LA CLIPPERS MEDIA CONFERENCE

April 24, 2023

Tyronn Lue

Press Conference

Q. How do you prepare for a game like tomorrow? Is it any different than a usual playoff game for you guys?

TYRONN LUE: No. I mean, just I think the preparation comes from just cleaning up some things we can get better at on both sides of the basketball. Offensively just our turnovers, like get an 11-point lead, and I think we turned it over five out of nine possessions, which kind of gave them some energy to get back in the game offensively.

Taking care of the basketball. Especially when we get these leads, we start turning the ball over, and allowing them to get easy baskets.

Then defensively, just rebound the ball better is one, but then also continue with our physicality, but making sure we're smart. Can't allow them to keep shooting so many free throws, but I like what we're doing, and just see if we can get better, and we'll be better. (Laughing).

Q. Multiple-guard lineups for you guys in the regular season just didn't work for whatever reason, but in the last two fourth quarters you guys have outscored them by nine. What has been working in the fourth of these last two games that wasn't really working before that?

TYRONN LUE: I just think our pace, being able to -- if we get stops, get out in transition, we've got multiple guys that can attack the basket. We have been really aggressive in this series. We talk about attacking, being aggressive, attacking the paint, and we've done that. We have increased our attack rate tremendously.

We've just got to continue to keep doing that, and just keep going, keep attacking, but then we've got to make the right way once we get there.

Q. What's your update on Kawhi?

TYRONN LUE: He's not practicing today. He's getting treatment.

Q. Have you learned anything new about what Kawhi's dealing with compared to when you first found out last week?

TYRONN LUE: No, sir.

Q. When you have a situation like that and it's been like this pretty much most of the season, but when you have a situation where you kind of have to be front facing and kind of lead the team through everything when guys are hurt, when guys are dealing with an injury and you've got people from the outside talking about how, maybe he could play or maybe he couldn't, how do you kind of balance just ignoring that but also letting your guys know that you're supporting them when they're going through these injuries?

TYRONN LUE: Oh, that's my job. When you're the leader of the team, you've got to make sure that everyone is positive and in good spirits, but you can't listen to the outside noise, which I never do anyway.

But he's definitely hurt. Like this is not load management where he's taking time off. He's shown in his past that he's played through injuries in the playoffs.

If it's something that he can't play through, then it has to be pretty serious.

We're not talking about he's sitting out because of load management or he's tired or nothing like that. It's an actual thing.

What the outside is saying, who cares.

Like I said, my job is to make sure we're in good spirits. Like I say, I trust the guys we have on the floor now. We're doing some good things, and there's some things we've just got to clean up and get better with, especially when you're playing a highly talented team like Phoenix. There's things you've got to clean up. Your margin for error is very slim, and if we clean up a few things, like you said, we've been in every game and we've been close, but we've got to be able to get over the hump and we do taking care of the basketball, rebounding the basketball, and then just try to keep these guys off the free-throw line as much as possible.

Q. What work do you think PG is going to be able to do today?

TYRONN LUE: Whatever he's doing right now.

Q. What's that?

TYRONN LUE: Y'all go get your camcorders out. He's out there. That's what he'll be doing today.

Q. Does Kawhi getting treatment mean there's a possibility he could play tomorrow?

TYRONN LUE: I mean, there's always a possibility, yes.

Q. Are there any wrinkles you have left up your sleeve to pull out for tomorrow?

TYRONN LUE: Yeah, we've got a couple. Yeah, we've got a couple. Like I said, I just -- it's a tough situation to be in, with your two main guys out.

But I love our guys in the locker room. Like I said, I'd go to war with these guys any time. That's the reason I have confidence, because of the guys we have in the locker room, and we are not going to give in. Like I said, we just clean up a few things, like we're right there. We're right there on both sides of the basketball.

Just got to do a better job of just the things I pointed out earlier.

Like I said, we feel confident. We're going into it confident. There's a few things that we can do. It'll look different, try to change it up. But like I said, when they have Booker playing at a high level, KD playing at a high level and CP playing the way he did the other night, you can't have a lot of mistakes. You've got to be on point on both sides of the basketball.

Q. Has it already been an empty-everything-out-of-the-tank already, or is it like tomorrow is we're doing everything we can?

TYRONN LUE: Well, we have no choice. It's either win or go home. We've just got to bring everything.

A lot of different things, a lot of different adjustments, just try to keep them off balance, and go from there.

