Jason Terry Quotations

We stopped them when we had to. That's the sign of a good team.

What they're going to do, we don't know and we really don't care. It's all about us.

We accomplished most of our goals, and now it's time to put it all together. The results will be sweet if we do.

We really grew up, especially with that win in Game 3. We came in and our backs were against the wall. They came out with tons of energy at home and we were very resilient and got the win in Game 3. But that says a lot about our character coming in in Game 4 and really closing them out.

The expression on his face, he was very excited. His teammates were excited. Phil (Jackson) was kind of laughing. It was depressing on our end.

When I looked at the mistakes I made in the playoffs, it was more because I was indecisive. This year, I'll be more deliberate, more assertive.

We were definitely hot coming in. We're in the top three in the league for a reason. We thought they'd come out with a fight, which they did. But we finally got into it in the third.

Mentally, we are a very tough team right now. We don't let injuries or anything set us back. I credit (coach Avery Johnson ) for that, keeping us strong mentally. We're always prepared.

(Memphis) had that look in their eyes like it was going to be their night. But we started to feed off the crowd, and the momentum started to shift. ... I was just playing the game as it came to me. I was just hitting some shots.

Next time, I won't give him a two-second head start.

No excuse. (Cleveland) had a lot more energy than we did in the second half. I thought we were in it for a stretch and I still thought we had a chance in the fourth. We just didn't get enough stops. They seemed to take the momentum and put us away.

I believe that, top to bottom, when we're healthy we have the deepest team in the league. We've got guys at every position and we're pretty versatile.

Give credit to the bench. They came to play tonight and got us back into the game and we fed off their energy.

I got a prediction right now: A Maverick will walk away with the title.

He talks all the time. I let him get the last word in. He's German, he's got words that I don't even know.

We're playing well together, the chemistry is there. We're very focused. We're trying to get better on defense every night. You can see the effort. It's fun. We're having a lot of fun out there playing basketball.

We told him you have plenty of clips. Just keep shooting it.

He reminds me of Kobe Bryant the way he's playing.

Guys were making the extra pass. I was open and knocked them down. We wanted to stay aggressive.

I think it is an excellent thing to do. Glasses are worth their weight in golf and they cost that much too.

Late in the first half, the fans got into it. We got a couple of steals. We got a basket. Dirk hit some shots. We started feeding off of the energy of the crowd. That's what we needed tonight.

Our game plan was to win the points in the paint and we did that. Utah's a good team. They're physical, they're aggressive, but we stood our ground tonight.

Our mindset was just one game at a time. We've got to get better as a team. We didn't look at it as a trip. Just one game at a time. They were all winnable games.

People live up here because they love the outdoor world they want to turn a plain old backyard into a living space.

That doesn't mean anything right now. That's where we want to be in April. We're going to come back hungry. We know what we're playing for. ... We have to get home court.

It doesn't get any easier. And we wouldn't have it any other way.

I still go through and replay it in my mind all the time. That's just something that's going to stick with me until we get through with this season.

That was the game plan. We put a lot of bodies around him. Every time he would catch the ball we had a double-team on him to get the ball out of his hands. He's been playing well of late and we definitely didn't want him to put up 30 like he did last week.

Me making the short pass, the bounce pass, throwing it up high just finding out where he likes the ball. That's what camp is about. It cuts down on turnovers once the season starts and builds his confidence.

Winning this game was important. We turned a bad night into a good night.

We're definitely pleased with the way we contained him. The defining character of a championship team is getting stops when you need to and that's something we've been working towards all year long.

We came into halftime talking about getting out to a good start in the third quarter and whatever we had to do to make them call the first timeout. That's exactly what happened. Devin broke down the defense and I did what I do, just shoot the ball.

We've had great practices for late-game situations. We're very confident down the stretch.

We have tremendous talent coming in off that bench. Guys have accepted their roles and they're just coming out and playing hard and aggressive.

We just didn't knock down our shots tonight. I don't know if it was their defense or our lack of offense, but we had a lot of good looks.

Under the circumstances, I think we are doing quite well. We are doing the same things as if we had all our guys healthy. Nothing really affects us. There are no excuses. Everyone is hurt in this league.

We came out trying to play our game, but they came out really focused. They had that look in their eyes like it was going to be their night. ... For a minute there, it looked like they were going to blow us out on our home court.

We aren't going to back down from anyone. We're playing with a great deal of confidence.

We got off to a slow start defensively. In a timeout, coach challenged us to a man to get back defensively, not allow easy three-point shots and I thought we did that.

We are not going to hang our head. We're going to come out with a lot of energy (Friday vs. Dallas).

We were able to handle our business and get it over. It definitely goes to show you that the NBA is fantastic. The series that are going on are the best basketball I've seen in years.

We were able to handle our business and get it over.

We'll sit back now and see what San Antonio and Sacramento do. We handled our business.

We've been relying on the defense a lot more. That's starting to be the new motto for our team; starting to be our reputation now.

We think we can win a game with our defense. We're convinced about that.

Every time it's a new experience. I've enjoyed it every time I've come back. It's always a dream come true. As a kid you always dream about playing as a Sonic. I'm playing against them, but I'm still playing on that same court.

