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NBA FINALS: CAVALIERS vs WARRIORS

June 7, 2018

Tyronn Lue

Cleveland, Ohio: Practice Day

Q. What's the message going to be to your guys heading into Game 4?
TYRONN LUE: That's our main focus, Game 4. Just tell the guys Games 1 and 3 we had a chance to win. We were right in the game with an opportunity to win those games. So we know we can beat this team, and we have to have the confidence to do that. We've got to be better in some areas that we had some breakdowns in. But our focus is not on winning four. Our focus is winning Game 4. That's got to be our mindset.

Q. I know it was a 33-foot shot, so I'm acknowledging that. But what did you think of your defense on that possession when Kevin Durant hit the kind of nail in the coffin?
TYRONN LUE: Rodney (Hood) was guarding the ball. They ran a pick-and-roll. J.R. (Smith) switched up and tried to get a contest, but he kind of stopped behind the screen and raised. 7-foot. J.R. tried to contest as best as he could. He made a big shot.

Q. It seems like last night ended 20 minutes ago. Was there any time to decompress last night? What was the mood as everybody showed back up today? Was there already any sense of beginning to move on from last night, or are you sort of dealing with it in some ways?
TYRONN LUE: I think the guys moved on. It was a tough loss for us. The guys were down last night, which they should have been knowing that we had a chance to win that game. But our spirits are up. We've got to turn the page and get ready for tomorrow.

Q. We were just talking to Kevin Love, and he said that being stagnant in the third quarter was a problem again. So why does that keep happening and what can you do to make sure it doesn't happen?
TYRONN LUE: Well, it hasn't kept happening because the first two games we were better than them in the third quarter. So can't say that. But I thought in the third quarter last night we took some bad shots, and that led to transition for those guys and they got easy baskets. Our shot selection is what hurt us in that third quarter. The first two games we were better than they were in the third quarter, so ...

Q. You're pretty much always even keel regardless of the outcome. How do you handle losses? Some guys stay up late watching film or can't sleep. How do you handle bad losses?
TYRONN LUE: It's tough, but I can't show the emotion. I think your team looks to you in those situations and you've got to stay confident, which I am. I never really overreact and go crazy. But at home, I'm looking at different things to try to make us be better. You prepare and you do all the things you try to do to win the game. Sometimes it doesn't work out, and you have to live with that.

But when you're playing hard and you give everything you've got and you have a chance to win Game 1, had a chance to win Game 3, and you come up short, those are tough losses. For me, for the players, our coaching staff.

When you come in the next day, even though it's tough, you've got to be up. You've got to be energetic, and you've got to be positive. That's what I tend to do in tough times.

Q. When you look at the big picture, the four years that this whole thing has been put together, you've been in charge for three of the four, and four Finals appearances. But nobody saw Golden State coming when this team was put together. Nobody saw this eruption of talent forming at the right time. How do you assess the run that you guys have had, from the day LeBron came back -- when you were an assistant at the time -- up to now?
TYRONN LUE: It's been a great run. I think coming back the first year, when you have LeBron James on your team, they automatically think you're going to make it to The Finals. But it's tough to win, and it's hard.

Coming back his first year, the team that Griff (David Griffin) put together and the guys we added throughout the course -- Timo (Timofey Mozgov) and J.R. and Shump (Iman Shumpert) and those guys to now -- I think we've had a great run.

I think going to The Finals LeBron's first year, the second year winning The Finals after being down 3-1, going back last year when they added K.D. to their team, a 73-win team, and this year, with all the stuff we've been through, how we just stuck with it.

I'm pretty sure a lot of people counted us out as far as making The Finals because of all the stuff we went through this season. But to do what we've done, our coaching staff, our players, to stay focused and try to play our best basketball going into the playoffs this year, I thought the guys have done an outstanding job.

You get to certain positions and certain spots, and if you give it your all and you're prepared and you don't win, you take it hard. But you don't give in, because you've done everything you could to try to win. Sometimes you just don't win. That's just how it is. That's how sports go.

But for the run we've had, these four years have been great. It's not over. It's not over. But, I mean, I wouldn't trade it in for anything in the world.

Q. You guys were pretty aggressive with Steph Curry over the top last night with the ball screens, and he had a tough night. But they did get some of those four on threes downhill. Is that a trade-off you'll continue to take moving forward?
TYRONN LUE: We've got to try to take away the easy ones. But I thought we did a good job of taking the ball out of Steph's hands, like you said. The first two games, I thought with the switches, he really hurt us. So we went to the blitzes and tried to get the ball out of his hands. When that happens, you're going to give up some easy shots for (JaVale) McGee and (Jordan) Bell and those guys. But we've got to take away some easy dunks and things of that nature.

This team, you take away something and you're going to give up something. We understand that. If you blitz Steph, you've got K.D. and Klay (Thompson) on the back side. Or you blitz K.D., you've got Steph and Klay on the back side.

We've got to clean a few things up. I like what we did. If we hold Steph to 11 points and Klay to 11 points again, I like our chances.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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