OAKLAND — On Wednesday, Cleveland Cavaliers head coach Tyronn Lue made an interesting, and somewhat head scratching, remark when asked about defending the Boston Celtics’ offense without Isiah Thomas.
“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 told Cleveland.com. “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.”
On Thursday Warriors interim coach Mike Brown was asked about Lue’s comments, and gave a short and dismissive response.
“I mean that’s his opinion. It’s cute. It’s his opinion.”
From an efficiency standpoint, the offenses are not comparable. During the postseason, the Warriors have scored 115.8 points per 100 possessions, while the Celtics have scored 109. During the regular season the disparity was about the same, with Golden State posting an NBA best 113.2 per 100 possessions, with Boston at 108.6. The last time the two teams faced off, the Warriors dropped 126 in a 35 point victory at Oracle Arena on January 16. In the nine matchups between the Celtics and Cavs during the regular season and playoffs this year, Boston hasn’t once reached that number. Harder to defend or not, the Cavs have done a better job locking down the Celtics.
June 1st really can’t come soon enough.
