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NBA EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: CAVALIERS vs CELTICS

May 19, 2018

Brad Stevens

Cleveland, Ohio: Game Three

Q. Al Horford at the 5 has given you a lot of great minutes over the years. What is it that you like so much about him playing the 5 and how that sort of impacts the rest of the guys?
BRAD STEVENS: Well, obviously it depends on who we're playing, who they have on the floor and all that other stuff. But everybody I think is looking for 5s that can move and handle pick-and-rolls in a variety of ways on defense. He can not only do that but he communicates exceptionally well. So he's kind of an anchor in that regard, along with [Aron] Baynes when Baynes is in the game. And then offensively his ability to stretch the floor makes you make a decision on how you want to play. A lot of teams switch, some teams late switch, some teams show off of him or blitz off of him, and he's been around long enough now that he's played against all that stuff a lot.

He's obviously a very versatile player, and then I think he's very, very smart. You add all that up together, I just think he's a hard matchup.

Q. Marcus Smart has been all over the place this series. What have you seen from him and how has he helped you get up 2-0?
BRAD STEVENS: Marcus Smart plays like that in September in training camp. That's what he does. I think that that's one of the things about him that we get a chance to see it every day. It's one of the reasons why we don't do a lot of scrimmaging later in the year, because Marcus plays like that no matter what in practice. That's how he's wired. We're really lucky to have him on our team.

Q. Just a thought on Bill Russell, who was hospitalized overnight and is now released. Just a thought on Bill Russell and what he means to the Celtics family.
BRAD STEVENS: Yeah, that was obviously scary news and happy to hear that he's doing better and he's been released from the hospital. He's the ultimate basketball winner. The way he impacted winning, the unselfishness of a teammate, what he stood for off the floor -- everything about him. It's an honor to get a chance to work for the Celtics. Those teams and those people from those teams -- and obviously Bill Russell being one of those main people in Celtics history -- are why it's an honor to work for them, because of the bar they set for all of us.

Q. With Shane [Larkin], is there a point where it stretches from a structural issue to pain tolerance with him, kind of what he can handle? Like this morning, he sounded like he's kind of itching to give it a shot when he's able.
BRAD STEVENS: He still can't do some of the functional stuff that he needs to be able to do. I'm talking about being in the middle of contact, catching a ball, making a quick decision, whipping it across his body, catching and shooting -- anything where he's low and comes across the screen with that shoulder right there. It's just like any other injury. There are a lot of things that you need to be able to do before you get back out on the court. He's just not there yet. He's itching to be there, and I appreciate that about him. Obviously we ask a lot of him when he's on the court.

In the other series and in this one, if you end up guarding some of these shooters and they're coming off screens, you're trailing with that left shoulder down, that's a -- it's not ready yet. So we're not going to put him out there until he's ready.

Q. Talk about the differences you've seen in your players when they've played at home versus when they've played on the road this postseason. Is there anything that you and your staff will look for early in the game to see any markers, okay, we're heading this way versus that way?
BRAD STEVENS: We've only played five games [on the road in the playoffs]. I think it's a pretty small sample size. I also think that it's hard to win on the road in the playoffs. Look around the league, right? I'm not losing sleep over where we're playing right now. I just want to play well. Obviously, when you're playing on the road and the crowd is involved and everything else, they get going in transition, they get effort plays, they add energy in that regard, hit a bunch of threes. You have to be alert to that and try your best to manage that momentum. But the best way to manage it is to play well, and that's what we're tasked with tonight. We're going to have to play really well.

Q. Jayson Tatum was the subject of the latest edition of Kobe Bryant's Detail, where he breaks down film. Last season, Kobe was working with Isaiah Thomas behind closed doors during the postseason. How can that make a positive impact on a player, just taking that kind of information from a future Hall of Famer like that?
BRAD STEVENS: Well, I think you've got to be careful taking it from a Laker, first of all, right? I'm kidding. I watched it, too. It was really good. I think all the great players were great for a reason.

I think when you talk about a guy like Kobe -- and you certainly see this with LeBron as well -- the details are where it's at. I think that his ability to look at things and talk about small, subtle changes that people can make or reads, those are really helpful things. That's why in the summertime, a lot of these guys reach out to guys like Kobe. Gordon [Hayward] spent time with him a couple summers ago as well. Try to get inside the mind of how they view the game. Any of the greats, when they share a tidbit, share a thought, I think our guys, rightfully so, are all ears.

Q. You touched on summertime. Is there any concern of Tatum watching that in the middle of the series and maybe trying to implement that on the fly?
BRAD STEVENS: All that stuff was good stuff. No.

Q. Just curious, what happens to all that Cleveland gear that I'm sure you get from the wife's family?
BRAD STEVENS: Yeah. My 7Â½-year-old nephew was offered 10 extra-credit points if he wore anything regarding Cleveland yesterday, and he went all green. And three years ago, I think he was all Cleveland stuff. So we're making strides with him.

But yeah, we have a large contingent. My parents grew up in northeastern Ohio. Obviously [Stevens' wife] Tracy is from here. Maybe they'll get some of those yellow shirts and pass them around to some people who haven't completely converted to rooting for the Celtics yet.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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