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NBA EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: CAVALIERS vs CELTICS

May 23, 2018

Tyronn Lue

Boston, Massachusetts: Gam Five

Celtics - 96, Cavaliers - 83

Q. You guys had a 9-0 run, I think, to cut it to 12 in the fourth quarter and then had four empty possessions in a row. Was that just missed shots on your part, or did you feel like Boston did something to throw you off your game in that moment?
TYRONN LUE: In that moment, we were probably playing pretty desperate. But defensively, holding this team to 36 percent from the field was a good job. We gave up a lot of stuff, like their speed and their quickness in transition. We didn't get back to load to Jaylen Brown. He got to the free-throw line a bunch of times. Terry Rozier, Jayson Tatum, we didn't get back to show a crowd. They was able to get to the free-throw line. We had a lot of mistakes that we could have cleaned up, but overall they scored 96 points and shoot 36 percent. We've got to be able to score the basketball.

Q. We had this a little bit in the first round when it was tied at three. But now you're facing elimination. LeBron's Finals streak is on the line. There's going to be talk about is this his last game in Cleveland. I'm wondering from a bigger picture perspective if that pressure has weighed on the guys at all, and if it has how they've dealt with it?
TYRONN LUE: No, I don't think so. Our focus, LeBron's focus, is to win. That's all we're focused on right now. Anything else doesn't matter right now. We've got to be ready to play Game 6. That's all we're worried about.

Q. What makes the Celtics so difficult in this arena? What do they do differently tonight that you didn't see in Games 3 and 4?
TYRONN LUE: Well, if you watched the first four games, I think both home teams shoot the ball a lot better. They're comfortable. Their crowd is great, just like our crowd is great. They did a good job protecting our home court in Game 5. Now we've got to be ready to go in Game 6.

Q. You've played a lot of road games. You've won a lot of big games on the road. Are you surprised that these guys have struggled as badly as they have in series in this building?
TYRONN LUE: I'm surprised we haven't played well, yes. I thought tonight we got a lot of open shots that we didn't capitalize on. I thought we had a chance to get some easy baskets in transition that we didn't capitalize on. We turned the basketball over, and they were able to get out and get something after we turned it over. I didn't think we played well tonight at all.

Q. The rotation seemed a little jumbled. Kyle [Korver] didn't play in the first quarter and Kevin [Love] and LeBron on the bench to start the fourth. Did something get out whack for you or was that the way you wanted it to go?
TYRONN LUE: Well, initially, he's been putting [Semi] Ojeleye in, so that's been kind of Kyle's matchup when he comes in the game. He didn't play him tonight, so it kind of threw us for a loop. But we got Bron out with two-and-a-half minutes, and at the start of the fourth he wasn't ready to go. The same thing happened I think Game 1 or 2; I can't remember.

Q. What are your thoughts on the way Jayson Tatum played tonight?
TYRONN LUE: I thought he was aggressive. I thought he was poised. He had scoring opportunities early he took advantage of. I thought even though he was scoring the basketball, he didn't try to rush or he didn't press. He just played within the game and took his shots when they were there. He played like a veteran tonight. He didn't try to force anything and just took what the defense gave him.

Q. Did LeBron look tired to you?
TYRONN LUE: He looked a little tired to me, yes.

Q. Are you concerned?
TYRONN LUE: No concerns. You've got to be ready to play now. No concerns.

Q. Along the same lines, when you were looking at the group, could you get a sense that they were not going to be able to match Boston's intensity?
TYRONN LUE: No, I didn't. I thought coming off the two home games that we had -- we played well. I thought our physicality was great. Defensively, we were good. Offensively, we moved around. We moved bodies and we made shots. Tonight, I thought defensively we were OK, but offensively we just couldn't make shots and we didn't make the right play.

Q. How did you feel that [Aron] Baynes starting and them going big for a lot of this game affected you guys, especially considering they had a huge advantage with the offensive rebounding rate?
TYRONN LUE: I think considering what happened in Games 3 and 4 when Tristan [Thompson] was great on the glass and finishing around the basket, to start Baynes with a bigger body, going bigger with him and [Al] Horford was pretty good. [Marcus] Morris came off the bench and had a good game. So it was the right move.

Q. Do you know what you're going to get from this team night to night, or is it throwing a dart?
TYRONN LUE: What kind of question is that?

Q. You said you thought you'd come out --
TYRONN LUE: I thought we would play better, but we didn't. We didn't play well. So now we've got to go home, win Game 6 and come back here for Game 7.

Q. I think you got only 10 points out of your other three starters. Are they concentrating so much on defense that that's taking away from their offense?
TYRONN LUE: I think J.R. [Smith] is working extremely hard guarding Tatum, guarding [Jaylen] Brown. I think G-Hill [George Hill] is doing a good job of trying to guard [Terry] Rozier, being physical. But when we're playing fast, playing with pace and taking care of the basketball, those guys benefit. We didn't do that tonight. We really didn't move bodies. It was stationary a little bit. We've just got to look at the tape. We've got to be better, which I know we will in Game 6, going back home. But we've just got to show some grit, some toughness, mentally and physically, being tougher. We'll see what happens in Game 6.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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