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NBA FINALS: CAVALIERS v WARRIORS

June 1, 2016

Tristan Thompson

Oakland, California: Practice Day

Q. What's it do for you guys having Kevin Love this year for the final to be able to stretch the floor?
TRISTAN THOMPSON: For our guards, it opens everything up. For LeBron [James] and Kyrie [Irving] and J.R. [Smith], and for me setting the pick-and-roll, pulling Draymond [Green] out, it's one-on-one against [Andrew] Bogut. That's what we want. We want our guards to have -- be able to attack the rim, and they're great finishers.

So with Kevin shooting at the clip he's shooting from three, it definitely helps our team a lot.

Q. Do you feel like Channing [Frye] can force them to take their fives off the floor by stretching them out?
TRISTAN THOMPSON: I'm not going to coach nobody. I'm not going to tell them what to do. But Channing is a great shooter. So whatever the matchup is. Who knows. They might switch to pick-and-roll. Who knows what they'll do with Channing in the pick-and-roll or out there shooting threes. He's a great addition for us. He's helped us a lot. You've seen the games. He's shooting near 60 percent from three, so he's shooting at a great clip level for that.

Q. How big of a factor for both teams in this series defending at the three-point line?
TRISTAN THOMPSON: Defending the three-point line is definitely going to be crucial. We've been shooting the ball very well. And they've got guys that can make threes at a high level. So definitely going to defend the three and also defend around the rim.

I think that paint protection is definitely going to be big for the series, and you can run guys off the three-point line.

Q. Do you take anything from the Thunder series and watching what they did, using their length? They obviously beat the Warriors with their small lineup in Games 3 and 4. Did you take anything from them?
TRISTAN THOMPSON: They just played hard. They played hard. But the Warriors played harder, they played harder for a longer period of time. But OKC, they competed. They competed, and I think that's what we have to do. No matter if we're down 10 or up 10, you've got to keep playing. Keep playing every possession and just stick to our game plan. Don't get away from it. Don't lose track. They might make a couple threes and Oakland goes crazy. We've got to stay calm, stay composed and keep playing.

Q. If you guys couldn't clinch in Cleveland, how special was it to clinch in Toronto?
TRISTAN THOMPSON: A great feeling, especially me being Canadian. Yeah, if you can't clinch at home, if you clinch in Toronto, I'll take that.

Q. But you personally, how was that? Being in front of so many people?
TRISTAN THOMPSON: Being in front of people that I grew up and watched my whole development and having my mom there and my family, it definitely meant a lot. As soon as the game was over, she was right on the court. So I was excited. I was like: Mom, how did you get there? But she had her pass and credential, so Mom wasn't playing around.

Q. You and Cory back on speaking terms now?
TRISTAN THOMPSON: Of course. We're always on speaking terms, but when the game starts, we can't speak to each other. It's about business.

Q. Will it be weird to play against Anderson Varejao?
TRISTAN THOMPSON: Will it be weird to play against Andy? We're not used to it, only in practice, but now he's on a different team. So I'm happy for Andy. He's done a great job to get himself back to where he needs to get to and being in The Finals and being healthy. I'm happy for him.

Q. How different is the Cavaliers this year from last year, the last Finals?
TRISTAN THOMPSON: Well, we have more pieces and guys got better over the summer. We're healthy going into the game. We feel good. We feel good. We've been playing well. We had a great test against Toronto. It's all positive.

Q. What advice would you give yourself going into last year's Finals now knowing what you know?
TRISTAN THOMPSON: Every possession counts. Every possession means something. It might be the loose ball, diving into the crowd or saving a possession. Every possession counts in the Finals.

Q. Did it look to you in Game 7 for the Warriors, it looked like Steph [Curry] was back to being Steph in Game 7?
TRISTAN THOMPSON: He's one hell of a player. Guys are going to have a couple games where you guys think they didn't play well, but he's such a great player and he shoots it so well for them that a couple shots knocked down, he can easily rally up six threes.

So for us we've got to make sure we make things tough for him, try to make him uncomfortable, and get him out of his comfort zone.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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