"It had been a long time since a throng of people had gathered around Richard Jefferson to give him credit, and now that it was finally happening again, he didn't want it.

Standing in front of his locker after Game 2 of the Western Conference semifinals in Phoenix on Wednesday, Jefferson didn't want slaps on the back for getting 13 shots. He didn't want kudos for scoring 18 points, or accolades for taking more of an initiative in creating his own offense.

The way Jefferson explained it, shots aren't something he can manufacture; they're something he's given. And if he allowed himself to take credit for the ones he took Wednesday, then he'd have to take the blame for the all the ones he didn't before.

"Whenever I get six, seven, eight shots — whatever it is — it's not for a lack of aggression," Jefferson said. "It's a lack of opportunities."

In the Spurs' 110-102 loss in Game 2, Jefferson saw more of those opportunities than he had all postseason. After being held to five field-goal attempts or fewer in five of the Spurs' seven playoff games before Wednesday, Jefferson found good looks at the basket from all over the floor in Game 2.

He scored on reverse layups and running floaters, alley-oop dunks and jump shots. It was exactly the kind of performance the Spurs had in mind when they acquired Jefferson last summer.

But as if to prove Jefferson's point about aggression having nothing to do with his involvement in the offense, Phoenix forward Jared Dudley said it all was by design — Phoenix's design."