NBA WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: CLIPPERS VS. SUNS

June 21, 2021

Tyronn Lue

LA Clippers

Practice Day

Q. Having watched the film, what were some of the biggest breakdowns for you defensively? What stuck out to you on that end?

TYRONN LUE: A couple things. I think picking Devin Booker up too high up the floor gave him too much real estate to attack downhill. I understand our guards tried to get to him and apply some pressure, but they were setting screens out toward half court, which puts our bigs in a tough situation when he's coming downhill at you full speed. We have to do a better job at our pickup point.

I think defensively, a couple blitzes, which they did a great job -- they had a lot of experience with Denver, which blitzed every possession with Jokic. So they got a lot of experience in that last round of understanding how they want to attack the blitz and what they wanted to do.

I thought they did a good job of just picking our defense apart for the most part. We made some mistakes, but like I said, Devin Booker did a great job of knowing what play he wanted to make when we fired at him to try to double-team. When we blitzed the pick-and-roll, they know exactly where their guys wanted to be, and they put us in some tough positions. They did a good job of executing their game plan offensively.

Q. You talk about picking up Booker too early, but with Doncic and Mitchell, setting that screen higher to get three-point looks especially on the drop coverages; is it a bit of an adjustment period since Booker likes the mid-range more than the three-point line?

TYRONN LUE: We have to be more heels to the three, try to shrink the floor as much as possible, and that gives our bigs a chance to set up and make a play in close quarters.

Like I said, first game with Terance Mann, with Pat Beverley, they want to be aggressive and pick him up and make him work, but he ended up hurting us in the long run. So we have to do a better job with that.

Q. How would you say Terance has evolved throughout the season and what impresses you most about his approach?

TYRONN LUE: I think his work ethic. I think the work he puts in every single day. Just seeing him play last year, coming in, trying to make him a point guard last year, and then this year he was a 2, 3 and then he was a 4 and then against Utah he started at the 5, and then last game as well.

Just seeing the development of his shooting I think is the most important thing. Taking time to put the work in every single day. He became a 40 percent three-point shooter, making seven in one of the biggest games in Clippers history, going 3-for-3 last game against Phoenix. He's really improved his shooting, and he has a lot of confidence. Just his work ethic that got him to this point.

Q. Wanted to get any sense of an update of how Marcus is feeling after the challenges he had in the second half physically?

TYRONN LUE: Yeah, still experiencing some soreness, but he's been getting treatment around the clock. Not quite sure of his status tomorrow, but like I said, he's doing everything in his power to try to be out there tomorrow night.

Q. And I'm guessing there's no update on Kawhi?

TYRONN LUE: He's out tomorrow, we know for sure.

Q. Rondo played that whole fourth quarter and he guarded Booker quite a bit, too. Why did you want him in that spot?

TYRONN LUE: We were about to make a substitution, and he just made a three in the corner. And then I just like his pace. I think when Reggie goes out of the game, when PG is out of the game, we don't have Kawhi to play through. So I think we need his pace and the way he generates shots for Luke Kennard, Nic Batum, finding Cousins a lot. I think his pace is very important, especially when you lose a scorer like Kawhi, who is our leading scorer on the team. You need somebody who is going to generate pace and generate shots for other guys, as well.

Q. Sticking with him, bigger picture, using his potential and his experience to unlock your postseason success, how do you evaluate the way the postseason has gone for him as his role as ebbed and flowed, and do you think you can unlock all that potential that he brings with him?

TYRONN LUE: I think so. He's going to be very important in this series. We understand that. Like I said, he's got to be confident taking his shots. He made two threes last game, which is good to see, and push the pace. But he brings more than shooting: his IQ, pace, getting guys shots, a vocal leader. We need all that. It doesn't come from just making shots and scoring the basketball. We need all the other intangibles that he brings.

Q. You had said yesterday that Kawhi has remained very engaged and talking with the coaches at halftime in Game 6. In the last 12, hours have you talked to him or do you FaceTime him? What are the conversations like? How does he help?

TYRONN LUE: What about the last 40 minutes?

Q. Oh, yeah?

TYRONN LUE: Yeah, I talked to him about 40 minutes ago. He just stays engaged. He likes to know the adjustments we're going to make. He likes to know the game plan so when he watches the game, he can understand what we're doing good and doing bad, and let the coaches know, let the players know. He's very engaged. Even though he's back home rehabbing, he's still locked in and tuned in.

Q. What is the benefit you guys get from keeping him involved with the game plan when he may not come back for a little bit?

TYRONN LUE: Just being able to hold guys accountable, talking to guys, talking to the players, what we need to do better on what he sees. If he knows the game plan, then he can definitely do that.

So he's talked to the guys every day, as well, not just the coaching staff. He's very engaged and that's what you need from your players. He's locked in and still in tune.

Q. 40 minutes ago, was that a call or FaceTime?

TYRONN LUE: Text this time. He wanted to FaceTime, but I don't like FaceTime.

Q. So you guys play like every other day for an entire month potentially. How daunting is that? How hard is that? Like for PG, who obviously has so much on him playing so many minutes, how do you take care of a guy like that and make sure he keeps his legs as much as possible?

TYRONN LUE: Well, we have to get our treatments. We have to take care of our bodies. Game 1 yesterday, we just had to be smart. We know it was a quick turnaround time and the minutes he's been playing and logging, his usage rate has been high, so we knew we had to be smart about coming into Game 1.

But it is what it is. It's no excuse. It's the schedule the NBA has put out. It's the schedule we've got to play. Other guys got to step up and be ready to go. That's why we had to play 10 guys last game so we can try to get some kind of recovery, but it is what it is. We've got to be ready to go for Game 2. We can't worry about tired. We can't worry about the schedule. We just got to go out and get after it.

Q. How about for you and your coaches? Are you getting in I sleep?

TYRONN LUE: Yeah, I'm getting some decent sleep. I don't know about those guys, but I'm doing okay as far as sleep-wise. Like I said, go out there, lay it on the line tomorrow night. Get the guys off Wednesday, have a recovery day just to step away for a little bit. Then come in Thursday, have a walk-through at the arena in L.A. and just kind of go from there.

Q. Are you able to offer any insight on what progress Kawhi has made, and what are the next steps for him to take before he can rejoin the group?

TYRONN LUE: No, I appreciate your question, but I really don't know. I just get the updates every day that he's out today and I just move on from there. I don't want to question, when he is he coming back or how long; is he playing tomorrow, is he playing tonight? No? Okay, move on.