---

The Detroit Pistons, playing at home, dominated the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 3 of the NBA Finals, winning 88-68 and taking a 2-1 series lead. Here's what various Lakers said after the game:

PHIL JACKSON

Jackson: I didn't feel like we reacted very well to the game today. Detroit beat us to the basketball. Second chance points was a big factor in this game tonight. At halftime I told the team, I don't think we can play any worse than we played this first half as far as shooting the ball and executing in the open floor.

But we tried hard the second half to duplicate it.

As I told the team, this is only one game, we're out here to win a game, and we'll find our opportunities. We have a couple days off to get our feet on the ground and get ready for Game 4.

Q: Are they changing up defense on Kobe or is this basically what he's been looking at?

Jackson: No, that's what he's been looking at. He had a hard time shooting. This is a tough background to shoot in, it's a different one, and the basket, he had a few things that didn't go down for him; didn't get to the line too often.

Q: What did you see from Shaq tonight?

Jackson: Say again?

Q: What did you see from Shaq tonight?

Jackson: Well, he couldn't get a break in the second half. You know, he got an offensive foul and a guy came over his back and knocked it away and he lost it. He even lost a couple of balls that he had inside and couldn't control the ball when he would get it inside. There were four or five opportunities in the interior when he had the ball and things just didn't go right for him. He didn't get a whole lot on the offensive boards tonight, either. Those things hampered his effectiveness and he got in foul trouble and things like that happen.

Q: Did you think you got a little bit frustrated as it went on, as those things you were just talking about occurred?

Jackson: You know, we thought, you know, we had stemmed the momentum edge at the end of the half and we felt better about our game and came in, said, you know, we didn't play a whole lot of good minutes out there but we did finish up okay, so now we have to go out and establish it. We went out and scored the first basket in the second half and couldn't continue the pace. They beat us to the punch. It was noticeable foul discrepancies. They shot almost two to one in free throws in this series now in three games, and that a lot of times is a sign of the aggressor, the team that's most aggressive in basketball, and we're the reactors. I think that's what we're upset about as a basketball team. We're not reacting well.

Q: What did you see out of Karl tonight and how do you go on with him, similar sort of put him up against Rasheed and we rest him when Rasheed sits?

Jackson: You know, he looked like he was struggling out there tonight, I thought, in the second half. First half, I was content with the way he played. He gave us an effort, not everything worked well for him. He did get a call going to the basket and did looked like he got fouled and he played on through it and he didn't lose his composure out there.

The second half I didn't think he got loose. He just didn't get warmed up. The game was deteriorating quickly around him and we had to have some pressure up court and I opted not to push him any farther than that. We were pleased with the effort he could give.

KOBE BRYANT

Q: With all that's at stake here, how do you explain what appeared to be a pretty flat effort overall?

Bryant: What it boiled down to is we didn't execute and we let them rush us into decisions. Offensively, they didn't shoot the ball particularly well, but we gave them a lot of second chance opportunities and we put them to the line a lot.

Q: How similar is this situation to when you guys were down 2-0 to San Antonio, except for maybe the difference that Malone is injured now?

Bryant: No, I think we can use the San Antonio series as -- for experience in this type of situation.

You know, we're faced with a heck of a challenge right now, being down 2-1 and to have two games coming up on their home floor. This is a good crowd and they feed off of that a lot.

Yeah, we can draw off the San Antonio series for experience, absolutely.

Q: Can you talk about Rip's night offensively, particularly.

Bryant: Yeah, he got into a groove. Got some break-out opportunities, and he was able to get his jumpshot going and he was in a good flow tonight.

Q: Why was it so difficult for to you find shot opportunities for yourself tonight?

Bryant: Well, for the most part, tonight I was attacking 30 feet from the basket. I mean, that's something Phil and I talked about after the game is, me not having to attack 30 feet from the basket, doing some things in our execution to give me sharper opportunities and quicker opportunities.

Q: Normally whenever the Lakers lose a game they want to get right back out on the floor, but you have two long days before you get back on the floor. Will this be a time for a lot of soul searching and emotional, this roller coaster will be on a downward spiral right now?

Bryant: I don't know if I would go that deep. We have some injuries that -- and we want to make sure we get some guys healthy. Karl gave us a real good effort despite his knees in the first half, we were surprised from that. Hopefully we'll use the next two days to heal up a little more, work on our execution a little bit and come back with a better effort.

Q: There was a lot of talk after Game 2 about how the Pistons were able to bounce back. Did any of that surprise you the way the Pistons came out right from the start?

Bryant: No. Larry Brown's teams always bounce back. Every team he coaches, they fight hard and they play hard. Somehow it didn't surprise me at all.

DEREK FISHER

Q: Derek, they are taking you guys completely out of sync on your offense. Is it to get the ball to Shaq because they are double-teaming him without the ball, or are they pressuring the wings or why are you guys so completely out of sync?

Fisher: I mean, you definitely have to give them credit for defending the way they are. It's very obvious that we are having a more difficult time than we'd like to in terms of scoring.

But, at the same time, we have to take away some credit from ourselves, in terms of executing the way that we practice every day. I don't think they are making it as difficult to do things as we'd like to. I just think that we are not holding to our principals offensively. We're getting the ball inside to Shaq at times, but once the ball comes back out, whether it's to swing the ball or then to dump it back inside to him or attack our penetration, instead of just settling for jumpers, there are a number of different things we can do.

But you do have to give Detroit credit for the way they are playing on the defensive end.

Q: You talk about Detroit's starting backcourt 50 points; that something that is just disappointing or bother some?

Fisher: Well, that's been their two guys all year, even in this post-season. You know, they are very good basketball players. Most of the sets and the things that they do are run for them, so they are going to score points.

