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NBA EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: CAVALIERS vs CELTICS

May 27, 2018

Tyronn Lue

Boston, Massachusetts: Game Seven

Cavaliers - 87, Celtics - 79

Q. Down 35-23, Brad [Stevens] just said when he and his team couldn't extend the lead, he thought that was a pivotal point of the game. What did you do to stay in the game at that point?
TYRONN LUE: I don't remember. I really don't. I mean, I know they went up 12, we took a timeout. Just told our guys to stay the course, we were getting good shots. Our defense was pretty good, and sooner or later we were going to make, and I thought the players did a great job of adjusting. We went to our switches earlier than we wanted to and double teamed the post to try to get us activated, and I thought we brought in I think Kyle [Korver] for Tristan [Thompson] around that stretch and kind of opened the floor up a little bit and was able to get some scores and stops, and that's about all I remember.

Q. You've seen LeBron do some unbelievable things, going 48 minutes tonight, doing what he did. Where does that stack up for you?
TYRONN LUE: The best.

Q. His defensive performance, too?
TYRONN LUE: Yeah, I think so. He's had a lot of gaudy games, but I just think Game 7, in Boston, all the circumstances that surround Boston, the history behind Boston, playing a team that's very well-coached, a good, young team that's undefeated in the Playoffs at home, and to come on the road where all the games have been lopsided, both home teams have pretty much been in great shape at home, and to come here in a hostile environment, Game 7, Eastern Conference Finals, this and Game 7 of the NBA Finals in 2016, right there.

Q. When you game-planned without Kevin Love, was this the Jeff Green you hoped you'd get?
TYRONN LUE: Yes. You know, Jeff, man, I'm so happy for him. Very talented player. Very versatile. And just, you know, not really getting a great opportunity in all the places he's been, and just to see him be on this stage and starting in a Game 7, Eastern Conference Finals and playing 42 minutes, having 19 points, eight rebounds is just huge, and I'm so happy for Jeff. I had him here when I coached in Boston, and just an all-around great guy, and I'm just happy for him and happy for the performance he had tonight.

Q. Just finishing up a series against your cousin Jayson Tatum, curious on your thoughts about his performance throughout this series?
TYRONN LUE: He's tough. As a little kid, you didn't see this coming, but to be a rookie and perform the way he's performed on this stage is incredible. Give all the credit to Brad Stevens for these young guys maturing right in front of him in one season and being in position to make big shots at the end of the game, take big shots, be on the floor, Eastern Conference, Game 7. To perform the way he's performed, he plays like a five, six, seven-year vet. He's always poised, always under control, never gets sped up, really no weaknesses offensively. He can post, he can take you off the dribble, run pick-and-roll, catch and shoot. He's a very young, talented player, and he's going to be one of our best players in this league in a couple few years. I'm very happy for him.

Q. I don't know how many times I've said this, but why in the world with what he's done, why would anyone count LeBron out in any of these situations?
TYRONN LUE: It sells. You know, TV every day and no way he can win, no way he can do this and that, and for some reason the negative press on the Cavs sells, so they've got to keep doing it.

Q. Just a quick follow-up on the Jayson Tatum conversation. When you were preparing for him, what was the toughest part of his game to prepare for?
TYRONN LUE: I mean, he's all-around -- as far as offensively, he really doesn't have any weaknesses. But I think coming in, we wanted to try to be physical with him, so you could see him complaining about JR [Smith] holding, Jeff holding, Bron. We wanted to be physical, try and knock him off his spot and make his catches hard. I thought we did a good job of that. But he's very crafty, gets to the free throw line, he can score in bunches. But he's a tough cover, and our game plan coming into the series was just be physical with him and just try to wear him down.

Q. Have you ever had a situation where you said, maybe LeBron might be not good enough tonight? Maybe he might have -- he might be tired, there might be too many guys -- what kind of relief is that to have a player where you don't ever get what you're going to get from him?
TYRONN LUE: I mean, the bigger the stage, the bigger the player, and he's been doing it for us since we've been here. The great quote from the great Doc Rivers is you always want to go into the Game 7 with the best player, and we have the best player on our team going into a Game 7. I like our chances. And he delivered again.

Q. The Celtics have surprised a lot of people for most of the year. Obviously the injuries, a lot of young guys, and it sort of got -- I'm wondering, it got dangerous, more like they didn't really have two or three, it was sort of six guys, you didn't know which three were going to play. Why were they such a tough matchup and why were they still here in Game 7 of the NBA Conference Finals?
TYRONN LUE: For one, they're well-coached. Brad is unbelievable. We all know that. But getting the young players to buy into his system -- but the tough part about it, outside of [Aron] Baynes who's a great offensive rebounder, bruiser, tough guy inside, but everybody they play, which we call our live, which meaning they can dribble, pass and shoot, so you have [Terry] Rozier, [Marcus] Smart, Tatum, [Jaylen] Brown, [Marcus] Morris, [Al] Horford, and they all can make plays. When you're playing a team like that, it's hard to really game plan who you want to take away because the other guy can hurt you. So that's a problem we had. But I thought our guys did a great job of adjusting in that second quarter of going to our switches, double teaming the post-ups. But when you have five guys on the floor that can dribble, pass and shoot, it's tough to defend, and that's what they have.

Q. Talk about how this team rallied without Kevin Love and coming into a hostile territory like TD Garden.
TYRONN LUE: Well, I thought we did it in Game 6. We told the guys that Kevin wasn't coming back, and they all got together and just huddled up and just came together as one, and coming into tonight, we knew he was going to be out, and we said we want to do this for Kevin. It's tough, Kevin wanted to play, to be in a Game 7 situation like this in the Eastern Conference Finals, being an All-Star, being our second-best player, and he just wasn't able to go. So he was down, but the guys picked him up, so now he has another chance when we get to The Finals to be ready.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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