Pat Riley
Pat Riley
Patrick James "Pat" Rileyis an American professional basketball executive, and a former coach and player in the National Basketball Association. He has been the team president of the Miami Heat since 1995 and head coach in two separate tenures. Widely regarded as one of the greatest NBA coaches of all time, Riley has served as the head coach of five championship teams, four with the Los Angeles Lakers and one with the Heat...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionCoach
Date of Birth20 March 1945
CityRome, NY
CountryUnited States of America
We had a great fourth quarter defensively. We did not get into foul trouble early and made some really big defensive plays. They shot the ball extremely well tonight. We were down going into the fourth quarter and really raised the level of our defense.
We've got a lot of guys in this league, if they took 70 shots, they'd score a lot of points.
We have a distinct disadvantage, being the fourth game in five nights. But we're playing good; they're playing good. When it really counts, if things were to remain the same as they are today, and we're successful and they're successful in the playoffs, we wouldn't play 'em when it counts for two more months. Things could change a lot by then.
We had to keep them under (100 points).
We had to buckle down, and I thought in the second half, especially in winning time that period in the fourth quarter when we had to make stops, we made some tough spots.
Those two best teams probably should be in this game. But that's not the way it is.
When is it going to start? That's the question I posed to them tonight. When are we going to start beating quality teams? It's time to put up or shut up. That's how I look at it.
We kept trying to call his number. We had him handle the ball a lot and he was either getting to the line or getting some hoops.
We kept coming back, coming back. And every time we came out of a huddle, they sort of regained their composure again.
This trip reminds me of when I started. You've got to get after it.
To say they came ready to play is an understatement. They came out and really wanted to make a statement. They jumped (on the Cavaliers) defensively and created most of their offense off their defense.
We were fortunate that he (Deng) missed the shot. We didn't want Gordon to beat us.
You can't be happy with the whole disposition of our team in the second half, playing with a 20-point lead and not defending at all. We showed very little respect for all the hard work and good play. I'm happy we were able to win it at the end, but obviously we can't play like that.
We came in here and that team just took it to us and took it away from us. It was an abysmal night.