NBA WESTERN CONFERENCE FIRST ROUND: CLIPPERS vs SUNS

April 20, 2023

Tyronn Lue

Postgame Press Conference

Suns 129, Clippers 124

Q. All things considered, five-point loss, you guys were there pretty much the whole way, what do you think was the difference in the game?

TYRONN LUE: I thought free throws, free throws was huge. I think Devin Booker. Those two really hurt us.

We had some bad fouls when we got the penalty early. We wanted to bring physicality, but we got to be a little bit smarter. We can't foul off the ball when they are in the bonus and things like that.

I like what we brought. We did some good things. I liked our fight and our competitive nature tonight. I thought everybody brought it. Some calls just didn't go our way. Like I said, a small lineup came in.

They played well. We fought. We competed. A couple times for us it was hard to get rebounds. Balls down low in rotations.

Like I said, I love our fight, love what we did tonight.

Q. Do you think there's anything more you could have done in this one?

TYRONN LUE: Yeah, we could have took care of the ball in the first half. I thought turning the ball over early kind of got them going. KD got a dunk, Booker got a three-point shot in transition, layup. Early on we jumped out 6-0. I thought we got three turnovers in a row that kind of got them back in the game, got them going.

In the second half we did a better job of taking care of the basketball. I think we were able to shoot 60% in the second half. Just taking care of the basketball.

Russ with a slow start, but after that him and Norm really carried us offensively. Like I said, everybody else just chipped in doing their part. Very proud of the guys in the locker room.

Q. Incredible effort from Norman today. What did you like most about his effort tonight?

TYRONN LUE: Just picking and choosing his spots. I think the three ball. I think getting to the basket, getting to the midrange, floaters. I thought he did a good job of mixing it up.

Like I said, was huge. We knew we needed good game from him about Kawhi out. Like I said, he stepped up. Him and Norm stepped up. Bones off the bench was really good. Like I said, we're going to need it again on Saturday.

Q. You look at how Devin was able to get to his spots, score, what makes it challenging to take away where he wants to go, what he does well?

TYRONN LUE: I think just the biggest thing, we tried to blitz him, fire him. His speed and shiftiness gave us a lot of problems. He was able to reject the fires, reject the blitzes, he was able to split the blitzes.

Early in the game, got a layup and a three off our turnovers to kind of get him going. When you got a great player like that, it's hard to kind of keep him under control when he gets some easy ones to start the game. We got to be better with that.

He had it going. He was able to beat us versus our blitzes, versus our fires, versus our double-teams. He was able to split us and dribble around us a lot, as well. We just got to lock into that understanding, we got to do better.

But he was really good again tonight.

Q. You're one of the best X's and O's coaches in the league. What's the process once you find out the second of your two stars isn't going to be playing?

TYRONN LUE: We've been here before, as crazy as it may sound. We have a great roster, a deep team. All the guys get opportunities to step up and play well. I thought all our guys did that tonight.

You hate to see P.G. and Kawhi go down. We got to control what we can control. That's all we can do. Just come out and compete hard every single night. Like I said, I thought our guys did that.

Changing up a few of the plays, changing some things we do offensively with Kawhi being out. I thought the guys did a good job of executing that.

Q. Were these things you've used at other times when they've both been out?

TYRONN LUE: Yes, ma'am.

Q. Or new stuff?

TYRONN LUE: Some new. But most of the stuff we've been running when those guys are out. I thought our guys did a good job with that.

Q. When Booker is averaging 36 in this series, defensively what is he doing that's going beyond your film study, what you're trying to do defensively?

TYRONN LUE: Just talked about it earlier. We would blitz him, he's splitting the blitz, rejecting the blitz, dribbling around the blitz. When we're firing, he's going quick. He's shifty, he's elusive.

We just got to do a better job. More so than attacking him, we got to probably corral more than attack him because he is shifty. He gets to the free-throw line, he can turn the corner, he can split you. That's what he did to us tonight.

We came into the game wanting to blitz him, to keep the ball out of his hands. He did a lot early in transition attacking quick before our powers could get there and our double-teams could get there. Like I said, he's seen all the defense you could possibly see. He's prepared for it. We got to be better at what we're doing.

Q. You talk about your process in learning that you were going to be without Kawhi tonight. It could have been easy for Russell Westbrook to come out and press. What did you see from him in terms of setting the tone?

TYRONN LUE: I thought he was great. It was kind of the opposite. He tried to start out by passing, trying to get guys going, instead of reading the defense, being aggressive, score the basketball. We had a little talk. We just told him to be aggressive, attack, it will open up from him being aggressive and attacking the basket. That's what he did.

After those first six minutes, I thought we really calmed down offensively, was able to play better, take care of the basketball.

Q. After Game 1 when Kawhi played 40-plus minutes, you said this is what we've been building towards all season. When you get the word that he won't be able to play, how deflating is that? How long does it take for you to move on?

TYRONN LUE: I mean, it's very deflating. I think more so for Kawhi because you have a guy who's coming off ACL, hasn't missed a rehab session, eats right, eats clean, does everything he can for his body, works extremely hard to get to this point. Then you have something like this happen. So it's tough for him, for all the work that he puts in. I feel bad for him.

Our team, like I said, our guys have been through a lot this year, the last two years. For us to compete to get to the point where we made the Playoffs, we feeling pretty good outside of having P.G. out, like I said, when this happens, it's a blow.

Nothing we can do about it. Like I said, we just for the to come out compete the way we did tonight, clean up some things, take care of the basketball, defensively being more solid I think with Booker. We tried. He's a tough guy to cover. So just figuring out different ways to try to keep him under control.

Q. With a matinee game coming up Saturday, how do you replicate this energy where you struggle sometimes with starts?

TYRONN LUE: I mean, I don't know. Our guys are ready to go. How do they do it? They playing 44 minutes a night. They feel the same way we feel. It's the Playoffs.

You don't have time what time the game starts. If it starts at 4:00 in the morning, we got to be ready to play. No excuses.

We'll be ready. We'll have the same energy. We'll play the same way. We'll attack and be aggressive. Just hopefully -- I can't say that (smiling). Yeah, I'm done, man.