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NBA EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: CELTICS VS CAVALIERS

May 21, 2017

Brad Stevens

Boston, Massachusetts: Postgame

Celtics - 111, Cavaliers - 108

Q. They were in control 77-56 in the third quarter. What changed at that point to allow you guys to get back in and then eventually get the win?
BRAD STEVENS: I really felt like in the first half we played way better than the score. Maybe there was a couple of shots we could have challenged better, but I was hoping that the law of averages would kick in at some point. Some of those shots were just incredible.

I felt like we started slow in the third quarter, and it was disappointing because I felt like we could get back in that thing. I thought both teams were a little sloppy at that point, and then our guys were better toward the end of the third. It goes back and forth in the fourth, and we're lucky to win.

Q. Was it defense or offense do you think really got you back in this and won the game?
BRAD STEVENS: Well, we're not going to win unless we score the ball, but our defense was pretty good all night. And I know that sounds crazy, but like on a lot of Love's shots, on Kyrie Irving's shots, I thought our defense was pretty good all night. There are things that we'll have to look at and do better, but we were pretty connected, pretty locked in. That's why I was disappointed at the start of the third quarter.

But the bench did a good job, specifically Jonas Jerebko, of lifting us at that time.

Q. A lot over the course of Marcus's career has been made about what a poor shooter he is, but he always seems to hit them late. What did you see of that tonight?
BRAD STEVENS: I think we talked about it Monday. We can talk about his shooting all year long, but you know when it's in a big moment, that kid is going to rise to the occasion. He just always has. That's one of the reasons why if he goes through a funk at some time in March, shoot yourself out of it, and we believe in you, and let it fly. Because in this moment when we needed him the most, he made huge shots. He was terrific tonight.

Q. You've talked about it before with this team, but in this case, the way the first two games went, not having Isaiah, down 21 with six minutes left in the third, what did you see from them on the bench? What was the mood, and how do they stay so resilient when there's every reason to not be?
BRAD STEVENS: When we won here last year, we were down big. When we had a chance to win earlier this year, we were down big. We've been in that situation before. We were playing way better. I don't know how to phrase it other than that. We were playing way better. We were getting good shots on offense and playing with great purpose, and on defense I thought we were much better than the score indicated.

I think that when you play better, you feel better. And you just kind of stay the course.

Q. Did you get a sense the guys realized that and felt that as you're down 21 --
BRAD STEVENS: Well, I know they don't listen to very much that I say, but I try to say it as much as possible because I felt that way. I felt like it was by far the best first half we've played, and it could have easily been a four-point game instead of a 16-point game.

Q. After the disaster of just 48 hours ago where everything seemed to go wrong and you lose Isaiah, how did you get your guys to come here and play like this, play this hard, play like it mattered, play like they cared, because it could have been easy to pack it up and quit?
BRAD STEVENS: That's not who we have in our locker room. We've got guys that have chips on their shoulders. A lot of these guys have been overlooked, and this is their first opportunity to really play a meaningful role. And as they've continued to play and play better and better and better, they've just risen in their games and with our team. We knew that Friday was a 46-point disaster, worth one. It wasn't worth all four. It was worth one. So we got back together. Yesterday was a little bit tough. Today we had our spirit back. Shootaround was great.

Q. What did you do defensively against LeBron?
BRAD STEVENS: Well, first of all, I think there's only so much you can do. We just tried to be as solid as possible. We tried to switch a little bit less. I think we have a couple of guards out there that are bigger guards, and we just tried to rotate bodies on him. Jae Crowder picked up his fourth [foul], I think in the third, and the threat of not having him out there is scary. He picked up his third in the middle of the first half. So we were glad that he was able to finish.

Q. Piggybacking on the defending LeBron question. You threw a lot of different options at him and Jonas said you guys made an adjustment late. Was that it, finding the guards to defend him?
BRAD STEVENS: We've gone every which way on that guy. Right when you think you figure something out, he just kills you. I don't want to act like we've figured anything out.

