The Los Angeles Lakers head coach Frank Vogel answered media questions after his team missed the opportunity to close out the series against the Miami Heat in Game 5 of the NBA Finals.
Q. Just first wanted to ask about AD and the injury there and how you felt he came through the game.
FRANK VOGEL: Yeah, he’s just battling through the heel. He was struggling to move a little bit but toughed it out, and we’ll see how he feels tomorrow.
Q. And how would you summarize all that went into that game, the fight from both teams, how much you wanted it, and the way that you need to find a way to bounce back at this point?
FRANK VOGEL: Yeah, we’ll definitely bounce back. There’s no question about that. It’s a tough loss. There’s no doubt about it. We were very close. I felt two bad calls at the end put Butler to the line, you know, and that’s unfortunate in a game of this magnitude. Anthony Davis has a perfect verticality, should be a play on. And the time before that, Markieff Morris has his hands on the ball, that should be a play on. They were given four free throws and made it an uphill battle for us. Very disappointed in that aspect of the game, but our group’s fine. We’re going to bounce back strong. We’ll have a better performance inGame 6, and we’ve got to play better for the 48 minutes leading up to that last minute.
Q. Are you able to walk us through or describe the emotional swings of the last minute, lead changes back and forth, 21 seconds away from a championship, what was that like to experience in that way?
FRANK VOGEL: Yeah, for me, it’s just win the next play. Whatever happened on that play, you know, we’ve got to anticipate what’s coming next and try to win the next play, obviously on both sides of the ball.
Q. People sometimes scrutinize LeBron’s decisions late in games, like superstars before him were always taking the last shot late in the game and he foundDanny for the open shot. Can you break that down from a basketball standpoint and how you felt about it?
FRANK VOGEL: Yeah, he was ready to take on the whole team. He had two guys on him. A third defender came and so with three guys on you, he made the right play.Danny is one of our best shooters, he had a great look, and we live with the results.
Q. The last couple games Miami has come out of the gate pretty hot and were leading you guys early today. Why has it been so hard to kind of take that roll of the aggressor back from the Heat in both games?
FRANK VOGEL: I don’t think they are the aggressor. I think we are the aggressor every bit as much. We can be better, obviously in a lot of ways throughout the 48minutes. We’ll watch the tape and get back after it and I’m happy with our team’s competitive spirit.
