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NBA FINALS: CLEVELAND VS GOLDEN STATE

June 1, 2017

Tyronn Lue

Oakland, California: Postgame

Warriors - 113, Cavaliers - 91

Q. This is the third straight time you guys have lost Game 1 to the Warriors. What is it about this first game that makes it so hard for you guys to take?
COACH LUE: They're tough at home. We know that. They probably lost eight games over the course of three seasons. So we know coming into this building they're going to play -- it's going to be a tough game for us.

But just getting a chance to see how they play, the style of play, how fast they play, you can't really simulate that in practices. You got to really get out here and get a chance to do it firsthand. When we experience that, we're able to adjust, we're a lot better.

Q. You spoke to us in the days leading up to this series that you guys would have to try to combat against the spurts that they're capable of. Late in the third quarter, it's a 12-point game; 90 seconds later it's a 22-point game. What went wrong in that moment for you guys?
COACH LUE: When you're playing a good team like this, you can't give them 20 more shots than you have. Having 20 turnovers and not being able to get back and get your defense set, they really take advantage of that, especially at home. And they thrive off turnovers and getting out in transition.

Q. It seems like early in the game Tristan Thompson was kind of neutralized, he only had 22 minutes for the entire game. What schemes, what led to that?
COACH LUE: Where you at? Oh, okay. All right. What did you say?

Q. I said it seems like somehow Tristan Thompson was neutralized tonight. He only had 22 minutes in the game.
COACH LUE: Yeah, once we got down, we decided to go to the offensive lineup, the offensive unit. And with Tristan, he's a monster on the boards. So they're putting two or three guys on him to block him out so he can't rebound the basketball. And that's what gave Kevin a chance to get five offensive rebounds.

So they're doing a good job of trying to keep him off the glass, and we got to find other ways to get offensive rebounds like we did tonight.

Q. You guys had a lot of turnovers, especially in the first half. Do you contribute that more to the Warriors' defense or just being a little sloppy after the long layoff?
COACH LUE: Probably a little bit of both. You got to credit their defense. That's why they're the number one defensive team. But we had some that we could control. We talked about it before we come into this series, like our best defense is going to be our offense, of taking care of the basketball, not a lot of turnovers. And tonight we had 20, and that's way too many against this team.

Q. You mentioned at the top the Warriors' speed. Where do you think the speed made the biggest impact, if it was turnovers or trying to get to their guys when you were on defense?
COACH LUE: Turnovers. When you turn the basketball over, they really make you pay. Then we can play a lot better. I know we will play better. When we're not making shots and they get off in transition off of rebounds and stuff like that, they're tough to guard.

So I know we can play better, we will play better, but we got to do a better job putting the ball in the basket.

Q. LeBron had eight free throws in the first quarter. He had four the rest of the game. Would that be something you would be encouraging him to drive to the basket, he's one of the best in the league, obviously doing that in Game 2?
COACH LUE: Yeah, just keep attacking. They don't have a lot of shot blocking on the floor. So when they go small, we can get to the paint and get pretty much anything we want. So they do a good job of collapsing, and then we got to kick out and we got to make shots. But with him being aggressive, getting downhill, it really helps our offense.

Q. Kevin had -- Durant had plenty of dunks in the first half. It looked like guys were concerned about getting out to the shooters and it left the lane wide open. How do you handle that in transition and what is the goal there when you got Kevin running free and shooters on the wing?
COACH LUE: Yeah, we kind of did something. One of our game plan was kind of backwards. But when Kevin Durant has the ball, you don't want to leave him and get to shooters. But I thought they got him going early in the game. I thought he got out in transition, got four or five dunks early and it just kind of opened everything up for him.

So we got to make it much tougher on him, can't give a great scorer like Durant easy baskets like that, especially in transition, especially early. So we got to do a better job of taking that away.

Q. So was that the idea to stay with the shooter?
COACH LUE: No.

Q. You said the game plan was backwards?
COACH LUE: No, yeah, I'll tell you later.

Q. Obviously there's no team that's unbeatable, at the same time you know their record right now in the post-season. They have not lost a game. How well is this team playing? I know it's tough to answer that when you've just been beaten by them somewhat soundly. How well is this team playing right now and does that record reflect how good this team is right now?
COACH LUE: Yeah, they're the best I ever seen.

Q. Can you elaborate on that?
COACH LUE: They're the best I ever seen.

Q. Okay. Okay.
COACH LUE: I mean, no other team has done this, right? So 13-0, and they constantly break records every year, last year being 73-9, this year starting the Playoffs 13-0. So they're playing good basketball. But we can play better.

MODERATOR: All right. Thank you.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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