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NBA EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: CELTICS VS CAVALIERS


May 18, 2017


LeBron James


Boston, Massachusetts: Practice Day

Q. The seven buckets you had in the first quarter, all in the paint, what were you seeing and how did you take advantage of that?
LEBRON JAMES: I was just trying to be aggressive. Like I said last night in the postgame interview, just trying to be aggressive on the road when you're starting the series off, and it worked out for our team.

Q. You always talk about Game 1's being a feel-out game. What did you gather from last night and how the series might play out or at least how Game 2 might play out?
LEBRON JAMES: Well, there's going to be some adjustments made from both sides. We have to be ready for it. Obviously we don't know the exact adjustments, but we know they're going to make adjustments. That's what good teams do, and we have to be ready for whatever they bring to the table.

Q. You got fouled hard once when you were in mid-air. Were you okay with that contact or were you upset by it?
LEBRON JAMES: No, I wasn't upset by it. You know, it's a physical game. I don't know the -- when they look at it and when they don't look at it as far as the officials. I'm not sure when they go look at the monitor and when they don't, but I was able to get up and knock down my free throws, just keep pushing. We've just got to continue -- the main thing is just to win the ballgame no matter how physical or how chippy it gets. We just want to play ball, and that's all that matters.

Q. I asked Kevin [Love] last night about Isaiah [Thomas] grabbing his ankle. Did you see it?
LEBRON JAMES: I did not. I did not see it.

Q. (Indiscernible.) What was going through your mind on that possession?
LEBRON JAMES: Nothing. We got the switch, and I feel like it's an advantage for our ball club. Just wanted to try to get into my comfort, get into my package and get into the paint. You know, he backed up a little bit, so it allowed me to get a little bit of a head of steam on him, and I finished at the rim.

Q. (Indiscernible.)
LEBRON JAMES: I don't know. I mean, I was just trying to use angles, seeing how my defender is playing me, and just trying to counter if they take away one thing, being able to have a counter move and things of that nature. That's what the defense gave me, and just trying to be aggressive and trying to make it work for our ball club.

Q. What do you think was the key to your defense yesterday?
LEBRON JAMES: Our energy and our intensity. I think our communication was high. Our energy was high, and our intensity was there. That's good ingredients for a good defensive performance.

Q. The way you and Kevin played off each other last night, was that kind of what you were envisioning?
LEBRON JAMES: Well, every game is going to be different, but we have a big three, and two of us got it going -- you guys seen it before when all three of us have it going, and we scored 100 points before between the three of us, but last night Kev had it going. We just tried to keep feeding the ball, he was shooting the ball and shooting it well, he was making his free throws, grabbing rebounds, so we've just got to keep feeding him.

Q. Kevin mentioned after the game that the defensive communication has improved as the postseason has gone on. Can you talk about the process of that and how that comes to be?
LEBRON JAMES: Well, the one thing that you understand is you've got a lot more time to kind of game plan, and game plan for your opponent. In this particular instance we didn't have much time because it went seven and we had to play in 48 hours, but in the postseason you get an opportunity to game plan and know exactly what you want to do, how you want to execute it, and our coaching staff gave us a great game plan to go out there and do it. And you also know that every possession matters. You can't have the IT [Isaiah Thomas] three at the end of the second quarter, you can't have some of the back-door cuts from Avery [Bradley] because those plays matter. Those plays are momentum plays. We have to be in tune.

Q. How do you improve your defense from Game 1?
LEBRON JAMES: You've just got to continue to -- you've got to talk. It's a beautiful thing when you're communicating and everyone knows where they're supposed to be defensively, because when you get stops then you can have fun. You can go out and run around and throw the ball and shoot threes and things of that nature, so defense is always key.

Q. You said your body feels better when you're playing than it does during the rest period. It seems like it should be the opposite --
LEBRON JAMES: I know. I wish it could be the opposite. I can't figure it out.

Q. What specifically do you notice about how your body feels?
LEBRON JAMES: I don't know. You know, you just -- for me, if I got two days or a day, then that's enough rest for me. Nine, 10 days is too much. I end up -- I train a lot. I train almost too much. My body kind of decides if it wants to be great or not. Most of the time it doesn't. But I felt okay last night. I knew I wouldn't feel that great after the game, and I don't feel that great right now, but I kind of knew that coming off of 10 days of not playing the game, but I should be much better tomorrow.

Q. We all know what Tristan does on the offensive glass. Can you tell in the body language of an opponent when it's disheartening doing what he does?
LEBRON JAMES: Well, Double-T is one of the best rebounders in our game, especially offensively, so to be able to have him out there, and we get extra possessions and kicking out for threes is definitely demoralizing for a ball club.

Q. You've talked about how you like playing on the road and why you play well on the road, but have you thought what you guys are doing, how impressive that is in the Playoffs on the road?
LEBRON JAMES: Nope. I ain't got time to think about what we're doing. We need to figure out what we're going to do tomorrow. We've got to continue to push forward. We've got to continue to be as good as we can be every day, so looking forward to the challenge tomorrow.

Q. How is Boston supposed to take it when you go for 38, 9 and 7 and you're saying you didn't feel good?
LEBRON JAMES: Oh, it's not for them, it's for me. It's to get my mind ready. But I didn't feel great last night, but I'll be much better tomorrow.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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