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NBA WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: NUGGETS v LAKERS

May 29, 2009

Pau Gasol

DENVER, COLORADO: Game Six

Los Angeles Â– 119
Denver - 92

Q. Can you give us an overview of what you like most about this game, about the team's performance and the balanced scoring?
PAU GASOL: Yeah. Well, first of all, I like the way we came out, the way we came out aggressive and assertive. Really one of the first few times on the road we got off on a good start and we weren't trailing.
So that was really good. And the way we shared the ball, we moved the ball. I think we learned from Game 5 at home that if we move the ball we can kind of break their defense.
And we did that tonight also a lot better. We found our balance. And we were able to be very effective.

Q. It seemed like almost you guys reinvented yourselves after Game 4. Luke said you were more patient playing inside out. Do you see it the same way and how did that call come about?
PAU GASOL: Yeah, tonight definitely it was a balance with the inside game and the outside game. I think we went a lot into the post and that creates a good look for us, because the defense gotta make a decision what they're going to do, play a one-on-one, come and double team.
I'm a pretty good passer and I can make plays and share the ball well. It felt really good. It felt right. It felt like a overall good win. Obviously Denver has players that are extremely tough, every game of the series. And tonight we finally got off and took off and were able to dominate the game from the beginning to the end.

Q. Where did that change in the way you were playing come from, or the way that the team evolved sort of after Game 4? Coach's meeting, players' meeting, some of it was after -- what you said, after Game 4.
PAU GASOL: I think we realized that we just gotta do it that way. We just gotta do it, having everybody participate in offense, and that's going to help us defensively, because it's going to give us better looks defensively and it's going to help us on a defensive balance.
And tonight we pretty much -- they didn't have any fastbreak points and breakouts, and we controlled that because we had really good balance and good shots.
So that's just how we have to do it. We have to keep that consistent and understand what it takes. And then defensively we did a good job, too.
So, like I said, overall it was a really good game for us.

Q. George Karl was saying out in the hallway he thought after Game 4 you guys started playing more like a team. Maybe you can elaborate on that a little bit and just say whether these are the real Lakers that people have been waiting to see for a while.
PAU GASOL: Last two games, I mean, we really proved to ourselves and to everybody else that we can be an extremely high-quality team, a team that deserves to be in the NBA Finals and is going for the NBA championship. So that really, really felt good out there and we have to do more of that.
I think we've been a little inconsistent throughout the year with that, and when we do that, when we move the ball and we just use all our weapons and all our players out there, we become really dangerous, because the defense end don't know, they hesitate, they doubt, if to go double-team Kobe or not, go double-team me or not. And they're a little bit out of balance.
So let's see if we can -- I think we learned a lesson and we're going to keep it this way.

Q. Do you think this was a peak performance for the Lakers, or can we expect even greater performances than this?
PAU GASOL: Well, I don't know. Tonight definitely a great overall performance on our part. We shot the ball extremely well. We shot the free throws unbelievably, 100 percent. It's hard for us that we struggled a little bit, we were shooting in the low 70s overall.
It's really good. Our focus was there and -- my man right here, and it was great and it was overall. I don't know if we can play any better, but definitely the winning is what matters. And we're four wins away from reaching our goal and that's all we have on our minds right now.

Q. As an athlete, how do you handle such a long layoff between games heading into the Finals?
PAU GASOL: You keep your focus, you take advantage of the days to get your body ready for the Finals and do whatever it takes mentally and physically to be in the best shape as possible to get there and compete and be successful. So I think we all are aware of what's going on.
Last year hurt us pretty bad. And now we have a chance to redeem ourselves and go for it again. So we're pretty excited. I think we're going to be extremely focused these days on what we have to do to take it.

Q. You've spoken a lot about how much last year hurt. Were there times in this game or even in the last couple of games that memories from last season flooded in and where you were starting to think about what that was like in the summer and after you lost?
PAU GASOL: I mean, you don't really think about the loss of last year. But we think about how hard we have been working all year long to get this far and to have the opportunity to win the championship.
And I think that's what I know went through my mind a couple times when I thought I was a little too tired or a little fatigued here or there, I'm like, look, you've got to toughen up, gotta dig deep and get whatever you have out there, because that's what my team needs and that's what our team needs.
And I think we did a good job overall as a group working hard and getting it done. So we'll keep it that way.
THE MODERATOR: Thank you.

End of FastScripts

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