NBA WESTERN CONFERENCE FIRST ROUND: CLIPPERS vs SUNS

April 16, 2023

Ty Lue

Pregame Press Conference

Q. Any changes personnel-wise? All still good to go?

TY LUE: Yes, sir.

Q. I know we asked about KD a lot this week, the fact that they only played a few games together and what advantages, disadvantages they might have? It's pretty much the same, what you guys -- Russell, Kawhi, without Paul. So how do you feel like that could be an advantage not having as many games as the full season as you have with the team to start the series?

TY LUE: Well, I mean, KD has only played eight games but he's been here so he understands the system. He's able to probably practice and go through the plays and all that stuff, so he understands what they want to do. They were making a big deal out of eight games, but he's been here for a while. He's a smart player. He understands what they are trying to do and how they are trying to attack, so it's really not a big deal with only the eight games.

Q. In terms of your team, how do Kawhi and Russ -- how good do you feel about what you've seen from just those two without Paul?

TY LUE: Yeah, it's been good. We definitely miss Paul, what he brings on the defensive end and the offensive end. You know, he's out right now, so we've done a good job of just trying to fill in for where he's left off, especially the defensive end which he really leads this team as far as every night having the best offensive player on the other team and sets the tone every game for us, so we definitely miss that. So we've just got to do it by committee.

Q. What do you look forward to in a game like this?

TY LUE: The game will start so I don't got to look at y'all (laughter).

Q. It's that bad, huh?

TY LUE: Yeah.

Q. Besides that, though, adjustments-wise, that's talked about a lot in the playoff series, but how much is there feeling out the team in practice? How much is gamesmanship?

TY LUE: It's tough because you don't really know how a team is going to try to attack you in the series, Game 1. You don't know what the matchups is going to be, who is going to guard who. It's tough because you prepare and you go over 15, 16, 17 plays, and they might not run ten of those plays. So you just wasted a lot of time just going over what they might run and what they might do.

But after Game 1, Game 2, you kind of get a feel for what they are trying to run and how they are trying to attack your team and then you can adjust from there.

Q. How much of a swing factor do you think keeping Josh Okogie and Torrey Craig off the offensive glass will be?

TY LUE: It's going to be very important. We can't do a very good job we can't do a good job of playing halfcourt defense and then giving up offensive rebounds which allows KD and Book and CP and those guys to get extra shots at the rim because they are just too good offensively.

When we play good defense in the halfcourt, we have to make sure we hit bodies and rebound the basketball. It's a big point of emphasis coming into this series that we keep those guys off the glass. So we just have to make sure we go out there and do it.

Q. Game 1 is referred to being a feel-out game at times. What factors going into it being a "feel-out" game?

TY LUE: We don't have a lot of margin for error, so it's not really a feel-out game for us. We've got to come in, everything swinging, give it everything we got.

So when you are shorthanded, you can't come in trying to feel things out. We've got to hit the ground running, be physical from the start. The right mindset and attack mentality all night. So we can't just come in trying to feel our way through.

Q. With Kawhi, the knee injury, it took a while to get back to form but he's clearly back. What have you seen from his progression to get back to the high-calibre player he's been?

TY LUE: Just the work he's put in. You know, all last year, all summer, and all season, just to get to this point. And so having a healthy Kawhi who has been playing an elite level since January 1st when we were able to push his minutes up and see how he felt taking on a lot of minutes and he's been doing a great job. Just the way he shot the ball from three, his mid-range, the way he's been playing defensively, he's definitely back. He's in a good place.

Q. Six days; so much information loaded on the players and the coaching staff. How do you get to a place these hours before the game to streamline it so that they are not thinking out there?

TY LUE: Just short and sweet with the film today. They understand what we need to do, and so you know, like I say, everybody is excited just to get the game started. You have five or six days to prepare and go over the same thing every single day so it gets kind of redundant. So guys are excited to hit the court and start playing.

Q. How are you feeling, and what's the general vibe in the locker room going into Game 1?

TY LUE: I feel good. Our guys of confident. We know where we are the underdogs and they have a really gait team over there. Monty Williams does a really great job as well. We are just excited. We are confident and we are just ready to get the game started.

Man, hold up, you can't keep --

Q. Are you feeling all right? Are you feeling the fire?

TY LUE: I'm happy. I just love the back and forth, the chess match. You know, playing against really good teams and really good competition, and you get a chance to take their best shot and then you get a chance to come back and adjust and make adjustments and see how they do. Just, I like this time of the year.

Q. You mentioned keeping things sort of not redundant. How was it to be in a new space, and what role do you think that might play?

TY LUE: It was good, getting in two days early. We like getting in the day before because you have a team dinner and the next day you wake up and you're playing a became and you just feel rushed.

So coming in two days early, waking up the next day; having a team dinner the first night we got in, and then waking up and going to, like I said, practice and not rushing into a game, I thought it was really good for us.

Q. Is there a point, you talk about the chess match part of the game, but is there a point in the series where you're no longer a chess match and everyone knows what they are going to do and just go out and do it better?

TY LUE: Yes.