After San Antonio got swept in the Western Conference Finals by Golden State, Spurs coach Gregg Popovich offered up some high praise for the Warriors. Popovich told reporters that the star-studded Warriors were a lot more than just their supertsars as Golden State essentially excels in all aspects of the game. That is the main reason why the Spurs were thoroughly outmatched and got swept. The same goes for the Jazz and Blazers, who also got swept by the Warriors in the early rounds of the playoffs.
Cavs coach Tyronn Lue, however, has a different take on the Warriors.
Asked by reporters on Wednesday if Lue has already started planning for the Warriors since Cleveland is just one win away from facing Golden State in the Finals for the third straight year, the Cavs coach scoffed at the idea. Lue said he was concentrating on the Celtics, since they are harder to game plan than the Warriors.
From Cleveland.com’s Joe Vardon:
“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.”
Lue’s comments may have you shaking your head in disbelief especially since the Warriors haven’t lost a game in the playoffs and were perhaps the best team in the league all season. Yet Lue did preface his comment with an explanation. For Lue, the Celtics are harder to plan for because without All-Star Isaiah Thomas, who is injured for the rest of the postseason, Boston is running essentially a brand new offense.
“You can’t,” Cavs coach Tyronn Lue said, when asked if he’s begun to think about the probable Finals matchup with the Warriors. “As much as you want to, it’s not over. [The Celtics are], like I told you guys before, it’s like we’re preparing for a whole new team. 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.”
Ah, that makes a bit more sense, and is totally reasonable. It also points to why the Cavs struggled and ultimately lost in Game 3.
If the Cavs do make the Finals, Lue may find that the Warriors are indeed difficult to prepare for, but that’s a problem for another day as the Cavs right now are laser-focused on closing out the Eastern Conference Finals by beating the Celtics in Game 5 on Thursday.
