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NBA EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: CELTICS VS CAVALIERS

May 21, 2017

Tyronn Lue

Boston, Massachusetts: Postgame

Celtics - 111, Cavaliers - 108

Q. On your last defensive possession, it seemed like Iman and J.R. ended up -- I think it was on Crowder, and then Avery got open. What happened with your guys' defensive execution?
TYRONN LUE: Coming out, we were going to switch 1 through 5. They ran like a point-loop action, I call it, and Crowder curled. Then the switch got confused, and we didn't get a chance to switch out. Then Horford did a great job of pinning Tristan so he couldn't get out to the shooter.

Q. Before the game I asked you about protecting big leads and the third quarter --
TYRONN LUE: You jinxed us. Yeah, that's fine.

Q. What happened? You were up 21 in the third and you don't protect it and you end up losing.
TYRONN LUE: Turnovers. Turning the basketball over, offensive rebounds. We had some stops at times and couldn't rebound the basketball. A lot of fourth-quarter turnovers that gave them life.

Q. LeBron has been so good in the playoffs. Tonight, only 11 points. Was it something they did or just an off night for LeBron?
TYRONN LUE: I mean, he's human, so he's going to have a night like this. He didn't shoot the ball well, and we still had a 20-point lead. A game we should have won, but they played hard. They scrapped. They have a scrappy team. We knew that coming into tonight. We knew it wouldn't be easy, but we got some things we can correct and come back ready to go on Tuesday.

Q. You guys have had problems during the regular season when opponents' best players go out and you don't probably play as well as you would think you would in that situation. Did this feel like a regular-season game for a variety of reasons? It kind of felt like what you struggled with at times during the regular season.
TYRONN LUE: It felt that way early. Then we jumped out to the 16-point lead at halftime. I thought early in the third quarter we really started playing decent, and then it just kind of was a snowball effect. We had a few turnovers. Marcus Smart made seven threes tonight. I just think physically we weren't as physical as we needed to be defensively. They got some open shots and moved around freely. They made a game of it, and then down the stretch they made a big shot.

Q. We talked before the game about defensive schemes with Isaiah out, and you said it didn't change much. Why were the Celtics able to be so successful against, I guess, your same defensive plan without their best guy?
TYRONN LUE: I don't know.

Q. You hit 14 threes I think in the first half, but they ended up with more. Do you think you guys got comfortable because of the way that was going?
TYRONN LUE: I don't know about comfortable, but only making two threes in the second half, scoring 21 in the third and 21 in the fourth, that's not us offensively. Not shooting the basketball well, not scoring well -- it happens. But when that happens, you've got to be able to get stops, especially being up 20 points.

Q. When teams have big leads, it seems like the only way the other team can really get back in is get hot from beyond the arc. I don't know if there's a trend or analytics you break that down. Is that something you talk to your guys about taking away the arc because it's really the only way they can get back in if you're up 20 or something like that?
TYRONN LUE: Well, Smart got hot. He made seven threes, made a couple of deep threes, and then I thought he got some threes off of offensive rebounds. We're collapsing, trying to rebound the ball, we don't get it, kick-out three. That's one way to get back in the game. But with that being said, we still have to be better. Rebound the basketball, be better defensively and also take care of the basketball.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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