Q. It seemed like the second half LeBron just wasn't his normal aggressive self that we've seen in this -- he hasn't even scored less than 30 points in any game this postseason. You guys held him to 11. Was there something maybe about his mood or his aggressiveness that was different in the second half than you've seen the rest of the series?
BRAD STEVENS: He's such an unselfish player. He made so many great plays, some that people will talk about that led to extra passes, some that led to assists. He's the best player in the world. I'm not going to criticize him one bit. I don't know what to say other than he's a handful.

Q. 10.7 seconds left, tie game, you call timeout. Obviously we know what happened, but can you just walk us through what you drew up for the team and what you were thinking when that ball was bouncing on the rim before it fell through?
BRAD STEVENS: Thank God it's bouncing on the rim because that's taking time. If it goes in or doesn't go in, they have a timeout left. We wanted to go at six seconds, and the hope was that they'd have less than one if they did get the ball. So when it bounced around, I was actually hoping it went in, obviously, but not completely disappointed that it was bouncing up there.

Q. And Avery was the primary option?
BRAD STEVENS: (Nodding head.)

Q. First couple of games you said that when things weren't going right, you guys seemed to get down, seemed to deflate a little bit. Marcus seems to get the opposite attitude when those situations arise. How did that affect how you were able to come back tonight just him getting angry?
BRAD STEVENS: Yeah, I don't know if it was angry. I thought he was really purposeful all night. He's competitive, spirited, but played with good poise. He was tremendous, and I thought our other starters played really, really hard. I thought Avery didn't have a great shooting night, but he played as hard as he could on the other end of the floor. Jae Crowder guarding LeBron is a handful. And then Al had his moments, especially in the fourth quarter -- he made big plays for us.

But Marcus just kind of led us. One of the things about Marcus is he's going to play regardless of the score. Like you mentioned to me, he's going to compete, and sometimes he'll try to hit home runs because that's -- and then we talk about those after the game and we always say, and it's true, those are his greatest strengths. He is a true competitor. He's a tough guy.

And the other one that we haven't talked about, I just thought Jerebko was huge. This whole postseason for us has been built on the next guy that hasn't played that much being ready and kind of helping take the whole team to a new level.

Q. I was going to ask about Jonas. He came in middle of the third quarter and the 21-point deficit erased pretty quickly. What did he do to unlock the side-to-side offense for you?
BRAD STEVENS: I thought it was that, but also he's a spacer -- being able to kick out and knock down those shots. But more important than that was the energy on defense. He blocked a shot, got a couple of rebounds, kept balls alive. We just needed just a little jolt.

I do think there are times guys that haven't played quite as much, there's a real energy and desire to go out and put it all out there. Sometimes you get gassed early, but he's done a good job of staying in shape and staying the course. Without Gerald, we don't win the Chicago series. Without some of our bench play in Washington, we don't win. And then Jonas tonight was a huge reason why we won.

Q. They had 14 threes in the first half. The second half Tristan Thompson just kind of dominates the offensive boards. The free-throw disparity, you had a lot of things go against you. When you win it's usually Isaiah hitting a lot of threes, but tonight it seemed to be different. How did you keep the guys from getting discouraged, and can you describe your personal emotions, although you don't show any visibly, when Avery's shot went in?
BRAD STEVENS: The first thing I'm thinking about is are they going to call timeout. If not, get back, get set, and then when you see it's 0.1, there's not much you can do at 0.1. So you think about that first, and then, sure, you get excited with the guys in the locker room. But again, I would have just preferred that ball to bounce just a little longer and just end it.

The first part of your question, we hit more threes than they did. It's a long game. We hit 18. These guys are tremendous players, and so tremendous players hit tremendous shots. But the first half was kind of like Game 2. It was like oh, my gosh, this is a little bit unbelievable. It's like a video game what's going on.

And so maybe the law of averages worked in our favor a little bit.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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