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NBA EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: CAVALIERS vs CELTICS

May 15, 2018

Tyronn Lue

Boston, Massachusetts: Game Two

Celtics - 107, Cavaliers - 94

Q. Ty, JR [Smith] seemed to have a tough night tonight. What did you see out of him, especially on defense?
TYRONN LUE: I don't know, we've got to look at the film, but a few miscommunications. Of course he didn't shoot the basketball well, but it was hard to get in a rhythm if you're not getting consistent touches. Not too much worried about his shot. We know he can make shots, but just communication defensive-wise.

Q. Did you feel like some of your guys lost their composure as the game went on?
TYRONN LUE: We've been here before, so we've got to keep our composure, like you said, and I thought we did. I thought down the stretch we took some bad shots. Being down seven or down nine with nine, ten minutes, that's a lot of time. I thought we took some rushed shots, didn't close the half well the first half. Had a chance to go up double figures going into the locker room, and didn't really close the half the way we wanted to close it, and then they had a big offensive third quarter scoring 36 points, so that's way too many.

Q. When you come back to JR like that even when he's not been shooting the ball well, is that defensive-minded and are you thinking he can get a good look?
TYRONN LUE: It's both. Defensive-wise and he can make big shots. He's taken big shots, made big shots for us. No matter what he's shooting in the game, we know he can get going at any point in time, so that's the reason.

Q. He had just gotten tangled up with Marcus [Smart] at the other end the previous possession. Was that frustration?
TYRONN LUE: Just competing. They're playing physical, so that's just part of competing.

Q. I know you're not getting a lot of contributions out of a lot of guys right now, but why is Rodney Hood still in the rotation?
TYRONN LUE: Because I want him there.

Q. What has he done to show you that he deserves those minutes?
TYRONN LUE: Well, I'm going to keep playing him. He'll be better, and I thought last game, Game 1, he really played well for us, going 5-for-12, getting in double figures, so that's why I went with him.

Q. Outside of LeBron and Kevin [Love], where do you think you can get consistent offense moving forward in this series?
TYRONN LUE: I thought Kyle [Korver] came in, gave us a good first half. His movement created a lot of confusion. That switching, a lot of stuff. Being able to attack with LeBron and Kevin at the post and kicking out to guys for shots or putting it back down on the floor, but we don't have a lot of guys that can drive and penetrate the paint once the ball comes out because we have the shooting. We'll be better going back home. We know that. They played well in that second half, and we've got to be ready to go on Saturday.

Q. You spoke about it a moment ago, about the end of the first half and that period into the first part of the third quarter. Anything tactically that you saw that wasn't --
TYRONN LUE: Yeah, I mean, we turned the ball over late. They got an easy, uncontested lay-up to go in at half, and then the third quarter we kind of exchanged baskets back and forth, had a couple miscommunications on defense, and then they scored some easy ones, and that kind of got them going, and it kind of snowballed from there.

Q. The physicality was kind of brutal the whole night. How did you think you guys handled that?
TYRONN LUE: We've got to be tougher. I think they're playing tougher than we are. We see that. They're being physical. They're gooning the game up, and we've got to do the same thing. We've got to be tougher, mentally and physically.

Q. You were asked before the game if you could sustain a bad game from LeBron and still win; when he has a great game like that and you still lose, is that almost worse? Just what did you think of his effort and everything tonight?
TYRONN LUE: I mean, I thought he played well. I mean, but they played better than we did tonight. When you see a performance like this, we usually win games, but tonight, we didn't shoot the ball extremely well. But then again, he played well and other guys just -- they'll be ready to go when we get home.

Q. What did you generally think of Marcus Smart's impact on tonight's game?
TYRONN LUE: The same impact he always has, just winning basketball. He makes winning plays, he makes tough plays. Like we said before, if it's 50/50 balls, he's going to get it. If it's a loose ball, offensive rebound they need to have, he's going to get it. We've got to be able to find someone who can match his toughness.

Q. What was your level of concern after LeBron had that collision with Jayson Tatum, and did you check in with him, and what was he saying about how he was feeling afterwards?
TYRONN LUE: I haven't talked to him afterwards, but it was a tough collision. Knocked his head sideways. Of course he came back, but when he came back, I don't think he had the same punch that he had before he left as far as attacking the basket, playing with that force and power we talked about at shootaround. We'll see how he feels.

Q. You've got three days off. It seemed like JR when he made that turn put his head down, the Rozier lay-up where you kind of stood and watched. How did you get the spirits lifted after losing the first two?
TYRONN LUE: Well, the reality is they did what they were supposed to do. They took care of home court. We have to win one game here. That's our mindset. But going back home we know we'll play better. They've shown they haven't played that well on the road. In the Playoffs they've played great at home. We've got to come out swinging. We've got to be aggressive. I think we've got to be physical, and we've got to have a physical mindset, you know, that they're coming in, playing tough. They're aggressive, and we've got to match that.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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