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NBA EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: CELTICS VS CAVALIERS

May 23, 2017

Tyronn Lue

Boston, Massachusetts: Postgame

Cavaliers - 112, Celtics - 99.

Q. That was just how you drew it up, right?
TYRONN LUE: Yep.

Q. LeBron, four fouls in the first half. You're down 13 at the time. Why did you decide to leave him in there after three, and what was going through your mind when you had to get him out at four and you're down 13?
TYRONN LUE: What you mean? You said why didn't I get him out? Because I didn't want to. It would be like -- we were down. We needed his pop and his spunk, and I didn't think he would get a fourth foul called on him, but he did. He went to the bench, and then Kyrie kept us afloat, Kevin kept us afloat, and we got it down I think to eight and Horford banked in a three from the top of the key and we got a good run going. But I told the guys at halftime, until we get into the fight, it's going to be like this all night. I thought they really came out, they took it to us. They were more physical, they were more aggressive, and until we decided to play and get physical back and start guarding and defending, it was going to be a long night.

But you know, I was happy to be only down 10 at halftime. Like you said, LeBron having four fouls and us being down 16 at one point. So being down 10, you know, at home, our crowd was great, gave us a lot of support, great momentum, and then in that third quarter, we decided to come out and guard and be more physical and get into the fight. When we play like that, then we're tough to beat.

Q. Specifically LeBron's third foul on [Marcus] Smart and the fourth foul, the offensive call, what did you make of those calls?
TYRONN LUE: I don't know, they called them, you know, so the one on Smart, I don't know. You know, the fourth one, you know, he ran him over. It was a good play. [Terry] Rozier did a good job of stepping in and taking a charge. We had to do what we had to do. LeBron had to play, and he picked up his fourth foul, we got him out, and then Kyrie and those guys helped propel us to cut it to 10 at halftime, and after that in the third quarter I thought we really came out defensively and had a defensive mindset.

Q. Nine turnovers in the first half, you limit that in the second half. What was the difference in valuing the basketball in the second half?
TYRONN LUE: It was big for us. You know, offensively we know we can score the basketball, but these guys, they do a great job of pressuring you, Avery, Crowder, Smart, Rozier, so they do a good job of pressuring the basketball. They're a tough, competitive team, so defensively they get a lot of deflections and a lot of steals. We had a couple turnovers that were unforced, but for the most part I thought they forced those turnovers. But once we took care of the basketball, we got shots, you know, I thought to get the game turned around, but also defensively was the reason why it turned around.

Q. LeBron and Kyrie with the points, a lot of people are going to focus on that, but Kevin with 17 rebounds tonight. Talk about how important he is in that area.
TYRONN LUE: It's big, and I think they're doing a great job of trying to keep Tristan off the glass or two or three guys are going to him and now Kevin is there cleaning it up. Just with him rebounding the basketball, just being aggressive, going in the trenches, getting defensive rebounds is big for us because when he rebounds, he's the best outlet guy in the league. He can get it to Bron or get it to Kyrie and we can push our pace.

Q. What changed in particular for Kyrie Irving there in the second half, and then seemed like he rolled his ankle or something there late in the second half, and then it seemed like he just kind of got sparked again from that. What was the difference with his game tonight?
TYRONN LUE: You know, I thought he saw Bron went out, and he wanted to put the team on his shoulders, on his back, and just let us ride him until LeBron got back. He did that. And we put him in some good situations, iso, where he's one of the best in the league, and he produced for us. He got to the basket, we isoed him at the elbow, got to the basket, got fouled, so he really stepped up and put us on his back and carried us, and through that second and third quarter, then LeBron came in the last six minutes of the third quarter and kind of really sealed the deal. The big three tonight was phenomenal, and they've been playing great this series, and we've just got to continue to keep doing it.

Q. Did your heart skip a beat when Kyrie went down, and how is the ankle?
TYRONN LUE: He said he was fine, but yeah, you never want to see a player go down. You know, the more games you play, the more things can happen. Didn't look good, but he said he's fine, got back up, continued to play, made some big shots. So I'm glad he's fine.

Q. The Celtics kept switching in the fourth quarter, and LeBron was able to kind of size whoever was up against him and attack them. Did you expect them to go back into the switching late in the game and kind of give it a one-on-one look for him?
TYRONN LUE: I'm just happy to be here.

Q. Game 3 with Kyrie's play was kind of all for naught with the loss. Is this more of the Kyrie we expect to see going forward versus what we had with him being more of a facilitator?
TYRONN LUE: Well, I just think he's grown as a player since I've been here. Each year he's grown, and just take what the defense is giving him in the Playoffs. Indiana played him differently, Toronto played him differently, and so did Boston. But we knew he wouldn't shoot the ball the way he shot it the first couple games. Kyrie scoring the basketball is not a big deal with us. We know he can score the basketball, and you're going to have nights like tonight and Game 3 where he easily scored the basketball. You know, what you want me to say?

Q. You have watched all of these guys take over at times and put your team on their back, and you touched on it a little bit with one-on-one situations, but how unstoppable is Kyrie in that zone when he's in one-on-one scenarios?
TYRONN LUE: Very unstoppable. He's probably one of or the best one-on-one player in the league. When you give him room and give him space, he can get to anywhere he wants to get on the floor, and we know that. And what I think is probably the best on-ball defender in the league is Avery Bradley, and to take that challenge and to score a few baskets like that against Avery just shows you how good and special Kyrie is with the basketball because not too many guys are getting around Avery. We've seen that for the last four or five, six years. That just shows you how special he is offensively.

Q. You guys held the Celtics to 42 points in the second half while you shot 71 percent as a team; which is the more impressive stat for you guys as a group?
TYRONN LUE: Defensively. I think the way they had their way with us offensively in that first half, Coach Stevens, man, he put them in great situations. They were playing our defense. They got any shot they wanted. They attacked us. Offensively they were just so fast. They were just moving so fast without the basketball and put us in some tough situations. But the plays they were running, what Coach Stevens had them running was just unbelievable.

Q. Second unit, four guys about 60 minutes, only five shots taken between all of them, Kyle [Korver], not a shot taken tonight. How much of a concern is that, only seven points between the entire second unit, and where does Channing Frye fit in going forward?
TYRONN LUE: Not really concerned because like you said, not getting a lot of attempts, but Korver does his job. Defensively he's solid, and offensively they're not going to leave his body. That's why LeBron and Kyrie were able to get downhill and get into the paint, because Marcus Smart and those guys are doing a great job of staying home on Kyle and getting over screens. With that being said, you know, if they're not going to leave his body, then we should be able to get into the paint and not force as many threes as we did in Game 3.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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