LeBron, Russ x Coach Ham Interviews | Lakers/Mavs Postgame | Jan 12, 2023

Darvin, of several key moments throughout the crunch time and overtime included, I wanted to ask you about the play where Luka hits the step back three, what you guys wanted to get done defensively and if you were looking to foul versus trying not to get out. What was the plan there? No, we weren't looking to foul. Everything was red after it's in. Hit if we needed to. Felt confident in the five guys we had out there defending. He did what Luka does. He made a shot. I'm kicking myself in the butt. I needed to coach a little better in that instance. We should have blitzed them. Again, or at least force them inside the three point line. Those situations are kind of chaotic. A bunch of chatter. Everything is going on. You're trying to figure out the matchups. We're going to red it and switch anyway. I'll take the bullet for that. That's on me. We have to be better defensively in those moments and force someone else to beat us. You guys go to double OT and there were chances in both the extra sessions. I want to get back to the end of regulation and the look that Troy Brown Jr. got. What did you see on the play? It looked to me like it was a foul on the shot. I'm not one to blame the officiating. I won't start now. It just looked clear as day like it was a foul. Maybe I could be wrong. Even still watching it after the game, it looked like a foul on his follow through. We had a lot of different chances to not be in that situation. I'm proud of our team. They competed their butts off after being down 19. At the same time, we got to do a better job finishing at the rim. We got to do a better job knocking down free throws as well. To not even be in a situation where we're dependent on a whistle. It looked early on, especially in the first quarter, that the blitzing strategy was not going that well against Luka. What changed and how were you guys able to keep a lid on him throughout the second half? I think it was only 4-for-11 in the second half when he took that last shot. I just think pressing up on him, being more aggressive. We wanted to keep a body on him, deny him whenever he was off the ball. And then our backside, when we did hit him, our backside defense. Our guys off the ball, they were in the stands ready to rotate. Do what they needed to do, give multiple efforts to contest. It stings, man, to lose a game like this. We just got to fill our cuffs back up. I think the only sub you made in either overtime was with 11 seconds left in the double OT. How do you gauge, at the moment, lineups that are working versus maybe getting fresh legs in there? It's a tough deal because you have five guys that's great. That's mustered up some chemistry and have a great flow together. Then you're also battling what you said, trying to get guys a breather. You got to be careful with that, too. I wrote that group for long stretches, a very long stretch from the fourth quarter to the second OT. To bring a guy in cold off the bench, you never want to subject anyone to injury. You try to use your timeouts in a way that can get breaks. Hopefully the other team calls a timeout as well. You can still get a little rest. I just decided to go with those five. I would do the same thing again. We just had a couple plays that didn't fall our way. Ty Lucey used to say that LeBron would get stronger the more he played, that he wanted to play all those minutes. Do you ever see him look tired on the court? Do you ever see him look like he wants a breather? He's great about flagging me or alerting one of the assistant coaches that he needs a breather. It was timeouts. Sometimes he's feeling the wave. The game is going so good. He's in a good rhythm. We're fighting back or trying to hold on. He'll power through it. At times where he gets fatigued, he'll signal me or signal one of the staff members. We'll try to get him out of there and get him a breather. It just so happened that night we ran him straight through. He takes great care of himself. Tomorrow will be an individual day, a treatment day. Then we'll get back to it on Saturday and just start preparing. Again, learning from this game, things that went right, things that went wrong. Try to focus on Philly and come back and hopefully get it right on Sunday. Russ, you guys had to race the big deficit. You go up three when you hit the two free throws. What did you see as the plan before Luke ends up getting that step-back three? How did you feel about the execution? I made a tough shot. Simple as that. You guys have had a lot of these losses this year. Before the win streak, how do you handle that emotionally as you try to push forward when these things have happened more than once? You just move on, figure out how to execute better, how to win these games. It's about all you can do. What is it about this Mavericks team that got your and the entire team's competitive juices overflowing? It seemed like everyone was locked in and animated tonight. I don't know. I can't really speak for everybody else, but I compete the same way every night, whoever is on the floor. When you guys are playing in OOT, obviously you train your bodies to play a two-game season, but what does it feel like in that final session after being on the court that long? I feel great. Honestly, for me, I feel great. I'm just happy to be on the floor to compete. Russ, Darwin said he wished that he had told the team to blitz Luka on the last shot