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NBA FINALS: CAVALIERS v WARRIORS

June 19, 2016

Tyronn Lue

Oakland, California: Game Seven

Q. Can you put into words just how great or good or special LeBron James' performance through the first six games of The Finals has been?
COACH LUE: Just LeBron being LeBron. Being great, and he knows what this moment's all about. Just seeing him play at a high level like this when we need him to play at a high level. We talked about it all Playoffs, you always ask, when is the right time for LeBron to step up and take over, and he's really done this in The Finals and put us on his back. We've got to continue to ride him. He's going to continue to play well.

Q. Considering the stakes and his statistical output, have you ever seen him play better?
COACH LUE: I mean, I've seen him play individual games better, but for this long of a stretch, for just playing well the way he's been playing, I'd have to go back and look.

But he's been playing unbelievable. Playing phenomenal. So we've just got to keep it up, one more game tonight.

Q. Ty, do you think that being down 3-1 and having won the last two takes away some of the tension or apprehension that your guys might have going into a Game 7 like this?
COACH LUE: I just think we're ready and prepared. I thought the last two games guys were really locked into what we're trying to do defensively and offensively and executing at a high level. So Game 7 won't be any different. We have to continue to do the same thing tonight, and they're ready for this moment.

Q. Kind of piggybacking off that, did something switch with LeBron prior to Game 5 after you fell down 3-1? It seemed 5 and 6 have been off the charts. Do you have any theory as to why? I mean, Klay Thompson said some things earlier in the series. Do you think that ignited him? What was it? Just facing elimination? Or what was it that triggered LeBron in these last two games?
COACH LUE: I'm not sure. I just think continuing to do what we wanted to do offensively and defensively. And I think by putting him on Draymond, it's really ignited him as far as defensively. And offensively he's just been taking his shots in rhythm and taking what the defense gives him. He's been playing at a very high level, but I don't know what got him started with that.

Q. Coach, what did your day consist of today, this morning, leading up to this point? Anything out of the norm?
COACH LUE: No. Pregame we have breakfast and then we had a walkthrough in the ballroom, and I went back and took my nap like I always do (smiling).

Q. Yesterday you really stressed that you don't feel pressure. You see more of an opportunity. How much do you lean on the fact as a coach and a player, your Finals experience when you're kind of trying to put that message out to your players, that it's an opportunity and not trying to play hero ball and things like that?
COACH LUE: Well, just approach it the same way we've been approaching it. That's my main messages. Continue to play the way we've been playing the last two games, being aggressive on the offensive end, attacking every single time, and bringing a physicality to the defensive end.

I think our guys have really done it the last two games and we also did it in Game 3. But, you know, just go out and play the game like you know how. We've been leading up to this moment your whole life, your whole career, and to be put in a position where you're in the NBA Finals Game 7 and a chance to win it all, I mean, you couldn't ask for a better and bigger time.

Q. Unless I heard you wrong, you said that LeBron asks you sometimes when it's time to take over? Is that what you said?
COACH LUE: No, I didn't say that. No, he always asks me -- Dave always asks me when is the right time for LeBron to take over. Because in the Playoffs, the first couple rounds, it was just Kyrie and Kevin, and we kind of just played. They just asked me when is the right time for LeBron to take over.

Q. Can you sometimes see that in him or just a switch gets flipped and he just takes over?
COACH LUE: Well, he's very cerebral. He's very confident and a great player, so he understands that in order to get to where we've gotten to right now, he needed everybody else. That's what he did in the first couple rounds of just leaning on everyone else, and Kevin and Kyrie and the rest of the guys stepped up and played well. So he understood that.

Now we got to this point. We were down 3-1, and our backs were against the wall. He understood that he had to do more, and he took it upon himself to do that.

Q. With the repeated exposures to facing the same team here over seven games, at least six so far, is there any sense that maybe you've figured something out about this opponent and maybe some concern that maybe they've figured something out about you?
COACH LUE: Not really any concerns. Just our approach is we want to approach it the same way we've been trying to approach the first six games of just attacking those guys, playing fast in transition, getting easy baskets and just bringing the physicality to the defensive end.

When you're playing a great team for this long, of course you're going to figure out what they do well and what they don't do well. So we've done a pretty good job the last couple games of figuring that out.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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