NBA WESTERN CONFERENCE FIRST ROUND: CLIPPERS vs SUNS

April 22, 2023

Ty Lue

Postgame Press Conference

Suns 112, Clippers 100

Q. Was the fight that you guys were able to show, considering the quick turnaround and everything, was that pretty much what you hoped to see?

TY LUE: Say that again.

Q. THE fight that you showed today, keeping it close again. Is that what you hoped to see?

TY LUE: No. I hoped to see a win. We are not playing to keep it close. I know y'all might think that but we are playing to win. We had opportunities, second quarter, I thought we had eight turnovers, kind of got easy baskets but our margin for error is slim.

We've just got to do a better job of taking care of the basketball which we did in the second half and a better job on the glass. Our guys, we're competing to win. We are not competing to keep it close. You know, they played well down the stretch. I thought CP in that fourth quarter really carried them and made some big shots for them.

But like I said, I did love our guys competed and stayed engaged and locked in the whole 48 minutes.

Q. Did you find anything lineup-wise you would like to use Game 5?

TY LUE: No.

Q. You got off to a 7-0 that the check seemed like their offense, they couldn't be stopped from there. Where do you feel like the game in that third quarter kind of turned for you guys? You guys couldn't recover from the run they went on:

TY LUE: Yeah, they made some shots. Book, KD, KD got away from us a couple times where he shouldn't have, and then you know when he caught the ball we didn't do a good job. Especially in that third quarter, crowding him, getting into him, speeding him up and once he's able to play with the ball and get to his spots you're at his mercy.

Some things we can clean up and get better at and like I said, start off the third quarter, really good, high intensity and like I said, their star players, they did what they was supposed to do. They made shots and they created a lot of shots for their teammates as well.

Q. As hard as you've fought the last two games, big games from Norm and Russ, what's it going to take to keep the season alive in Game 5?

TY LUE: Big games again. Big games from Norm. Big games from Russ. Big games from everybody. We need everybody to play well. Like I said we are scrapping and we are competing, and you know, but then we've got to be smarter. Just fouling the bonus and the penalty, taking care of the basketball, good shot selection.

But overall, I love -- like I say, exactly with a we're doing. I thought we were really good defensively tonight until that third quarter that kind of opened things up. They made some tough shots and that's to be expected. So same effort we had the last two nights, well, the last four games, same effort, same intensity, attack mentality like we've been doing. Like I said, I just thought Russ did a great job of just leading that charge, attacking the bass can he on the offensive end, defensively, guarding KD and Book.

So I thought the guys did a good job of following his lead and we're going to need it again come Tuesday.

Q. What about this matchup made you want to go with Marcus to start?

TY LUE: What about what?

Q. What about this matchup made you want to go with Marcus?

TY LUE: I just decided to do it.

Q. You've talked so many times about how you've played unfortunately a lot of games without both Kawhi and PG and you know how to play in those games but is it different in the playoffs when your opponent can study you over and over?

TY LUE: It makes it tougher but I think the biggest thing is acquiring four new guys during the trade deadline with only 21 games left. So now when you acquire four new guys, not making excuses but I'm answering your question, it makes it harder because they still learning on the fly pretty much and when Kawhi and PG both don't play, it's unfamiliar territory for the other guys.

But I love every bit of what they all have given us, and like I said, we have to come out and play better on Tuesday.

Q. These playoff games are emotional and you guys have been running off of emotion the last couple of games. In the immediate aftermath what is the feeling in the locker room?

TY LUE: They feel good. Yeah, you don't want to lose your disappointment. I'm probably more mad than they are just for other reasons. But I love everything they give us. You know, our guys can compete. They fight. They play hard every single night, you know, and so we feel like we let two get away but it's a tough team.

They are a great team, great players, great coach in Monty. So our margin for error is very slim, and so we can't turn the ball over eight times in one quarter. We can't give up offensive rebounds. We can't do things like that, especially when you're shorthanded.

So those things we've just got to clean up, like I said, but I can't fault these guys in the locker room. They give me everything they have got every single night and got to bring it again on Tuesday.

Q. Following up to that, you've spoken a lot about how difficult it is to keep up the players' confidence in the playoffs. How do you continue to do that following a loss like this afternoon?

TY LUE: Just stay with it. Keep being encouraging. You know, don't pull guys out when they make a mistake, you know, when they don't make shots. I think it's more so about you know giving those guys confidence to play through it a little bit, and that's pretty much my formula. I think the communication, I think sticking with guys when they are going through tough times and hopefully they can get out of it but you want to always breed confidence in your players and that's what we try to do, not just me but my whole coaching staff.