plays. And, um, you know, you see a couple other ones go in and, you know, you get, you get confident and, um, those other guys feed off that. And like you said, they got it, you know, um, a good group of guys who can, uh, who can really shoot the ball from the outside. And it was just one of them days that they got a role in today. Um, so, you know, we'll do a better job on our closeouts, our strengths and, you know, whatever else we have to do to get it done. Caleb, uh, how disappointing was it not, uh, being able to clinch at home, uh, one year after, uh, Boston clinched out on your court? Uh, it's, it's definitely disappointing. Um, uh, that'd have been a perfect world, perfect situation, but, you know, as, you know, as we know, and everybody else knows that we don't typically get things the easy way over here. So, um, like I said, this is, this is right up our alley. Um, uh, you know, this is, this is the way it goes for us and guys like us. And, you know, again, I think it's only gonna prepare us for the long run. So, um, we need to, you know, this could be good for us. Yeah. Appreciate y'all. Jimmy, it's only one loss, obviously, but is there any concern on your part that this could start to build momentum on the Boston side of things? No, if anything, it'll build momentum for us knowing that we have to play with a lot more energy and, um, you know, we got to play like our backs are against the wall. Um, but I, I think all year long, we've been better than ever to do things our way. Uh, Jimmy, when you, sometimes in the playoffs that can be kind of these big swings within a series that can be big emotional swings after a game like this, how do you personally kind of avoid from getting too low yourself? Uh, stay consistent, do the same thing that I do, that we do after every game. We're going to listen to some music, you know, we'll drink some beers back there. I'm going to go have some wine. Um, I don't think that you could just focus on basketball all the time. You have to be able to, you know, get away from the game a little bit, think about it. Um, but at the end of the day, um, you fall back on, you know, your habits, how consistent you're going to be in myself and my teammates. We're going to do the same thing. We're going to smile. We're going to be in this thing together. Like we always are. We're going to go get one on the road. Jimmy, did you think a Boston was just one of these games that they're due? Cause they are so offensively talented, or did you find yourselves as a team thinking there was some defensive slippage tonight? I think the, I mean, yes, they are talented. Um, and I would tell you in every game, they just missed a lot of shots tonight. They made shots, but we didn't do our job and making them miss those shots either. Um, but I think we, we let go of the rope on a defensive side of the ball, turn the ball over, didn't get back in transition. All the things we said we were going to do, we did not. And, um, that was the game. Uh, and it got out of hand pretty early. Our energy was low, which we cannot have. And it's on myself. And it's definitely on a starting group to make sure that that doesn't happen. Jimmy, uh, Tatum and Brown shot much better tonight than they have in the series and, uh, had a lot more assisted turnovers, uh, with them getting comfortable. Did that kind of get in the way of you guys' defensive, them getting comfortable early on, set the tone from there? Not really. I think we could still win the game. We just got to contest shots more, get back in transition. Um, I'm not gonna say make it a half court game, but don't give them too many easy ones. And we see the ball go through the basket. Um, the basket tends to grow. And for those guys, um, the elite scores, they make layups, get some middies, get to the free throw line. They're gonna start making everything. Jimmy, you guys were up, I think, nine early in the third, and it looked like there was an opportunity there. And then they just totally flipped the game. What shifted in those minutes? Turn the ball over, um, didn't get back. That's, um, that was the game. 38 to 23 that quarter, all transition, all open shots. That was it. Jimmy, you and Spoe have praised the focus of the group throughout the playoffs, uh, with the way things kind of broke down in the second half. Do you feel the need to say anything before game five, just so that the human element doesn't hit? And it's not like, ah, we had a chance to close it at home and we didn't. The only thing I'm going to say is we'll be okay. Let's get back to doing what we've always done to get us to this point, continually have belief in one another, knowing that we're going to win. And we will. We just got to play harder. Like, there's not too much to say with this group because we already know. So we just got to go out there and execute. Thank you, Jimmy.