NBA EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: CELTICS VS. HEAT

May 17, 2022

Gabe Vincent

Miami Heat

Game 1: Postgame

Heat 118, Celtics 107

Q. Coach spoke so often this season about your transition from undersized scorer to someone learning to be more of a playmaker, but it seems like there are always those innate instincts to do what you've done before. Did you sort of feel in that third quarter that it was just sort of go time with the offense to be part of the spark of the way you guys just had a takeoff point there?

GABE VINCENT: After the half I wanted to be more aggressive offensively, but I was more thinking about defense. Everything that they had in the first half was just way too easy, and I was just trying to make plays defensively and pick our pace up.

Q. The three blocks were a career high tonight --

GABE VINCENT: Blocks?

Q. They categorized them as blocks.

GABE VINCENT: Have to talk about that.

Q. What were you looking for when Rob got the ball and you stopped? You saved like six points with those blocks.

GABE VINCENT: Yeah, like I said, I was trying to make plays defensively. They were doing a great job of dropping it off to him, especially if it was a lob. Any time it wasn't, he brought it down -- trying to get the ball. I just ended up being right in front of it and was able to get a hand on it and we were able to get out and run the other way.

Q. Erik said early on was getting used to the intensity that Boston is going to play with. How much of that was a factor early on and did it take a couple minutes to get used to their speed and what they are going to do?

GABE VINCENT: Yeah, they are a very physical team, very physical team, and they came out the gate with that. That's something we had to respond to and get back to being who we were, like we did in the second half.

Q. Gabe, it's been two incredible third quarter bursts to begin the third, Game 6 at Philly. Spo said at halftime he didn't have to say much tonight. Can you share who spoke a good deal at halftime, what inspired you?

GABE VINCENT: Yeah, I think UD's voice was heard a lot. P.J.'s voice was heard a lot. Jimmy, Kyle, our typical leaders that everyone knows. They spoke up and other guys chimed in. I think everyone said something, all 17 said something at some point. It was very player-led at half. Spo came in and cleaned up some details, and we went out there and picked up more intensity.

Q. How important was the ball pressure in the second half, especially compared to the first half, and was that one of the priorities that you guys talked about?

GABE VINCENT: A little bit. We wanted them to feel us. They were just way too comfortable in the first half. So I don't know if it was necessarily ball pressure, but we needed to pick up something defensively. I guess that was a part of it.

Q. You mentioned wanting to pick up the pace in the third quarter. How important is transition tonight and was it in the series, running off makes and running off misses?

GABE VINCENT: It's easy buckets. Any time you can get some easy cheap ones, that always helps. But obviously it's a lot easier to do it off misses, I will say that.

Q. You're used a ton as a screener in this games and you mention career-high in blocks but might have been a career-high in screens. How big was that getting Jimmy mismatches?

GABE VINCENT: Yeah, that's the playoffs. It's all mismatches and matchups and trying to get the right situation. It just so happened that I ended up being the screener, and it could be somebody else Game 2. It could be me again, could be me the whole series for all I know. Any time we get a chance to get the right matchup that we want to attack, we are going to do what we can to do so.

Q. Is there any reaction in the locker room, or what was your reaction when you first hear that not only Marcus but Horford is not going to play just a couple hours before the game starts?

GABE VINCENT: I just said, okay. Doesn't change anything for us. We have to come out here and play hard and get a win. Doesn't matter who is on the floor.