NBA WESTERN CONFERENCE FIRST ROUND: CLIPPERS vs SUNS

April 18, 2023

Tyronn Lue

Postgame Press Conference

Suns 123, Clippers 109

Q. T, the game seemed to have the same similar flow as Game 1 except the fourth quarter they were obviously able to separate. Just want to know what made it more challenging in this fourth quarter compared to Game 1?

TYRONN LUE: Booker, KD and CP really did a good job of just controlling the game. Like I said, in that second half, in the fourth quarter they really took over. We tried to blitz, we tried to fire, we did a lot of different things, and like I said, they played great.

I was just proud of our guys because we weren't satisfied with just coming in and winning one game. I thought our guys scrapped and we gave everything we had, missed some shots, had a couple key turnovers. But other than that, I thought we came in with the mindset we wanted to win this game.

That's all you can really ask for, and so we did that. Some things we've got to be able to clean up going into the next game, and we'll be ready. But like I said, they were down 1-0 at home, and their stars came to play tonight, and they had a great game.

Q. You see Game 1 they only made eight mid-range shots. They made 21 tonight.

TYRONN LUE: Yeah, they made 11 in the first half.

Q. When you see that, that's a shot that a lot of teams like to give up. You all challenged that shot well, but they make them. When you see that, what do you take away from that?

TYRONN LUE: Well, I think you've just got to continue mixing coverages up, not letting them get comfortable, and in the first half I thought we did a good job with our bigs being up, and then Ayton, he kind of got going, he made like four or five of 'em, and then we backed up, then Book and KD and CP got going. So just mixing up our coverages, try to keep them off balance. I thought our zone was pretty good for us at times, but just got to keep trying to keep them off balance as best as possible.

Q. Coach, yesterday you talked about how important it is to keep the guys, keep their confidence up. How do you do that after a game like today?

TYRONN LUE: Our confidence is great. Our confidence is great. Like I said, we come in, play in a hostile environment. We won one, lost one, and like I said, we was in the game until like the last six minutes of the game. We're very confident. Some things we can clean up and do better, and we'll be ready to go.

Q. You just talked about that confidence. After the first two games, how do you feel about where you guys are as you head back to LA?

TYRONN LUE: I feel good. I feel good where we're at. Our guys are going to keep competing and keep scrapping. We think we can win this series, and so that's the biggest thing. 100 percent of the battle is believing, and we believe we can do it. Like I said, clean up some things and do some things a little different, but like I said, I like where we're at, and I like what we did tonight.

Q. What did you see the difference in the way Russ was able to get going early offensively? Obviously he's shooting the ball so much better. Was that just the factor of him just making shots that he was taking Game 1, as well, or were these different looks?

TYRONN LUE: No, I think different looks. Taking good shots but also attacking the basket. That's when he's at his best, getting to the basket, getting to the free-throw line. Eight for eight from the free-throw line tonight, 9 for 16 from the field, but took some good shots and really attacked. We came into the series just talking about attacking. We know they foul, and they'll foul you at the basket, so attacking it, being aggressive, and I thought he did that tonight.

Q. You mentioned a few times that you need to clean up a few things. What specifically do you need to clean up?

TYRONN LUE: I can't tell you. They're too good already. I can't tell you that.

Q. I know you touched on it briefly, but looking at the shot profiles for KD and Chris, KD took no lay-ups, all mid range shots, 0 of 4 from three. Chris missed one three, no lay-ups, all mid range. Is that kind of shot profile something you're comfortable with as long as you guys are contesting right, or is it dependent on something specific?

TYRONN LUE: As long as we get in the rear view contest, I think with CP and Book more so than anything. KD it's hard to get a contest. We've got to keep coming and just try to bottle him as much as possible. But like I said, they are a great mid range shooting team, so we mix our coverages up a little bit and try and make them uncomfortable, and then Ayton hurt us and then A hurt us, then we fired, then Booker was the next guy in the rotation, he put it down and drove and got to his pull-up.

Like I said, they played well, and I thought we played well for 42 minutes, but we've got to -- those last six minutes, when you're playing against a very good team, you've got to be good for 48 minutes, not just 42.

Q. Another trail, Bones, Norman and T-Mann. We talked about what they need to bring for you guys, especially in transition defensively. Where do you think maybe that unit struggled tonight?

TYRONN LUE: I've got to look at the second half, but the first half they was great. They brought us a lot of good energy, scoring the basketball, and then the biggest thing is defensively they were really good. I thought Bones and especially Norm was really good tonight defensively.

The second half, just different combinations or whatever, but I thought the first half our bench was really good for us.