(On his team’s slow start): "This is going to be a common theme throughout the press conference, so I’m going to lead with that. No excuses. We just didn’t’ start well enough and we just didn’t play well enough to win the game."
(On using the same lineup for most of the second half): "We had to fight our way back into the game. We couldn’t let the game get away from us. When it came down to the minutes to win or lose the game, we went with the guys that put us in that position…We did what we had to do to try and win the game."
(On his team’s defense): "I think there were a lot of things we could’ve done a little better. That’s also something that was common throughout the game. We were just a little bit off in a lot of things, a lot of little things that were important. We’ve got to turn it around and make up for that a little bit because that’s the way for us to beat this team.”
(On LeBron James guarding multiple positions): "That’s something that he can do and we ask a lot of him, but that’s not new. That’s the reality. That’s what we need him to do. We try not to ask anybody to do what they can’t do. I thought he did a great job defensively. He guarded multiple positions and that’s to his credit. He rebounded the ball, he was active, he got his hands on the ball and he really gave it to us at that end. No question.”
(On if there’s a silver lining): "Every day and every game teaches you something. Once you walk into the fire, you’re going to come out either hurt badly or a lot smarter. Hopefully, we come out a lot smarter. Coming in, we knew what the circumstances were. We knew what we were looking at but we had to go through it to learn from it. Now we have and hopefully we come out a lot better.”
(On if he’s considering a lineup change for Game 2): "I’m thinking about everything. I’m always thinking about everything. I think that for us not having our normal rotation and normal roster, we have to adjust to things and we have to try and be creative. At the same time, everything that we’re doing, we have to be that much better and that much more exact because our margin of error is going to be smaller and we’re playing against a very good team as it is. So, we have to be a little bit better at every point of the game and make the adjustments that are necessary to gain us just a little bit of ground. We’re certainly not that far off. We’ve got to do a little better.”
(On the slow start): “For us, we had a bad start obviously and we can’t afford to do that in game two in order to even the series up. It could have been just us being out of rhythm for eight days, it could have been what the Bulls were doing – it was a little bit of everything, a culmination of everything. They got off to a fast start.”
(On his message to the playoff rookies on the team): “For one, we focus on the next game. Focus on tomorrow, first. Focus on tomorrow when we are going to watch the film and we are going to see ways that we can get better. Things that we have to do to be better and try to win that game in game two. That’s our only concern. Don’t worry about seven games because if you worry about seven games you might not even get there. You worry about game two and you come in better. We’ll be much better than we were tonight.”
(On how to improve against Derrick Rose and Pau Gasol): “For me, a game one is always a ‘feel out’ game. Obviously they were exploiting us with our coverage. That was the coverage we were in, they exploited us and we’ll get better with it. We’ll come in tomorrow and we’ll watch film and we’ll see ways we can take that away or make it a little more challenging. Obviously Pau is a great mid-range shooter; that we found out tonight. He made us pay. We have to go back to the drawing board and see ways that we can be better with that particular play – when Pau is popping to the elbow and making those shots.”
“I think he said it best, they got off to a fast start. (Mike) Dunleavy, five-for-five in the first half. Just getting open looks and their pace was a lot faster than ours and I think we were down 16-2 at one point, but we didn’t panic, which we hang our hats on. We kept fighting, kept fighting. That first quarter, going forward, just can’t happen again.”
(On being tired in the second half): “We don’t want to make any excuses for fatigue or anything like that. We just have to be better with the ball, including myself and take responsibility for making the right plays going down the stretch. I feel like especially in the fourth quarter there were some tough shots and some tough possessions for myself that looking at in film I’ll probably be disappointed in just because I know we could have got a better shot. Just rushing. I wanted to take the lead so bad. It was just an energy thing and just for myself I have to be better with that, especially going into the fourth quarter when me and him (LeBron) are playing pick-and-roll, I just have to make better decisions.”
(On the Cavs’ game-tying runs): “We know how good they are. There are going to be runs in the game. I think it’s important to answer those runs and trust the pass. If they load up, we’ve got to hit the open man and we’ve got to trust that guy to make the right play. If he’s open, shoot. If not, make another play. When we do that, we’re very good offensively. They’re very good. LeBron (James) is so active with his team defense. Kyrie (Irving) is very disruptive. (Iman) Shumpert is terrific. (Tristan) Thompson and (Timofey) Mozgov give them the size at the rim. (Matthew) Dellavedova puts ball pressure on that you feel. So we know that we’re going to have to play a lot better than we did today.”
(On Tristan Thompson): “He’s probably as good as it gets in terms of going to the boards, and sometimes it requires more than one (guy guarding him). He’s physical. We’ve got to make sure we keep a body on him. Sometimes you do that and he just still manages to get to it. I think finishing your defense is critical against this team, whether it be the challenge for the shot (or) getting your body onto someone and then rebounding. The rebounding component is so important.”
(On his team’s shooting tonight): “Sharing that ball was important. The ball movement, keeping the turnovers down, the rebounding – those are things that are necessary to put yourself in a position to win. You can never let your guard down. You get up 10 or 12, they make a quick run. They can score points in a hurry, so they put a lot of pressure on you.”
(On the first game of a series): “It’s about just reading (the other team). When you’re playing in the playoffs and it’s the first game, you’ve got to see what they’re going to do on the pick-and-roll, who they’re double teaming off of, who aren’t they double teaming. You’re reading the first game, and I think tonight we made the adjustments during the game.”
(On what playing the game at this level means to him): “I’m just appreciative of everything (about) the sport – working out every day, getting back on the floor, my fans…Just every aspect of basketball. It’s allowed me to not only change my life and my family’s life, but my friends’ (as well). I owe so much to the sport. I don’t even look at it like a sport anymore. I look at it like art…It’s just an honor to be here and I’m just trying to roll with it.”
(On tonight’s game): “We did a great job coming out, setting the tone on both ends of the floor and really being aggressive. (We had) great flow out there. (We did) a great job being aware and communicating. (It was) just really positive overall, the way we came out. They made their runs and we reacted well. We kept our composure. We were very poised out there and did a good job.”
(On Chicago’s confidence in facing the Cavs): “We must have confidence going into a series against anyone, no matter who the opponent is. I think we came in with the right mindset and attitude, not really easing into the series but really going after it. That’s the mindset that we need to have on a consistent basis if we want to be successful.”
Cavaliers Notes:
- The Cleveland Cavaliers outscored the Chicago Bulls 46-24 in the paint.
- LeBron James posted his third consecutive double-double of the 2015 playoffs (63rd of career) after finishing with 19 points, a game-high 15 rebounds, a game-high nine assists, a game-high tying three steals and one block in 42 minutes. With James’ fourth assist of the night, he moved passed Scottie Pippen (1,048) for seventh place in NBA Playoff history. James’ 15 rebounds are tied for the fourth-most in a single game for his playoff career.
- Kyrie Irving tied his playoff career-high with 30 points, while adding six assists, two rebounds, one steal and one block in 44 minutes of action. Irving has now registered a block in all five games this postseason and has averaged 24.6 points, 4.6 assists, 4.4 rebounds, 1.0 block and 1.0 steal in 41.2 minutes.
- Iman Shumpert got his first start of the 2015 postseason and registered a playoff career-high 22 points on 8-17 (.471) shooting from the field, including 4-10 (.400) from three-point range in 41 minutes.
- Timofey Mozgov chipped in with nine points, five rebounds one steal and one block in 26 minutes of play.
- Tristan Thompson grabbed eight boards to go along with four points and two blocks in 37 minutes off the bench.