HEAT NOTES
MIAMI – Alonzo Mourning is back to thinking the Heat are down in the series. It’s a safeguard mechanism against overconfidence.
The Heat center, whenever Miami is up, thinks and acts like Miami is down.
“We know we have to win one more, but that’s easier said than done,” said Mourning, who fouled out after scoring 18 points and grabbing just five rebounds last night in the Heat’ 87-71 win over the Knicks in Game 5. “From day one, we’ve been looked at it as a non-factor in this series, overmatched.”
So Mourning is guarding against overconfidence because “once we have a cushion, we tend to relax.”
Mourning has played in 50 playoff games, 26 of them coming against the Knicks.
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P.J. Brown, a game-high 12-rebound performer, on Bruce Bowen‘s big 3-pointer: “You could see the frustration on their faces when he hit it.”
.How even has this rivalry been? The two teams are 11-11 in their 22 playoff games … Reminded that 84 percent of teams that win Game 5 in seven-game sets tied at 2-2, Pat Riley mused then said, “That means 16 percent go the other way.”
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Riley said he was trying to be funny. And he admits he was neither funny nor appropriate with a remark regarding the Gestapo.
“It was a stupid comment on my part,” Riley said of his off-the-cuff remark and attempt at humor Tuesday about sending the “Gestapo group” to Miami residents to get them to come to Heat games. “All of us that were in here, when I was trying to make light of that whole situation, used a word that obviously nobody can relate to in any kind of a good context. So it was a stupid comment on my part. And for those people who might have been a little bit offended by it, I apologize for that.
“There was no intent other than to try and be funny. And I’m not a funny guy,” Riley said. “You’ll probably get one line answers from now on. I’ve had a propensity in my career to embellish, as you know, so I’m not going to give you anything any more.”
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What Riley wanted, Riley got. Jamal Mashburn had gone to the line nine times in Game 1, six times in Game 2. And that was it. So Riley sent a message. “Drive the ball to the basket. That’s my message. Go to the basket hard. And then yell at the officials,” Riley said with a laugh. the result? Mashburn was 7 of 8 at the line in his 21-point night
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There is a time and a place for everything, even niceties between a Knick and a Heat player. But during the series is not the time. So Dan Majerle says he has no small talk with Allan Houston.
“I’m not a guy to go out there and shake hands and be all friendly before a game or even after a game. That’s not my style,” Majerle said. “He wants to go out and play some golf after the series, I’d love to I hear he’s a pretty good golfer. But not right now and it’s nothing against him. When it’s all over, I’ll probably say something.”
So, did Majerle say anything after Houston’s series-winning shot last year? “Hell, no,” he said emphatically.