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NBA FINALS: CAVALIERS vs WARRIORS

June 5, 2018

Tristan Thompson

Cleveland, Ohio: Practice Day

Q. You've come back from a 2-0 deficit before. Does knowing that you guys can do that give you a sort of confidence?
TRISTAN THOMPSON: Yeah, I think what we went through in Boston was great for us in terms of right now for this team to go through being down 0-2. We know it's Game 3, we're at home, and we've got to do what they do. Protect home court, and it starts tomorrow. Like you said, we've got to make them (shots) too. We've got to make them, hit the offensive rebounds, whether it's the kickout threes or in the paint, drawing a foul or getting an and one.

Q. In terms of making them feel you, is it something you guys have to talk about? Will you initiate it?
TRISTAN THOMPSON: Definitely starts with the bigs, with myself and Kev, we've got to take on the challenge. If I'm doing a lot of slipping, Javale McGee got a lot of his dunks and Shaun Livingston. They almost kind of scored the same way throughout the game. Both going perfect from the field, we've got to be able to limit those easy buckets for them, because those are huge plays for the role players.

Q. You're the longest tenured Cav, and you've played in all four of these Finals. What are you telling the young guys who have been here for the first time about a sense of urgency in a game like this?
TRISTAN THOMPSON: I think they know what's at stake. They know what's on the line, and everyone knows that we weren't able to get one on the road, so we know how important it is to get Game 3. This is the most important game of the series. We've got to go out there leave it all out there and put ourselves in position to win.

Q. LeBron's never been more accurate from the mid range than he has throughout this postseason. How much more difficult is he to defend when he's got that shot dropping?
TRISTAN THOMPSON: When he's got that shot dropping, there's not much more you can do but stay in front of him and have a good contest. If he's on, or K.D.'s on him, those guys are tough to guard. Especially with K.D. being 7 foot, shooting those midrange shots. Or LeBron, if he's making threes or if he's making midrange shots, just got to live with those things. Hopefully tomorrow he'll get a good home-cooked meal and he'll be ready to go.

Q. The way Game 1 ended, I'm wondering how did you feel about the competitive side of things and whether or not you guys were able to have a clean slate in Game 2? Was it still with you a couple days later?
TRISTAN THOMPSON: It shouldn't be, because at the end of the day, it is what it is. You can't get that game back. Whatever happens, happens. We'll live with the results. Guys shouldn't be holding on to Game 1. It was too far gone now. We know the situation we're in, so the only thing that should be on guys' minds is getting ready to play Game 3.

Q. Does it feel like you've put it behind you?
TRISTAN THOMPSON: Yeah, I've put it behind me. So ready to go.

Q. Game 1 seems new footage came out over the last couple days about the three minutes between regulation and overtime. LeBron seems to be taking a lot of criticism for not, I guess, trying to talk to you guys during that time, during those three minutes. Is that warranted at all?
TRISTAN THOMPSON: Oh, I mean, of course during the course of a basketball games, there's time's where you're frustrated. Obviously the camera is always on LeBron whenever he does something. But there are times in the game when we're all frustrated, Coach is frustrated, players frustrated.

At the end of the day, we're a group and we're a team. So if one guy is down, we've got to pick him up. So we can't -- that didn't have any effect on the game. He was just letting off some steam and frustration. So we've got to be there for our brother, and we've got to play better.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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