LOS ANGELES CLIPPERS MEDIA CONFERENCE

May 22, 2021

Tyronn Lue

Postgame Press Conference

Dallas Mavericks - 113, Los Angeles Clippers - 103

Q. What did you see in the second half that you guys were able to really make those runs, especially down the stretch in the fourth quarter, but unfortunately came up a little short today?

TYRONN LUE: I think going small, spacing them out a little bit. I think Porzingis playing the 5, we had to space him out, they spaced us out a little bit, was able to attack, get into the paint and make plays for ourself and our teammates.

So going small and kind of creating that energy defensively as well, being able to track Luka, firing at Luka and changing our defensive coverage as well.

Q. With regards to trapping Luka, it seemed to really work for you guys in that third quarter, making other guys make shots. Did you feel like you maybe you waited too late or did you want to see maybe he would cool off eventually? How did you make that decision to start trapping him?

TYRONN LUE: Well, we were on the same page a few times. We wanted to get it out of his hand in the first half as well and we just didn't execute the way we needed to. We had a lot of breakdowns, a lot of mistakes defensively that we didn't execute right. So we got to just clean those things up and we'll be fine. But we all got to be on the same page defensively what we're doing and when we're changing coverages as well.

Q. The shooting tonight, was that, do you feel like, do you like the shot quality and the shots weren't falling, especially in that first half, or what did you make of the offense you guys did generate?

TYRONN LUE: I got to take a look at it, but I thought shot quality was pretty good in the first half, but I got to look at it, like I said. But we were getting shots, we were getting attempts we didn't make early on, we kept playing. The good thing about it, we only have five turnovers, that allowed us to stay in the game. So we're going to make shots, we understand that, but just defensively just got to clean some things up and make sure we're on the same page.

Q. When it came to Luka, how much was part of your plan entering the game was to have Kawhi see time on Luka, especially like in the fourth quarter?

TYRONN LUE: Well, it really doesn't matter now because the game's so different. You're going to switch 1 through 4 anyway. So they're going to pick the matchup out and see who you want on him. So we switched it and did a good job in that fourth quarter, held him to one point in the fourth quarter and a lot of guys stepped up and made big shots. Hardaway made big shots. Finney-Smith made big shots and Brunson got to wherever he wanted to tonight. So we got to do a better job.

Q. Was there anything you saw with PG offensively, that slow start for him, in that first half?

TYRONN LUE: No, just couldn't get into a really good offensive rhythm. I got to do a better job of making sure I get him in position and I got to do a better job of looking at the film and just see, pick his spots where we can get more clean looks and get better shots to start the game.

Q. Whether you guys were big or small there were some challenges with rebounds, Mavericks got almost 20 second-chance points in this game. What do you need from both your bigs and the rest of the roster as far as making those lineups work for rebounding?

TYRONN LUE: Yeah, well I think they have a stretch 5 in Porzingis, a stretch 5 in Kleber, so when the shot goes up, if Zu's guarding Porzingis on the perimeter, it's hard for him to go down and rebound the ball. So they do a good job of spreading you out, there's going to be long rebounds and those are the ones we got to get to. But when Zu's on the perimeter, when he's spacing Porzingis and Kleber, it's tough for him to get out and rebound. So we got to do a better job collectively hitting bodies and going to get it. We know they're going to cut from the corner, we know they're going to crash, we got to do a better job of getting to bodies.

Q. What did you make of Rondo's presence out there? He seemed like he kind of helped get PG going in the second half.

TYRONN LUE: His pace, his IQ, being in the playoffs as much as he has, he understands the game and how important it is and how significant every possession is. And he did a good job of getting PG some easy shots early on, like in that third quarter. And we need Rondo to play like that. So we'll be fine, one game, they won, hats off to those guys, they came in and played well.

Q. Do you think PG's second half will help him sort of keep it going or kind of get him warmed up?

TYRONN LUE: Yeah, I think so. I think he's going to be fine. Early on I didn't get him in positions to be successful. Kawhi had it going, so we rode him early on and PG kind of got out of rhythm. So in that second half we made a conscious effort to get him going and get him in a rhythm as well.

But that's on me as far as PG's start, but in the second half he came on and he was able to make some shots for us and kind of carry us in that second half.

Q. What did you make of the shot selection, the quality of shots you got in the last four, five minutes? Were you satisfied with it, did you feel like guys got a little bit tight when the game started to get away from you?

TYRONN LUE: You got to ask them that. I think PG took a quick three in transition that was kind of contested, but outside of that I thought we got some good shots. I thought we got to our spots. We got some good looks and some good shots. But I got to see the tape and review it, but for the most part I thought we did a good job.

Q. What was the mood of the team like in the locker room when you addressed them? Were guys a little more down than after a loss? Was it a typical sort of post-playoff loss or was it a little something more?

TYRONN LUE: No, they were fine. We kind of did it to ourselves, I would say, because we allowed breakdowns, allowed defensive breakdowns that we went over for the last five days that we didn't execute. So we got to be better in those areas. We can't give them points, they're too good. Luka makes you pay every time you make a mistake. So we got to be better with our coverages and understanding what we're trying to do and we'll be able to clean up going into Tuesday.

Q. You have obviously been on a team that came back from a 3-1 deficit. You know all about how like in the playoffs you're not done until you're done. How important is this one game here at home with the home court advantage that I guess you in a sense have given up?

TYRONN LUE: You mean Tuesday?

Q. No, like you obviously have been through a lot of playoff wars where you won from ahead in a series or won from behind with or without home court advantage. Now obviously this game here today, how important was it getting this Game 1 and what do you tell your team now that they're they have kind of forfeited this home court advantage?

TYRONN LUE: Just some things we got to clean up. We're very confident, they came in and played well, we didn't execute as good as I would like to defensively. So we're just going to go to the film tomorrow, just show some guys some things we can clean up and we'll come back Tuesday ready to go.

Q. Obviously some of the shots that Luka was getting today were ridiculous, very difficult, high level of difficulty. Where does he rank in terms of individual offensive creators that you had to deal with in the playoffs? I know you had to deal with a lot of different matchups throughout your coaching career, so where does he rank among those?

TYRONN LUE: Right up at the top. He does a great job of controlling the game, making guys better, and he's a big-moment player, he loves the big moment. He made some big shots, some deep shots, some tough shots and that's what great players do. We're not going to get discouraged by that. We got to clean up the things that we can clean up and he's going to make some tough shots, because all the great players do.

Q. The Mavericks shot very well from the three-point line, how can you limit their three-point shooting and how can you improve yours?

TYRONN LUE: Make shots. I think we created some shots and they fired at Kawhi a little bit, so if we don't have an open shot, we put it on the floor and create for somebody else. But I thought we got some decent looks on their side of the basketball, just understand our coverages and what we're trying to do. But when you take the ball out of Luka's hands, they got three-point shooting, so we got to make sure that we get out to those guys and make those guys put the ball on the floor.