LOS ANGELES CLIPPERS MEDIA CONFERENCE

June 12, 2021

Tyronn Lue

Postgame Press Conference

Los Angeles Clippers 132, Utah Jazz 106

Q. Wondering what did you see out there in Terance's minutes? The team was plus 21 and he seemed like he gave you an energy boost?

TYRONN LUE: Yeah, just his energy, flying around, being able to guard multiple positions, rebounding the basketball, attacking, and just his energy I thought was great. The fans love him. They love when he gets on the floor. He feeds off the crowd. So we needed that lift today and he was great for us.

Q. More than just the points what was the difference in the way PG really attacked today, throughout the game, really?

TYRONN LUE: Just being sure. Just playing the game like he's been doing all season long, like he did in the first round. Attack when he was to and not take the three-point shot like we talked about. You know, just being aggressive. It's just having an offensive mindset to be up 20, 24 shots, that's what we need him and Kawhi to do.

I thought PG set the tone early. After that 8-0 run, I thought he was decisive about what he wanted to do, you know, making plays for us, attacking or shooting the three-point shot. It was a great game for him tonight and we have to keep building off that.

Q. You mentioned the shot attempt, is that something you have to keep going to him about; he's a really good shooter when he does shoot.

TYRONN LUE: Yeah, for sure. Being aggressive, going out with your guns blazing and he did that tonight. We need that from him and Kawhi, just taking their shots, being aggressive. We know when he's going to roll in the paint.

But you have also have to get to your spot and be able to score the basketball, as create for other guys. I thought Nic Batum stepped up and made shots tonight. Luke Kennard made a big one. Reggie Jackson was good again tonight. It was a total team win.

Q. Piggybacking off of that question, how much of a difference does it make when PG gets going so strong, so early in the game?

TYRONN LUE: Oh, we're a different team. We know that. It's been like that all season long. He's been great. You know, he had one bad game, whatever, but people going to have bad games. Biggest thing is defensively just taking the challenge with Donovan, with Ingles with those guys closing out. Closing out but also stopping penetration and PG did a great job of that tonight.

You're not going to make shots every night, we understand that, but defensively is when we've got to be locked in and I thought we made some mistakes tonight but overall just the way we played, we played hard, we played physical. When you compete like that at a high level, you can recover from mistakes, and we did that.

Q. With Kawhi, do you know when he's going to go on a spree like he did in the first quarter and do his take over thing in the second half?

TYRONN LUE: He probably missed some easy shots early on in the first half and we knew he was going to come out attacking in that third quarter. We made the first play for him to try to get him going and he kind of went from there. We needed every bit of it.

It was a total team win. Guys coming off the bench were great. PG and Kawhi really set the tone; PG early and Kawhi late, and that's what we need from our two best players to be able to do that and set the table for everyone else, and they did.

Q. First couple games, you threw everything at Donovan and he had his way. How did you settle on sending the second defender and what do you think of the rotations when he did find open guys at the pass?

TYRONN LUE: I thought made some mistakes -- but we just trying to cover for one another, not leaving a guy on an island, try to make a play in a crowd which we did. A couple rotations we messed up on but the biggest thing is point of emphasis was handling Donovan tonight, no easy baskets. He earned pretty much everything he got, having zero points in the first quarter, but 16 in the second, he made some tough shots. He made some shots in the paint where he double-pumped, so he's going to make some of those shots.

Overall I thought we did a fairly decent job of him of just trying to contain him, trying to fire on him and trying to blitz him a little bit and trying to keep him off-balance.

Q. You went zone and lasted for three minutes and called time-out. Do you feel like that worked as far as disrupting rhythm?

TYRONN LUE: I really don't remember. I've got to take a look at it. You know, just give them different things. Come out of time-out with a little -- great out of time-outs, taking advantage of something. We came out of that possession and game out zone and I think we got a stop. Just keep mixing it up and keep them off-balance as much as possible, and I thought we did a great job of that tonight.

Q. They hit 19 threes still, and obviously overall, you're pleased with the defensive performance, but is this going to be one of those games where if last series was Luka is going to do a lot, we're just going to live with it; is this a series where you live with the fact they might take a lot of threes but limit everything else?

TYRONN LUE: Whatever we can get on transition but making some off the did I believe. Just the three with Joe I think to start the game, he had three mistakes and cost us nine points right away right off the bat.

So we've just got to clean those things up. That's what we have to get better at is clean up our mistakes with the other guys because we know with Donovan he's going to get loose and he's going to make some shots and he's going to make some tough shots. But like with Ingles, he's too good of a three-point shooter just to miss the recovery and leave him wide-open three times.

Q. In a game like this with so many positives, was there something you were most pleased with from Game 2 to Game 3 that you were happy to see tonight?

TYRONN LUE: Just the way we competed. I think we competed at a high, high level. I thought our physicality was there. I thought we did a great job rebounding the basketball. And just taking the challenge one-on-one.

You know, like I said, Donovan is going to score. Takes 24 shots, got 30 points. I thought we really took the challenge, everyone who guarded him, they tried and we competed. Biggest thing for me, like I said, is just taking the challenge and competing for 48 minutes.

Q. Speaking about Reggie's performance, not just tonight but the way he's performed all playoffs, I remember back during the season when you said you had told him at the beginning of the year he was going to be out of the rotation to now where he's not only -- he's making big plays, big shots for you in the playoffs, but just how big has he been for you just not only playoffs but just all season long to have him to be able to depend on him like that?

TYRONN LUE: It's been huge. I think Reggie has done a great job of just being professional, being there when we needed him all season long. You know, when Pat Beverley missed those games, he stepped in and became a starter for the rest of the season. He put the work in. Sometime I think he's working too hard when guys should be tired, shouldn't be really in the gym but he's always putting that work in.

He's not afraid of the moment. He's not afraid of the big moment. He wants that. Tonight he wanted to guard Donovan Mitchell. He wants those opportunities to be on the big stage and he's perform. He's been great for us through those playoffs. If we didn't have him in the first round against Dallas I don't think we could have won.

We need production from him, a guy that can handle the basketball, run pick-and-roll, catch-and-shoot, he's No. 1 in the league out of point guards on catch-and-shoots. We need everything we can get from Reggie. He's been great for us.

Q. We were talking a lot about Paul and Kawhi this game, and when you see them play like this, when they are this good in a game like this, do you go, man, if they did that every game, this team could do anything. What's the separation where they have games like this?

TYRONN LUE: I think just being aggressive, taking shots. Like I said, Rudy is going to help, so we have to make the right play and right pass. But with our two guys, we know that they are two of the best in the league. Like I said yesterday, I don't go to Mastro's to order the ketchup. I go to order the steak. And tonight, our guys want steak. That's what we need,.

Because they have been doing it for us all season long. Just one game in Utah, a game and a half, but they have been doing it for us all year and that's what we need from the guys and they understand that and they did it for us tonight.

Q. How much better is that than last year? Last year there was a lot of learning to play together. Do you feel they have that now?

TYRONN LUE: Oh, for sure, they have the trust. They understand each other. They know how to play off each other now and we try to stagger them a little bit as well so they can both have their own unit and they have been phenomenal for us all season.