We were down big and it was just real gutsy for us to be able to come back. We challenged ourselves in the huddle. We knew we hadn't played good 'D' at all, and for three quarters there we played lock-down, solid defense. That was huge, it was big for our confidence. That was our mission and our goal going into this trip, to win each game, and we did that.

Tonight we made it a point in the huddle that we weren't going to let that happen again. We're a pretty good team when we play defense for four quarters.

We all have to be on the same page,

We had a great fourth quarter defensively and that's what propelled us to the win. Golden State is a tough team despite their record.

We had a good strong regular season. We accomplished some of the goals that we set for ourselves and now it's about going in here and buckling down, coming out executing defensively and offensively and really putting it all together, because the reward is sweet if we do.

We were one of the top three teams in the league during the regular season for a reason. I think if we continue to get better, work on our system, win games with our defense and hey, the sky is the limit.

We won it again with our defense. In the fourth quarter, we needed stops. We continued to get stops, we rebounded and came back down on the other end and executed.

We're disappointed in our defensive effort. We gave up 50-some percent (53.2) shooting. I guess that's first-game jitters.

During the playoffs the home court means a lot. Last year we didn't have it and lost in six games to Phoenix. We don't want that to happen again.

I've been in that situation time in and time out,

It was two heavyweights. The game was there for us, but they took it. Give them credit.

Defensively we really locked down (during that first quarter 20-4 run). We were controlling the boards, blocking some shots and we were able to get out and get some easy baskets.

Avery is a winner. Whatever he has to do to get us motivated to get back to playing good Maverick basketball, that's what needed to be done.

Avery challenged me at halftime. He told me to get aggressive. Guys looked for me, I got a couple of open shots and Dirk put us on his back in that run in the third.

This is definitely a team that we know we can beat.

This is good for me because it can show I can be successful in other things.

It was the most stressful game I've ever been part of.

It is two heavyweights every time we step on the court. Give them a lot of credit, they came out and did what they had to do.

It's two heavyweights every time we step on the court. Give them a lot of credit, they came out and did what they had to do.

For a minute, it looked like they were going to blow us out. We've seen that from them before. But we stayed with it, and give credit to our fans, who gave us energy when we needed it.

It's something that we faced all year long with the injury bug, so we're prepared. We go out there with what we have. They are going to have to beat our best.

Each of my artists was affiliated with a gang at one point in their life- the Crips, Bloods and BGDs. This record will be the first time that members of these groups has come together peacefully and produced something really great, ... This project will further people's minds- knowing that there are other options than that lifestyle- whether it be basketball, rapping, furthering your education or becoming a lawyer or doctor.

That is something I've worked on all summer long. You take one or two dribbles and float it up. It takes less than two seconds, so it was perfect.

It's definitely a mind-set. From Day 1 when you stepped on campus, you knew what you were preparing for. Lute is training you to be a professional, not only in the sports world but life in general. He always taught us to be responsible for our actions.

It just shows you that the NBA is fantastic, especially at playoff time. The series that are going on right now, this is the best basketball that I've seen in years. I'm glad we took care of our business. Now we can sit back and watch and see what happens in the other series.

It uplifts us. I'm going to go to war with him all game long.

I'm glad we took care of our business. Now we can kind of watch what happens in those other series and prepare, mentally and physically.

I like our chances. It's going to be a hostile environment. They are the champions, so it is on us to go in there and play with energy and play our game.

I'm ready and willing to get it done.

I'm looking to try and get him going as soon as possible. A dunk or an easy basket, anything to get him going early because he feeds off that.

If you look at the stat sheet this season when we played against each other, we won big but Gilbert had 37 points and I had 30,

He's similar to Iverson, McGrady and Kobe as where, if they get in a rhythm by going to the free-throw line, then they start to hit jump shots. We were able to contain him and keep him off the line. It was a long night for him.

Im not impressed by anything the Miami Heat does...

I'm amazed at my progress.

Obviously, I know what I'm best at: catch-and-shoot. But I can put the ball on the floor.

Obviously, you want to get the best deal possible for yourself, but teams just don't want to spend that money for fear of being in the luxury tax.

In high school, I was just a guy who ran the court and played defense. Now I have the whole package.

If you can take pride in what you're doing on defense, it's going to be pretty hard for that offensive opponent to go by you or make a shot over you.

You've got to love the game and the game will love you back.

Whether you're a veteran like me or a high school athlete, the most important thing you can do is keep your body healthy.

I dedicated myself to the game and never disrespected it.

To be one of the special ones, you've got to want to take that shot-you've also got to be willing to fail, learn from it, come back and take that shot again.

I've won at every level.

I am always playing hard trying to win. Just knowing that at one time I was once that kid that looked up to NBA players and NFL players. Today these kids look up me.

My idol, Gary Payton, played 19 years. I definitely want to try to reach that.

Every time I step on the court I want to be up there with the best.

My mission is to kill; whether it's the Heat, whether it's the Lakers. Hopefully both. That's my mission, and that's what I'm here to do.

This is a good example of a great system and players executing a game plan. We are like every other team in the league right now with injuries, but you are still a team and still have a lot to play for.

An animal. He is playing like a beast. He is playing real aggressive. This is the best I have seen him play since he's been in the league.

All the remaining games (12) are important. We're jockeying for position every night trying to get the No. 1 seed.