Los Angeles Clippers 119, Utah Jazz 111
Q. Reggie obviously is extremely complimentary of what Paul did today. You before the game said this was not all an Paul but 37 points, 16 rebounds, knowing the reception he gets with his performances good and bad throughout the year what did you make the his statement tonight?
TYRONN LUE: It was a big statement. I mean, just all the outside noise it really doesn't matter. Like they just try to make up anything but he's a great player. Like I said tonight, you know, he carried us. He had to step up in that first half and he really dominated offensively.
And then second half he made some great passes. We did knock-down shots every time but he made some good reads as well. I thought, like I said, having those rebounds was key because there was a stretch where Gobert really hurt us on the glass. But for PG to have 16 rebounds, that was huge.
It was a total team effort. I'm proud of our guys. We've been in these situations before, but guys had to step up and be ready to play. And every guy that played tonight contributed and that's a team that we have: Mentally tough, mentally strong and we just keep fighting to the end.
Q. Last year you went through stretches where the lineups were all over the place and there were injuries it seemed that was something that hobbled the team's potential, the lack of continuity. Why have you gained strength in playing shorthanded, why is there such a difference?
TYRONN LUE: I mean, I don't know, we just wasn't afraid to try new things. We tried a lot of guys in a lot of different position. A lot of guys got a lot of time playing with each other when guys were out.
We had to just find ways to win. Sometimes it was ugly but we had to do it. I think with guys being out this season, playing a lot of different combinations, a lot of guys in lot of different positions that's helped us and with Kawhi going down if a guy is stepping up -- like we had T-Mann playing the five today. So guys step up. We just plug guys in and we just continue to be better. Always play the right way, we play together and we have that toughness about us and we're going to be fine.
Q. You touched on PG's performance but were there any leadership moment that is jumped out to you that Paul showed, whether it was after you guys learned the news about Kawhi's injury, team meetings, in the huddles?
TYRONN LUE: Just this morning before shoot around, he said, "T, I got us." He said the same thing after the game, just "thank you for trusting in me and believing in me all season long."
I said, "Come on, man, are you serious." Like he's been phenomenal. Marcus was great, set the tone early offensively; T-Mann's big play down the stretch; Reggie's two big threes down the stretch. We all just stuck together and we found ways to win and that's what you've got to do when you want to compete for a championship.
Q. You mentioned about Paul and he's a guy that takes a lot of criticism in the past maybe after last year and everything, and he always said what's in the past is in the past. How did you help him move forward from what happened last year and take a fresh attitude towards this year and especially now in these playoffs?
TYRONN LUE: Just showing him the confidence that I have in him. You know, putting the ball in his hands, letting him make plays, using him in different ways, off pin-downs, isos, running pick-and-rolls. So I'm just moving him around a little bit and letting him do a little bit of everything but just having confidence in him. If you go out, go out guns blazing mand that's what he did for us tonight.
And have a lot of respect for PG. Like you can't judge a guy's career off what they do off one series. Like I know a lot of great players that have bad series or a bad game or a bad two games in a series but whenever he has a bad game they want to make a big deal of it. It's whatever. You know, just keep playing. Keep being who you are and at the end of the day, you know, you can live with the results.
Q. You've been poised all year but I feel like there's a different kind of poise that comes with seeing a home team make 17 threes in the first half. How did you keep your poise in these games and see the Jazz make 16 straight threes in the same game?
TYRONN LUE: I think the key to the whole game was coming in at halftime, they made 17 threes and we was only down five. We knew we had to clean up some things and getting to Bogdanovic, make him put it on the ground, no short closes, and same with Clarkson. We had isos, not backing up, let's get into him and making him drive the ball inside the three-point line which we did a great job of.
So them making 17 threes and only being down five on the road, I felt great about it. I knew we had to clean some things up but being only down five and having a chance to win a game on the road, I really felt good at halftime.
Q. This game kind of reminded me of Games 3 and 6 against the Mavericks where there were so many moments where you guys could have folded when the Jazz were getting their runs or hit so many threes. How did you get the team to keep their composure and how proud are you of these guys for having so much resilience all year?
TYRONN LUE: I'm very proud of the guys. Like I said, to come in and play in a hostile environment, 2-2 in a big playoff moment when your best player is down, it just shows a lot about our team and we've been talking about it all year. We are not going to point the finger or blame anyone. If anyone is to blame I'll take the blame and the criticism but our players all year long have been great. They have been phenomenal, staying together, no bickering back and forth. When things get stuff we come together and that's the culture I wanted to try to establish here. Like I said, I'm just so proud of our guys, even the guys that didn't play, Zu didn't play in the second half, him being positive in the way he was on the bench, just want to win. It's all about winning. It's not about you. It's not about me. It's about our team and our organization. We want to win.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports