Tyronn Lue addressed the media on Saturday evening following the Los Angeles Clippers’ 146-115 loss to the Boston Celtics at Intuit Dome. The Clippers saw their six-game winning streak end as Boston dominated from the opening tip.
Lue praised Boston’s pace and shooting, saying, “They’re great shooters. They play at a fast pace. You know, you can’t get back, you can’t be linked together. And they played well tonight. I give them credit.”
He emphasized the difficulty of keeping track of the Celtics’ ball movement. “Our guys tried to fight, but we just couldn’t keep up with their pace and speed. They got out to an early lead and then we had to do so much to try to get back into the game,” Lue said. “If you shoot 50% from the field and 40% from three and still lose the game, they had a great game.”
Lue explained his decision to start Ivica Zubac in the second half, citing the need for a traditional center to stabilize the offense. “I thought when they tried to put the five-man on JC, it messed up our offense a little bit. The fact that Zu was on the floor, a traditional five, I thought was better for us. We got off to a good start in the third quarter, but we just couldn’t hang on,” he said.
He talked about Jaylen Brown’s dominant night and pointed out the challenges in containing the Celtics star. “We tried to blitz, we tried to shoot. He turned down a lot of it and went back to his strong hand. He had one of those nights, shot the ball extremely well, made six threes. That’s what great players do,” Lue noted.
Derrick White’s defense also turned heads as he disrupted Kawhi Leonard and James Harden. “His ability to help out, read the play and understand how to play — Boston just said they were going to let Kawhi and James play. They shrunk the floor with four or five guys in the paint, and we just had to keep relying on the pass,” Lue explained.
Regarding the team’s communication problems, Lue said, “The speed they play at puts you in tough positions. You think you’re switching and you’re not, there’s two guys on one. They have open threes. Spin, swing, swing, shoot. They really hurt us with their little pick-and-rolls and slips.”
Lue emphasized the need for more physicality and coordination. “The most important thing is probably that you are more physical, that you have a body where you can steer and push. That way you can control where your guys go. We have to do a better job with that.”
Looking ahead to Monday’s rematch against Boston and an upcoming game against Golden State, Lue noted the lessons learned. “This was a good warm-up test. We need to be locked in, more physical, and try to control our guy instead of letting him slip out so freely,” he said.
The Celtics’ win was made possible by Jaylen Brown’s 50 points and Derrick White’s 29, while Boston connected on 24 three-pointers. The Clippers’ top scorers were Kawhi Leonard and John Collins with 22 points each, but the team could not match Boston’s offensive efficiency.
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