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NBA WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: SPURS v SUNS


June 1, 2005


Tim Duncan


PHOENIX, ARIZONA: Game Five

Q. Your thoughts now on moving on and having over a week to either celebrate some of this and then prepare for whoever is coming next?

TIM DUNCAN: Do exactly that. You celebrate it for a little while. And it's a great time for us, got a week until we get right back into the mix. Love a little shorter time, but you can't beat that. Manu (Ginobili) is a little dinged up, and I am a little dinged up. Tony (Parker) could use a day or two with his knee. We're all going to take that time to heal, but also to stay as sharp as we can.

Q. Now that this series is over, talk about how injured your leg was in this series, how much pain you were in during the series? Was that much of a factor for you?

TIM DUNCAN: It felt all right. Once I got warm, it kind of went back and forth because my opposite ankle isn't healed either. So I played through both of those. It wasn't -- it didn't hold me back in any way. I think once that first five, six minutes passed and I got warm and I was moving around, I felt pretty good.

Q. Pop kept talking about the way you ultra focus after what you consider an off night or not a particularly good game. Could you feel that in yourself?

TIM DUNCAN: I knew I had to put together a better performance than I did the last game, whether it be lack of focus the last game or just a bad night. I didn't want to have one of those again and I came in here just to rectify that, whatever that may be, whatever that may mean. I wanted to put together a better game, give our team a chance to win and not be what I call a hindrance in that respect where I go and miss 9 free throws and can't finish plays, things like that. I just wanted to have a better game.

Q. Talk about the defensive execution from the Spurs in the third quarter and the whole series and also the tip in late? I think you went up by 4 after that?

TIM DUNCAN: Honestly, those guys are amazing. They are an amazing offensive team, Steve (Nash)and Amare (Stoudemire) and especially those two, they are the catalyst to it. But all the other guys that are out there ready all the time ready to go. We had a tough time with everything they did, but we were just persistent with what we did. We stuck to a game plan. They scored on it. They got layups sometimes and threes sometimes. But we stuck with it. In the long run we felt it was going to work out for us, and it did. As for the tip in, I think it was just an out of bounds play with 4 seconds left, something like that, and I actually thought I got by Amare. I thought I had a layup, Shawn (Marion) came out of nowhere. I had to get it up over his hand and I didn't know if I had a chance to go in or whatever. But as soon as I hit the ground, I just went back up with it, popped back up to me, I had a chance to tip it in.

Q. When you were looking at the scoring sheet in the locker room after the game, what are your thoughts, what sticks out at you?

TIM DUNCAN: Amare (Stoudemire) is usual. He had an incredible -- another incredible game. He's extended his game so much. He was the hitting 15, 18 footer tonight like it was nothing. And with his athleticism and his ability, just knowing that he's going to get even better, it's kinds of scary. But just glad to get out of this series. Those guys -- they played very well, and we were just ecstatic to get out of this series as is.

Q. Had you some words for Amare (Stoudemire) very end of the game like for about 3, 4 minutes. What did you have to say to him?

TIM DUNCAN: I just told him he had a great series and that I have no doubt that we'll do this again, we'll be back in this situation in years to come. And they have a very good, young talented team and we hope to be back here facing them again.

Q. What does it say about your team, you got great performances from guys that usually don't make them?

TIM DUNCAN: Like who?

Q. How important was that? Well, if I am correct, as Mike says, guys who usually shoot about 14 percent and going two for two, two for three?

TIM DUNCAN: Bruce (Bowen) and Tony (Parker).

Q. Beno (Udrih)?

TIM DUNCAN: Beno is an excellent 3-point shooter. He doesn't get the opportunity as he does, but he's an excellent 3-point shooter. We love him shooting the ball. He took some great shots, ball swung and he was right there and we love him taking those shots. But it's a big boost off the bench especially. Any kind of score we can get from anywhere, especially with the series as is when we're getting up to the 90s and 100s and above we need scoring wherever we can. He's just ready. I think that's what we're going to need from guys going into this final series against whoever it may be. We're going to need some great play off the bench from a lot of different guys.

Q. Coach Pop said that you're harder on yourself than anyone could ever be on you. I was wondering if you think that's why you are as successful as you are or whether that sometimes is a hindrance that you maybe get down on yourself or put too much on your shoulders?

TIM DUNCAN: I think a little bit of both. I can make an argument for a little bit of both. But I just -- I just don't like playing bad games. And when I do, I love to have a bounce-back game and put a performance together. I don't like going out there and feeling like I left something on the floor that night that I shouldn't have, that I could have done something different with. And you get in situations where you are in a bad game, in the middle of a bad game and I am as guilty as anyone getting down on myself and not playing through the entire game. I do need to get better at that, but at the same time, I am what I am.

End of FastScripts...

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