But it's a matter of us making them work harder to score points and get into places they would like to get to. I think we did a better job of that, definitely against Hamilton in the first couple of games. But even Chauncey in the second game, you know, if not for as many free throws as he shot, we would have done a decent job on him as well.

In terms of their backcourt scoring points, that's what their team is designed to do, and the other guys come in and play hard and bang and get rebounds and set picks and do other things.

Same way for us. Kobe and Shaq are basically going to always lead us in scoring. That's what we are designed to do and that's how we play the game.

I think we have to make them work a lot harder to do some things and hopefully we can take a look at some film and see what adjustments we can make and come back and give a better effort on Sunday.

KARL MALONE

Q: How did your knee affect you? How does it feel?

Malone: Well, you know, I played. We didn’t play well as a team. When I put that uniform on you have to go out there and play, no excuses. We just, as a team, didn’t play well all night and they did. They got to every loose ball and everything. They came out aggressive from the start and we had opportunities in the first half, then it got worse from there.

Q: They controlled the boards as well and that seemed like a big key.

Malone: Yeah, they did. It’s a team effort. All of us have to do it and we didn’t. We can’t depend on Shaq to get every rebound. Slava rebounded well for us and, other than that, I don’t know if we gave him much help.

Q: Kobe didn’t get many shots tonight, he only took 13 shots.

Malone: But you know, we all tend to sit around and watch him, and, as great as he is, you can’t allow yourself to do that; yet, we always do. He was distributing the basketball and doing a lot of other things.

Q: Is it an urgent time now?

Malone: It’s urgent, but we are just trying to win one game. Of course, we would love [Game 3] but we’re not thinking about that. We’re just trying to get one ball game and the sooner the better.

Q: Was it hard getting the knee warmed up after halftime?

Malone: I really never got it warmed the whole time. I just fight through it. But no matter what, when I put that uniform on I have to be the best that I can be. Some nights your mind tells you one thing and your body can’t respond, and it’s disappointing that I let my teammates down like that.

SHAQUILLE O'NEAL

Q: What happened to the momentum that you seemed to have at the end of Game 2, and how much of tonight was effort related?

O'Neal: I think most of it was effort related. They beat us to everything tonight on those balls, played a little bit better defense and once again, we had a horrible third quarter, but this is only one game. We know how to bounce back and now we just need to bounce back. We just need to try to get a win here.

Q: You only shot a couple of free throws and those were on an offensive foul on the other end. What's going on with your game? Are you not getting the ball down low? I know you're surrounded, but what are you seeing?

O'Neal: I mean, I took 14 shots. I think that's the first time in two years I only went to the line once.

But I thought I was getting bumped, but maybe not, so I'll be looking forward to getting to the line the next game.

Q: You've been in the Finals four times in the past five years, is this your toughest challenge?

O'Neal: It's a very tough challenge but I think we're making it more tough on ourselves. You know, we've got to give them all of the credit in the world but we're just going right into their hands, turning the ball over, not rebounding well. You know, once we dig deep down and pick it up, we can get right back in there.

Q: Talk about Karl Malone and not having Karl in the lineup when he's hurt, like tonight.

O'Neal: Karl showed a lot of guts. He's obviously hurt out there. He's limping up and down. But, you know, we've just got to do the things that we're supposed to do, and we've played three games and we really haven't done it yet, so we just need to go back and look at some more film and just dig deep down. We still have a couple of chances to get back in the game but we just shot ourselves in the foot and they just played great. They just fed off the energy of their crowd and they played a little bit better than we did today.

Q: It just seems like they are dictating the pace of the game, what's going on on the court? And sometimes it looks like the Lakers do not react well and the game seems to slip away.

O'Neal: They are just playing with a lot of energy. You know, they are shooting the ball well, you know, they are rebounding, and we've just got to do the little things. I think once we focus on the little things, we can get right back to it.

Q: There was a certain part of the game when you were getting the ball down low and you were scoring every time, and then it seems like you guys went away from that.

O'Neal: Yeah. The story of my life, buddy. (Laughter).

Q: Can you still dominate the Finals the way you used to?

O'Neal: Yeah, I've got to get it, though. I think if I'm getting looks and touches, then yeah, of course, like especially if they are playing me one-on-one, of course. No question.

Q: You guys have Luke on the floor, Kareem Rush on the floor, how are you going to pull this offense together against a defense as aggressive as this one? What's going to have to happen in the next couple of days?

O'Neal: Guys are going to have to take care of the ball. I would personally like to see a guy like Bryon Russell get it. He's been in the League nine years. Great shooter, pretty good defensive player, has been to the Finals twice. I don't have an understanding of why he's not in the game. But we have a lot of veterans on this team, I would like to see them in the lineup against a tough aggressive defense like this.

GARY PAYTON

Q: What happened out there tonight?

Payton: We couldn’t shoot the ball, we couldn’t do anything right today. It was just one of those games where nobody was clicking. When you play a team and you’re always in the penalty with 10 minutes to go in the game, you basically can’t touch them and they are drawing a lot of fouls. It’s hard when their shooting so many free throws and we can’t shoot free throws. We have to adjust to that, be more cautious of fouling. You can’t play aggressive when you’re always in the penalty with 10 minutes to go.

Q: The 68 points was a Lakers all-time low, was that their defense or your offense not clicking?

Payton: We’re not clicking; we’re getting many open looks. They are a good defensive team, but they’re not stopping us from scoring. Today we missed a lot of open looks. They didn’t shoot the ball that well. They are shooting free throws all the time. That hurts us when you double us up shooting free throws.

Q: They did a great job of controlling the boards tonight.

Payton: They have been doing that for three games. We have to stop that and find out some way to box out or go double guys. We gotta get rebounds. When we make them miss shots, they are getting three-four opportunities and that’s not good for us.