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NBA EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: CAVALIERS vs CELTICS

May 19, 2018

Tyronn Lue

Cleveland, Ohio: Game Three

Cavaliers - 116, Celtics - 86

Q. It looked like Jayson Tatum might have had a little more room to work and Jaylen Brown had no room. I know you don't like to talk about your game plan, but generally speaking, how much did you switch your coverages and how much do you think that played into what we saw as a team defensive effort tonight?
TYRONN LUE: We changed a couple things up. We know Jaylen is a first-quarter player. He plays good throughout the game, but he really sets the tone early in that first quarter. So we wanted to do a good job on him. I thought LeBron really did a good job of closing out to him, making him put it on the floor, cutting him off and making him play in the crowd. It was good for us to slow him down that first quarter because he's been really good in Boston. That was good for us.

Q. Did you challenge LeBron or talk to him about putting forth that kind of effort on defense?
TYRONN LUE: No, we challenged everyone just to be aggressive, understand the game plan. We still had a couple screw-ups where [Marcus] Morris got a three. I think someone else got a layup. But other than that, it was really a great defensive game for us. From front to back, we played good defensively.

I thought offensively we moved it around a little bit more, had a lot of assists. I thought J.R. [Smith] and G-Hill [George Hill] did a good job of setting the tone early, being aggressive, playing with more pace, more force. Having six guys in double figures, that's big. I thought we played an all-around game tonight, defensively and offensively.

Q. Speaking of the first quarter, and you just mentioned the pace and aggressiveness that George Hill showed, but what opened up for him in Game 3 that wasn't there at the start of the series?
TYRONN LUE: I think just playing faster. I think understanding what we needed from him. Like I said, he's been in the league for a while and he understands -- he's a vet. Just playing with more force, more pace, more speed. He did that early on in the game. I think he had, what, 11 points in the first quarter? We need that from him, to be aggressive, attacking the basket, taking his open shots. He did that for us tonight.

Q. There was no fatal flaw quarter today, no bad first quarter, no bad third quarter where things unraveled. What was the key for that to not happen?
TYRONN LUE: I think the key for that was ending the quarters right. I think in the first quarter, just ending the quarter right, ending the half right, ending the third quarter right, so they wouldn't have any momentum. I thought we did a good job of that. They didn't score 25 points in any of the quarters tonight. I thought we did a good job of just taking care of business down the stretch of quarter, ending the quarter, ending the half, ending the third quarter. We didn't give them no momentum going into the next quarter.

Q. Your rotation tonight, did you go in with a mindset of who you wanted to play and you would adjust accordingly based on how they played, or was this the game plan from the get-go and you had your set rotation no matter what?
TYRONN LUE: No, we had our rotation. And like you said, see how they played and how it went, and then if we had a change in the second half we would do that. I thought everybody came in and contributed in some way. That was good for us to have everybody touch the floor, touch the basketball and play well.

Q. You mentioned in the press conference at shootaround about the offense, you wanted to work on that. What was better tonight? What was the key?
TYRONN LUE: I think we moved them around a little bit more. They're a physical team. They lock in, and they switch in multiple positions. I thought we did some different stuff, moving without the basketball, moving the ball, moving bodies and then trying to exploit the mismatches. We did a good job of that tonight, and we just have to continue to keep doing it.

Q. After Game 1 you talked about how confident you are in Tristan Thompson against Al Horford. How would you characterize the way that Tristan has defended him in the last two games since making that move?
TYRONN LUE: He's defended him well. I think he's physical. Al Horford is a perennial All-Star and they run a lot of sets through him. He's usually handling the ball at the top of the key, making the dribble hand-offs or pick-and-pop, shooting the three and posting him. Tristan is the kind of guy who is agile enough to get back on his shot when he pops to put ball pressure on him at the top of the key. Just try to make him uncomfortable. Al is a good player so he's going to be able to score, but we just want to make it tough. I think Tristan is the best matchup for him for us to do that.

Q. When George is being aggressive early, how does that sort of affect the ball movement overall for all five guys?
TYRONN LUE: Well, when he's aggressive scoring the basketball, I think his penetration, it opens up for our shooters and everybody on the perimeter. Just him playing fast with speed and with pace really changed our offense. Now we come off, we have a pick-and-roll, they switch, we've still got enough time to post Kevin [Love] or post LeBron against a mismatch or swing it to the second side and still get something. When we get the ball up fast and play with that kind of pace, it really helps us out offensively.

Q. Game 1 you guys had four three-pointers. Tonight you had 17, actually tied the most that you guys have made since you made the trades in February. What did you like from outside the arc, and why do you think you were so successful?
TYRONN LUE: I thought G-Hill early took his shots. They tried to go under a couple times, and he stepped back and made a couple threes. J.R. [Smith] catch and shoot -- I'd rather J.R. take a contested shot than try to put it down, do too much. He took his open shots today. [Kyle] Korver came in and made shots for us off the bench. I thought we did a good job moving the basketball and making the extra pass, and we shot it well tonight. When we're playing like that, guys are going to get open shots. We've just got to make them.

Q. What stuck out to you about LeBron James's passing tonight?
TYRONN LUE: I don't even know. One thing about it -- he prides himself on on time, on target. And when guys are open, he wants to make sure they have it right in their shooting pocket to get their shot off. You could see that with Korver tonight. You could see it with J.R. Kevin had a few that he missed that he normally makes. But he really prides himself on passing on time, on target.

Q. LeBron says all the time it's a make-or-miss league, but his three-point shooting has been really streaky. At the start he couldn't make a three and now he's on a roll here where he can't miss a three. Is it as simple as finding a rhythm and sticking with it or have you noticed when he gets in a rhythm shooting threes and when he doesn't what the difference is?
TYRONN LUE: I think staying in that rhythm will be good for us, but he's just taking what the defense gives him. A couple times they went under, and he took a step-back three. Then when they go over the top, he's able to go downhill and make passes to Larry [Nance Jr.] and Tristan and that opens the floor up for us. I just think he has to read the defense. If they give him that shot, he has to take it because he can shoot the ball extremely well. Just taking his shots in rhythm and not thinking about it.

Q. We noticed that Rodney [Hood] didn't play tonight. Was there anything behind that?
TYRONN LUE: No.

Q. And then what does Larry Nance give you in this series?
TYRONN LUE: He gives us athleticism. I think running the floor, being able to push it out on the break when he rebounds the basketball. But also being able to switch. I think he can switch and guard multiple positions. When Tristan goes out of the game, he's also the guy who can guard Horford. I think he's active enough, he's athletic enough to get up and pressure his handle, challenge his shots when he goes up to shoot the basketball. He's a very versatile player. And then of course when he is driving down the middle of the lane and guys are pulling in to help, it opens up our shooters on the other side. He's very good for us as far as using his athleticism when he's out on the floor.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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