The NBA playoffs are always more fun when the league’s rivalries flare up and teams start chirping at each other. And although that trash-talk tends to come from the players, sometimes even the coaches get involved.
On Wednesday Tyronn Lue, whose Cavaliers lead the Celtics 3-1 in the Eastern Conference Finals, said Boston is a harder team to guard than the Golden State Warriors team waiting for Cleveland in the Finals. Via Cleveland.com:
“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.”
That’s a pretty provocative statement, likely intended to skewer the Warriors, while pretending to praise the Celtics. It’s pretty obvious that Golden State, with Steph Curry, Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson are a tougher team to defend than Isaiah Thomas-less Boston.
Well on Thursday, reporters asked Warriors acting coach Mike Brown what he thought of Lue’s comment. Let’s just say he was amused.
Mike Brown was asked about Tyronn Lue saying Boston is tougher to defend than Golden State: "That's his opinion. It's cute."
— Chris Haynes (@ChrisBHaynes) May 25, 2017
The NBA Finals haven’t even started yet, and already the teams are taking subtle jabs at each other. Assuming the Cavs finish off the Celtics, the next few weeks are going to be very, very interesting.