of regulation. What do you think of the schemes, especially on those shots that Luka tied in regulation in OOT? What do you think of the defense overall on Luka tonight? Whatever the coaches ask us to do, that's what we do. That particular possession, we got a one-on-one hit, a tough shot. Live with it. Russ, what have you made, not just tonight but in general, of this team's crunch time execution offensively? I think tonight, 5-17 in the two overtimes, what can you guys do to be more efficient in overtime? It just depends on what kind of shots we're getting, where they are, what we're running, but watch film and kind of see what that looks like. LeBron, there were a number of moments, I suppose, that the game could have gone either way, but what stands out to you, whether it was the Luka three or the various fouls that could have, would have, should have on either end, are there things that are at the top of that list for you? No. Good foul game between both teams, and both teams had an opportunity to win the game, and they took advantage of it, and they capitalized. You guys had the five-game winning streak. That aside, there have been a lot of these moments of close games where it seemed like the result could have gone your way. How do you keep the team sort of motivated through that as you get further into the season? Just keep playing the game. Each game is its own challenge, and tonight was another challenge, and we had some ups and downs, but we gave ourselves a chance to win, and we just couldn't come through late in the game. When I was asking Troy in the locker room about the no-call-to-enter regulation, you were reacting to it in the locker room. The referees claimed that it was the correct call of security or some interpretation. Obviously. When the game's going on in overtime, and obviously both teams figure each other out at that point, and you're just trying to get the best look possible, when you're not having your best night from three, does it enter in your mind, or is it just, I've got a shot here, I'm going to take it? No, when I've got a shot, I take it. I work too hard on my game and on my craft to ever question myself of any shot that I take, so just an off night for me. But I don't question any shot that I take. LeBron, Darvin said he wished that he had told the defense to blitz Luka on the last shot of regulation. What did you think of the looks that you guys gave Luka on some of those key shots, and what did you think of the defense overall on Luka in the game? Big-time players make big-time shots. It's that simple. LeBron, this team has been uneven, I would say, in crunch-time situations. Have you seen any through lines? Similar to the Boston game, you guys fight back to put yourselves in a position to win. Same tonight, it's happened a couple other times. What are you seeing kind of late in your guys' execution? The one consistent thing that we have is a billion different lineups. That's the most consistent. Do you hear what I'm saying? Yeah, and I was going to say, for whatever reason, when it's that way, in those moments, does that just kind of push everything to a stop when there's no rhythm, trust, continuity? It's not about trust, because we have trust with whoever's on the floor. But at the end of the day, teams have closing lineups. When we got so many guys that's in and out of the lineup, or we got guys that's—right now we got a lot of guys that's banged up. So it's almost like who's in a good rhythm that night is going to be probably on the floor, along with myself and Russ. Hey, Bron, I know you mentioned that you've taken a lot from opposing coaches over the years, like Pop, Casey, Carlisle. Obviously, J.K., he used to be your coach. I'm curious what are the main things that you've learned from him playing against him as a coach and as an opposing coach now? Not only has he been my coach, he's been my teammate as well in the Olympics. I've been knowing J.K. for quite a while. I've went against him as well as a player in the postseason as well. My early days in Cleveland. He was in New Jersey at the time. I've never been great at this, but he's always tried to preach to me about patience. Always. He's one of the most calm and collective guys that I've ever been around. He never gets too high, never gets too low, and always has a great, calming voice about the positive side of things. I haven't been great at that. I listen to him. It's hard to apply sometimes. He's definitely taught me a lot. I take that friendship and that brotherhood that we've built over 20 years with a lot of gratitude. LeBron, you guys are just past the halfway mark. Obviously, you had a 5-game win streak, back-to-back losses just now, kind of dampening that. Are you feeling patience right now that this team can come around and be what you want it to be? I think ever since we made the trade for A.D. to bring him here, our whole thing was about health. It's not changed. You guys asked us before the season started, do we think Russ can work? I said, how can we know that if we've not been on the floor together? I think you guys said we was on the floor 21 games last year. We haven't had the best luck of health, I would say. Especially this year, again. I can't tell you what I can want out of this ball club. We've got A.R. out, A.D.'s out, Pat was out tonight, Lonnie's been out. We've got another four of our big-time rotation guys, and A.D. being the biggest. I can't tell you that. Thanks, I'll check.