LOS ANGELES CLIPPERS MEDIA CONFERENCE

June 14, 2021

Tyronn Lue

Postgame Press Conference

Los Angeles Clippers 118, Utah Jazz 104

Q. What did you see from Marcus Morris that may be a little bit different in this series that you saw tonight especially in that first half?

TYRONN LUE: His brother was here (laughing). We going to take him to Utah with us, too. Taking his shots. Taking them with confidence. We have a lot of confidence in him and taking shots and tonight we needed everything, going five-for-five in the first half, that was just great and got us off to a good start.

Q. YOU mentioned you wanted to start these halves better and this was the best first quarter in the series by far. What was the key to that?

TYRONN LUE: I thought it was our defense, really setting the tone defensively, only giving up 13 points in that first quarter, we was able to get out in transition.

But I thought our physicality and attention to detail was pretty good tonight. Of course we made some mistakes, and that's going to happen when you're playing the game of basketball but overall I thought we were really locked in and really took advantage.

Q. Kawhi didn't finish the game, or at least he was on the bench, but you had Luke come in. Wanted to make sure everything is good with Kawhi and your decision on letting everybody else finish this off tonight?

TYRONN LUE: Yeah, I think so. We'll know more after the game but yeah, I think everybody is pretty good.

Q. Paul George has been very aggressive at driving to the rim especially when Derrick Favors has been in the game. Is that the added emphasis for guys like him when Derrick Favors is in the game?

TYRONN LUE: Yeah, we've been talking about this since Game 2, how we want to attack what we want to attack and like I said, PG is d a great job of getting to the basket, getting to the free throw line ten times. We know the formula how we want to play and like I said, just attacking the way we want to and it's going to start with our defense and I thought tonight we really played some good defense. Donovan made some tough, crazy shots like he's capable of doing.

But just paying attention to detail I thought was great. They made some desperation threes to get them back in the game a little bit. Overall, I loved where we were at, I loved our physicality and I loved the way we battled.

Q. Historically, you've shown to be a master at making adjustments from game to game in the playoffs. Can you give us some insight about what goes into that process and what allows you to be so fluid with that?

TYRONN LUE: Well, I think just, you know, understanding what a team is trying to do. I think how they are trying to attack you on the defensive end, what they are looking for and how they are trying to attack you, that's one. And on the other side of the basketball us offensively, just seeing what the defense is trying to take away. Once you can get a feel and see what they are doing, you can take advantage and capitalize on that.

Like I said, I give our coaching staff a lot of credit. They have done a great job and our players have done a great job of adjusting. We started small in Game 1, started big in Game 2 and then started small Games 3 and 4.

But our team being able to adjust on the fly has been doing a way better job than in the first series against Dallas. So it's not only me; I give our coaching staff a lot of credit. I kind of dive into it head first and look at ways we can exploit teams and what we can try to take away. And then those guys piggyback and we talk it out and see what we want to do. That's kind of how we operate.

So not just me; our coaching staff, they have a lot of great suggestions and then we just try to put it together and try to execute it. Like I said the last two games our team have been doing a good job of it.

Q. You know the dunk that Kawhi had and then the block afterwards, is that the most healthiest the best you've seen in terms of athleticism and explosiveness you've seen in a while?

TYRONN LUE: No, he's been feeling good all season long but attacking the basket, they put a center on him a couple of times in the middle of the zone and told him to attack, told him to be aggressive and he got kind of mad and the next play he came through the lane and dunked the fall over Favors.

Just have an attack mentality, that's what we have to do. Can't let this team off the hook. We have to make these guys defend us. We know how we want to play and what we want to do. We got up and got a 29-point lead. I thought we got comfortable and took some quick jumpshots and tough shots, and said just keep executing and grinding and making them defend us, and we'll learn from that.

Q. I know the circumstances are a little different because last time you were coming back home versus going on the road tied 2-all is there a lesson you learned after playing Game 5 after you were tied 2-all?

TYRONN LUE: Not really. Every series is different. But I do like our mindset. I do like the way that we know how we want to attack and how we want to approach the game. So that's the No. 1 thing. I just want to give Pat Beverley a lot of credit. Pat Beverley come into the game defensively, what he did for us, he just totally changed the game.

So you know, a total team win, Marcus Morris getting off to a great start, Kawhi and PG doing their thing but I thought Pat Beverley really did a great job of coming in and setting that tone for us defensively. Total team win. Gave 5 is going to be a little bit different. We know we are going into a hostile environment. We have to keep our poise and get off to a good start early in the game.

Q. Obviously they are going to make shots and they were not going to be cold the entire game but is there any concern about them gaining confidence and getting rhythm in this game heading into the next game?

TYRONN LUE: Not at all. They are going to play the same way regardless. They are going to shoot a lot of threes; that's what they do. So they are going to take a lot of threes and we understand that. So the biggest thing for our team, we know we have to pay a lot of attention to Donovan who is creating a lot of stuff for them but we have to pick-and-choose and tell our we want to blitz or switch blitz or we want to just guard head-up.

The guys are going to have a feel for the game, and they are going to make some shows. When you double-team someone, you're going to leave someone open. And I just thought we did a good job, 17-for-42, you know, for as many as they shoot, that's not too many. We'll be okay. As long as we keep making our shots, I think we'll be fine.