Celtics’ coach Brad Steven is already one of the best in the NBA. His out of time out plays are brilliant, and his Boston team’s flow of ball and player movement is among the best in the league.
It’s those things that were giving the Cavaliers trouble in the first half of Game 4 Tuesday, and ultimately prompted this comment from Tyronn Lue.
“We’re just focused on Boston. The stuff they’re running, it’s harder to defend than Golden State’s [offense] for me.”
Connor Letourneau of the San Francisco Chronicle asked Mike Brown about that.
Mike Brown on Tyronn Lue saying Boston is tougher to guard than Golden State: "That's his opinion, it's cute."
— Connor Letourneau (@Con_Chron) May 25, 2017
You can certainly make the case that the Celtics have a wider variety in their offense, and that with Isaiah Thomas out the rather balanced, anyone can score nature of the Celtics is challenging to defend for a team with inconsistent help defense like the Cavaliers.
But Boston is running these sets with Marcus Smart and Jaylen Brown and Kelly Olynyk. Golden State will use ball and player movement to create space for Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson. Which is to say, Golden State is tougher to defend because the space they need to make you pay is much smaller. And even if you do everything right the Warriors may just score anyway.
I get what Lue was trying to say, but don’t give the Warriors more motivation.
