	products recent interviews FastScripts archive about ASAP Sports

Our Clients:

Browse by Sport

Find us on

Subscribe to RSS

Click to go to
Asaptext.com

View our
e-Brochure

NBA EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: CELTICS VS CAVALIERS

May 17, 2017

Tyronn Lue

Boston, Massachusetts: Postgame

Cavaliers - 117, Celtics - 104

Q. You mentioned yesterday dealing with a long layoff on the road. It's a little bit different circumstance and you don't have the home crowd energy. Is that where LeBron came in? He had 15 in the first quarter.
TYRONN LUE: Yeah, I thought he did a great job of setting the tone early. I thought Kevin [Love] did a great job when he came back in that second time of really carrying the load when Kyrie and LeBron were on the bench. I was switching some pick-and-rolls, and we took advantage of them down low.

And yeah, like you said, to start the game, LeBron really controlled the tempo, really set the tone early offensively. And then defensively I thought we were really great in that first half.

The third quarter we came out a little sluggish. I thought we got a little tired from being off for a while, but other than that, I thought we played a pretty good game.

Q. You promised us that you told Kevin you were going to get him going. Didn't feel like you did enough to get his game going the first two rounds. Was that just a product of concentrating looks at him? Obviously I think you changed it up where you started the offensive second unit in the second quarter. What did you see out of Kevin Love tonight?
TYRONN LUE: He was just being aggressive. Just knowing him over the last three years, when it starts inside out, that's when his three ball gets to working. LeBron has been playing so well that we really haven't had a chance to really feature Kevin. But we've been talking, and he's been ready, and tonight was a huge performance from him. We needed that. And then he was also really good defensively. On the boards, making shots, posting up. We needed that big performance from Kevin.

Q. Can you just talk about Tristan's performance tonight?
TYRONN LUE: Tristan was big. He's our energy. He's our motor. Defensively he was great. But all the offensive rebounds, he had six offensive rebounds, was huge for us. And then finishing around the basket. His toughness and his will are just big for us. I think his physicality is huge for us, especially against this team.

Q. Dave mentioned Kevin starting the second quarter. What did that do for him?
TYRONN LUE: I don't know. I don't know. But you know, Kyrie and LeBron went out, and I told him I was going to feature him, and he did a good job of carrying the load. We did a good job of getting the basketball to him, and he came up big for us.

Q. You talked before the game about how you are willing to give up something, and teams in the postseason probably have to do that. Did you expect Boston to go one-on-one defensively with LeBron as much as they did and some of your other guys the way that they did and try and take away the three? Did you expect that?
TYRONN LUE: I'm just happy to be here.

Q. LeBron scored at least 35 in five straight games and at least 30 in seven. What does just that say about him, or have you seen anything like this?
TYRONN LUE: He's playing at a high level right now, and that's the reason why we're riding him so much. He's really setting the tone for us in these playoffs. It started the second half of the season. I really thought he hit a great stride offensively, and it's carried over into the playoffs. We're just kind of riding it, and Kevin and Kyrie and everybody else is just filling in.

Tonight Kevin was huge for us. A few games ago and all the other games, Kyrie has been huge for us. Korver has been big for us. When LeBron is playing at this level, other guys just have to be solid and I think we've got a good chance of winning the game. Let's see if we can just keep this up.

Q. Coach, why did you go with [Richard Jefferson] instead of Channing Frye tonight?
TYRONN LUE: I don't know. We talked about it before the series. Today is Channing's birthday, and he knew he probably wasn't going to play, and he said that's OK. He understands. It's all about winning, it's all about match-ups. R.J. came in and gave us a great lift. It's all about sacrifice when you want to win.

Q. They were coming off of an emotional seven-game series, and you came out on the attack. Was that something that you guys talked about at all, without revealing too much?
TYRONN LUE: Yes, we wanted to get off to a great start. This crowd is unbelievable, so we wanted to come out early and try to take the crowd out. I thought we did a good job of that. I thought it started with our defense. I thought defensively we were really active, really rotating, doing a good job. When we're playing defense like that and we're able to get out in transition and run, we're tough to beat.

That was Game 1, but we did a good job of coming out, throwing the first punch.

Q. The Celtics looked much less confident to run their high pick-and-roll than they have in past series. Was one of the objectives to really be physical up top and try to take them out of their usual offense?
TYRONN LUE: Well, we know Isaiah is dangerous, and when he gets going, the crowd really gets into it, their team gets into it, and it opens up a lot of things. When you try to take him out of the series and try to make it tough on him, you're going to give up some shots. In the third quarter, Crowder made a few shots. Gerald Green made a few shots. But our main objective was to make it physical on Isaiah, try to take him out, and we did a good job of that. So when you try and do that, you're going to give up something.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297