We caught up with reigning Big East player of the year and now NBA rookie Jae Crowder in Los Angeles after his first NBA game. Mavs defeated the powerhouse Lakers 99-91.RF: Your first NBA game man...how does it feel?
Crowder: It feels amazing man! To go out there and compete with a great team like that on their stage, it feels great.
RF: We talked to when you first came to Mavericks [about] how you wanted to guard Dwight Howard, how was it guarding him out there?
Crowder: I switched on him a few times. You have to respect his game. I know his tendencies real well and he wanted to get deep catches so I just tried to prevent that, but it was a battle. It was a good battle.
RF: How big was it for this team to come in here and get a win? On the road. First game, you don't have Dirk, you don't have Chris Kaman, but you guys did an excellent job tonight.
Crowder: Amazing man. We came in here, we fought, we executed on both ends of the court well. We knew we had a great game plan coming into it so we tried to stick to it even when times got tough so we stick to our game plan and found a way to win.
Crowder: You just try to...come back to this, knowing that [if we] stick to our game plan [and] any place that we play we have a chance to win the ball game. Knowing that, knowing we got the first win here by sticking to out game plan will be huge for us coming down the road.
RF: What did the veterans or coaches say to you before you started tonight, the first game?
Crowder: First of all they said congratulations you made it. Now you have to prove that you are supposed to be here and those were some powerful words and I just wanted to come out here that I deserve to be here where I'm at. With those guys being on my side, I knew I was alright
Mavs would go on to Utah and suffer their first lose of the season 113-94. The return to Dallas tonight for their home opener against the 1-0 Charlotte Bobcats.
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