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NBA EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: RAPTORS v CAVALIERS

May 25, 2016

Tyronn Lue

Cleveland, Ohio: Game Five

Cleveland 116, Toronto 78

TYRONN LUE: Before we get started, I know Kevin didn't play in the fourth quarter, so you don't have to ask it. Next question. (Laughter).

Q. Ty, this is the sixth straight game you guys have played at home where you held your opponent to under 100 points. What is the difference in this building and then when you compare it to what happened in Games 3 and 4 in Toronto?
TYRONN LUE: They didn't score 100 points in Game 3, either. I think they scored 99, right? So we've been doing a good job of just holding teams to under 100, and I just feel if we can hold teams under 100, we can score 100 points to win the game. But I think our intensity picked up, our aggressiveness picked up. We were very physical to start the game, and it just kind of led to us getting out in transition, getting steals and getting easy baskets.

Q. How do you explain the Jekyll and Hydeness of this series, both teams winning on their home court, and Tristan [Thompson] and Kevin [Love] tonight bouncing back after terrible games in Toronto?
TYRONN LUE: I just think in Toronto they attacked us. I thought they were the aggressor, and we were the reactors. They attacked us early, and it was hard for us to bounce back. Getting down 18 points in Game 4 was tough for us, fighting back. But I thought here at home, we just came out early. We had in our own minds to be aggressive, to be physical, to jump on those guys early, and we were able to do it.

Q. You talked yesterday about wanting to hit first, playing with more aggressiveness. Tristan had two offensive rebounds in the first three minutes. How much of your aggressiveness ties into Tristan, and could you sense in the days leading up to this one that he was going to have one of these kinds of games after all the conversation about Bismack [Biyombo]?
TYRONN LUE: Tristan is a competitor. Every night he steps on the floor, he has the most energy. He's always making tough plays every single night. But tonight he was big for us defensively because we blitz a lot with Tristan, and he's one of the best blitz guys in the league. Just having him on the defensive end really helped us out, but I thought also moving him around a lot, when we posted LeBron, we posted Kevin, I thought moving him around, keeping him high, keeping him low and just continuing to move him around gave those guys problems tonight.

Q. Kevin Love tonight, obviously a big game. What is his confidence level like after the conversation you had with him yesterday? What was it like, and did you see that play out in tonight's game?
TYRONN LUE: Well, his confidence never wavered. He knew exactly what he had to do. We talked about it, and then today, this morning we talked about it also, and after the game he's like, I told you.

Like I said, I just wanted Kevin to continue to be aggressive. I don't care about missed shots. Take your shots when you have them, just be aggressive, and that's what he did tonight. He set the tone for us early.

Q. We've talked for the past maybe several days about whether LeBron could do more or should do more, and maybe it's obvious to you, but why is it better for this team if he's playing this way instead of the guy who last year was using all the possessions and having to score all the points?
TYRONN LUE: Well, it's a lot better because it takes a lot of pressure off of LeBron. I think when Kyrie and Kevin are playing at a high level along with our bench, I think it's easy for him. He doesn't have to exert a lot of energy trying to do everything, guard his man, make every play. With Kyrie and Kevin playing the way they've been playing throughout these playoffs, it just makes it easier for LeBron. When he needs to take over a game, I'm pretty sure you will see that.

Q. Sometimes Kevin tends to hide behind the three-point line and a lot of the game you don't see him do a whole lot else. Tonight we saw everything Kevin Love can do, both offensively and otherwise. What kind of things stand out to you about what you saw?
TYRONN LUE: Just Kevin Love being Kevin Love. He's been playing this way throughout the whole postseason. He had two bad games, two bad shooting games, and we made a big deal of it. But Kevin is one of the top 10 players in this league. Nothing that he does amazes me. We just have got to keep him aggressive at all times.

Q. Let's talk about the 24 minutes that Kevin did play, not the fourth quarter he didn't. But when you see his body language, he's a guy who kind of, to me, you can see a lot of where his head is at. I don't know if you noticed this, but he was kind of calling for the crowd in the first quarter to make noise after he hit a transition three.
TYRONN LUE: Oh, really?

Q. Have you seen him breaking out of his shell at all this season?
TYRONN LUE: He's definitely more comfortable. Like I said, he's happy where he's at. He knows we have a great opportunity here, and our goal all season has been to win a championship. He's in a great place right now. He's been in a great place for a while, and he's just enjoying it, having fun, and like you say, opening up a little bit more.

Q. What do you have to do to carry over being the aggressor when you get to Toronto on Friday night?
TYRONN LUE: Just continue to do the same things we did tonight, blitzing Kyle [Lowry] and [DeMar] DeRozan, and on pick-and-rolls just being physical, going over the top on everything with DeRozan, not let him get easy, comfortable, pull-up jump shots. One thing we didn't do, we didn't stay down tonight. They got us with a couple shot fakes, I think DeRozan with two or three and then Kyle got us with one also, just try and keep those guys off the free-throw line.

Q. With your experience as a coach and a player, with your championship pedigree, how do you now get this team to go to Toronto and close this deal out?
TYRONN LUE: Just a business trip. We know what we're here for. We have a chance to do something special. I think our guys understand that. But then also just continue to play the way we played tonight. I thought we were really aggressive with Kyle and DeRozan, limited those guys' shots, making [Bismack] Biyombo and those guys have to make plays out of the blitz. With LeBron and J.R. [Smith] and those guys on the back line, it's tough to just throw any pass. We were able to get some steels and get out in transition, get some easy baskets.

Q. When you talk about Kevin being more comfortable coming out of his shell, what is it that you think created that in him?
TYRONN LUE: I just think it's trust. I think it's trust. When he feels the guys trust him, he trusts the guys. I think that's the biggest thing. When you're part of a team, you trust one another. He feels that trust, and he feels that love. That's why he's opened up more, and you can see more of who Kevin Love really is.

Q. Looking at the box score, only 21 three-point attempts tonight and 46 points in the paint. Was that a point of emphasis here tonight to cut down on the threes and attack like you did the first two games?
TYRONN LUE: Yes, we talked about just attacking the basket, being aggressive. And even if Biyombo is in the paint, let's be aggressive. Let's try to go through him. If you miss a shot or he blocks a shot, Tristan will be there to clean it up. We really talked about pushing the pace, getting out early in transition and attacking the basket, and we were able to do that tonight.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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