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NBA EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: CAVALIERS vs CELTICS

May 25, 2018

Brad Stevens

Cleveland, Ohio: Game Six

Q. You don't seem the superstitious type, but when your team is going through a road situation like it's been, anybody in your traveling party try to change things up just to change things up?
BRAD STEVENS: That's a good question. We had shootaround a half hour later, but that wasn't like some superstitious decision. It was just like, Man, there's a long time between shootaround and the game. But other than that, no. We just have to play better. Maybe each guy would have a different answer for that, but not from my standpoint.

Q. The first part of it tongue-in-cheek -- now that you know the rules, will you ever reveal your starting lineup pregame?
BRAD STEVENS: Yeah, we'll start the same.

Q. And then in not revealing it, is there ever a competitive advantage? What's the reason for not revealing it some games?
BRAD STEVENS: I would say that when you meet with your team at 35 or whatever and then you have your matchups you've prepared for all day and everything else, there is less time to communicate that. Now, you're going to have to do some of that on the fly anyway as the game goes on. But certainly I don't know if it's a competitive advantage or not or if it's just -- if we don't have to say, we don't say.

Q. I'll take that question maybe a little bit further. You didn't play Semi [Ojeleye] the other day, and you suggested after the game maybe you might play him tonight or later in the series. What are your plans for him tonight? Might they change?
BRAD STEVENS: Well, we'll play who we play. Obviously, like I said the other night, I believe in every guy on the bench, whether they played the other night or not. They've all invested an incredible amount of time, effort and teamness into this, so whether guys play or not, I believe that when we put them in that they'll help us. I appreciate this team because of that. We've started eight different guys, I think, now in the playoffs, and that's with a team that was already missing a couple of guys. I believe in everybody.

Q. Many people have made a big deal about the start. How big of a deal do you think it is tonight?
BRAD STEVENS: I don't think we can be down 20 again at the end of the first. I know that sounds very obvious. I got caught up in really going back and dissecting and analyzing Game 4 and blah-blah-blah, but don't be down 20 in the first quarter. Don't end the first quarter that way. Don't end the third quarter that way. There are moments in games where you have to manage and weather storms, and we did not do that here in either game early. I do think it's important. Every minute is important in these games, but ultimately we can't be as poor as we were in the first quarter of the last two here.

Q. How does the schedule, if it does at all, impact your rotations? Going with just seven guys in the last game, but now you guys are playing every other day with travel in between.
BRAD STEVENS: We cut back on our four-hour practice yesterday, and shootaround wasn't quite as intense. No, I mean, guys are going to play. Guys are going to play, and trust me, they'll be mad at me if they're not. They're ready. They're excited about playing. It's part of it. Even though we only played seven prior to the end of the game, there was only one that hit 40 minutes. Like I said the other day, you've got to get your rest. You've got to do everything you can in between these games to take care of your body. We've got a whole group working on that around the clock, and our guys are doing a great job of that. They're excited to go.

Q. There's only one player on your roster who has been to the NBA Finals and gone through the situation of being one game away. What is the key to keeping everyone from thinking about that and concentrating fully on the game that's at hand?
BRAD STEVENS: You'll have to ask him. I haven't been, either. But I think the stamina that's required to get through the NBA playoffs, it just becomes ever more obvious as you go round to round. You're not going to get anywhere by looking ahead or behind. If you're not in the moment, then we'll be down 20 at the end of the first. We have to stay in the moment. We have to play the right way and then let the chips fall where they may, like we have all year. More times than not, it's been good. But we could play really well tonight and lose. We could play really well tonight and win. But at the end of the day, let's just focus on what we have, the task at hand. Stay in the moment and go from there.

Q. You just referenced about learning the stamina and it's a grind, I'm sure. What appreciation does that give you for what LeBron has done for seven years in a row?
BRAD STEVENS: Yeah, you hear people talk about it all the time. Danny [Ainge] has got great insights into that, having lived it quite often as a player, obviously. But I think that that is another feather in his cap that I think people that are in it -- and certainly you guys included that travel all over to these places and cover these games -- have a great appreciation for. I said this morning, the amount of scrutiny that he deals with after a tremendous game is one of a kind. Nobody else deals with that. Nobody else has what he has on his shoulders playing the game. I think that the way in which he's done that and all of the years now that he's made The Finals and gone deep into the playoffs, again, it's unbelievable.

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