Q. Phoenix shooting 50 percent from the mid range for the series, obviously they have guys who are prolific there. Process-wise when you don't see the results line up with the process that you guys have put forth, can it get frustrating because I know you want them to take mid-range shots, but when they're making them at a high level, can it get a tad frustrating?

TYRONN LUE: We don't really want them taking mid-range shots. We want our bigs to be up a little bit more to try to take away that little pocket, but it's tough. With the actions they run, a lot of times our bigs are dropping back, then they run into the pick-and-roll which allows them to get to their mid range. So those are some things we've got to clean up.

But we want to be up on the pick-and-roll, make them make that little pocket pass to Ayton, who's a great mid-range shooter, as well, but we've got to get back to them. We've just got to mix up our coverages, got to understand what we're doing and do it well.

So just keep mixing it up. Like I said, they have great players, so you can't give them a steady diet of the same thing or they'll pick you apart, so we've just got to be ready to adjust as the game goes on.

Q. What grade would you give your defense through the first four games? What letter grade would you have given -- you mentioned you need to do better being up on the screens --

TYRONN LUE: I would give us a B. I think our physicality has been great, which allowed them to get to the free-throw line. But I thought KD's first six free throws, we did a good job of playing him, and then he got to the free-throw line. So I thought we did a good job with that.

You know, the physicality is what we're going to bring is one. Two, I think rebound the basketball, which we haven't been great. I thought Game 1 we did a good job, but anytime you're missing Kawhi and PG, our rebounding is going to go down significantly, so we already understand that, so we've got to do a better job hitting bodies.

But I think our bigs when they are up and our numbers are a lot better being up, and it's hard for us, Zu 7'1" to be up every single play, every possession as the game is going on, but he's doing his best, but we've just got to do a little better with that.

But I thought defensively I would give our guys a B just for -- as far as the game plan, as far as our physicality, and just some things we can do better.

Q. As the leader, how have you been able to try to keep these guys not demoralized considering kind of the unlucky injury luck you guys have had of late?

TYRONN LUE: Yeah, they're not demoralized, and it starts with Russ in that locker room. He's going to play the same way whether I'm on the floor with him or Michael Jordan is on the floor with him. It doesn't matter. He's going to play the same way. He gives our guys in the locker room, he gives those guys and believes that we can win. The guys in the locker room who's been through it the last couple years, they believe we can win, as well.

When you're facing a really good team, it's just some things we've got to clean up, and you can't have those -- our margin for error is just so small, so we've just got to make sure that we're better in that regard. We're playing good, we're getting off to good starts, good leads, and then we've got to be able to sustain it, but we've just got to do a good job of taking care of the basketball.

Q. I know you mentioned the other day you kind of just felt like starting Marcus, but that 4 spot hasn't given you much offense, and I know you said offense is the biggest thing there. But what are you looking for out of that spot when you make a switch to Marcus for Nico like that?

TYRONN LUE: Well, Marcus I think in the playoffs, first of all, he's played good against Phoenix just in general, but then he's fifth all-time for guys taking I think over 100 threes in the playoffs, he's fifth all-time in three-point field goal percentage, so we know he can make shots. He hasn't played in a while, so we just thought from that spot he'd be a guy who could make some shots, and they put small guys on him like Booker and CP, he can post at times, which they double-teamed him in Game 3, and then last game they let him play a little bit one-on-one.

So just mixing it up in that regard.

Q. Russ has done so much for you guys. What more can he do? What more do you need to see from him going forward in this series?

TYRONN LUE: Just keep doing what he's doing. I think he's doing it on both sides, doing a good job of being physical, guarding KD and Book, also pushing the pace, attacking, making the right play, and then he's scoring the basketball at a high clip. We're going to need every bit of that tomorrow night, as well.

Q. With there not being as many trips to the line as you guys probably would like, what's been your message to the group on what things to keep maintaining, and any new things that can be done to help?

TYRONN LUE: Just keep attacking, keep being aggressive, keep being the aggressor like I thought we've been this whole series. I thought we've done a great job of attacking the rim, getting to the paint, getting to the basket. Our highest attacking rate of the season has been in the playoffs this year.

So we've found a formula how we want to attack, what we want to do. So we've just got to keep going. I think we shot 46 free throws in Game 1, so it's there. We've just got to continue to keep doing the same things, and we'll see what happens.