The Cleveland Cavaliers are up 3-1 in their NBA Eastern Conference finals series against the Boston Celtics, but Cavs coach Tyronn Lue still is having difficulty planning for the C’s.
Even though a potential NBA Finals rematch with the Golden State Warriors is just one win away, Lue insists he’s not looking ahead to the next round, and detailed the problems the new-look Celtics give the defending NBA champions.
“(The Celtics are), like I told you guys before, it’s like we’re preparing for a whole new team,” Lue told Cleveland.com’s Joe Vardon. “Like, we didn’t know what they were going to run. Isaiah (Thomas) goes down and they’re running a totally different offense than we prepared for so it’s been tough on us. And defensively, they’re a lot better. They don’t have a lot of weak links to go to, to go at.”
In fact, Lue believes Boston is more difficult to prepare for than the vaunted Warriors.
“The stuff they’re running, it’s harder to defend than Golden State’s (offense) for me, as far as the actions and all the running around and all the guys who are making all the plays, so it’s a totally different thing,” Lue said. “Like, they hit the post, Golden State runs splits and all that stuff but these guys are running all kinds of (stuff). And Brad’s (Stevens) got them moving and cutting and playing with pace and everybody is a threat.”
Given that the Warriors coasted through the regular season and have yet to lose in the 2017 NBA playoffs, we find Lue’s comments a bit puzzling.
Thumbnail photo via Nick Turchiaro/USA TODAY Sports Images
