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That's What He Said - Celtics at Cavaliers

Read what the players and coaches had to say following Boston's 99-112 defeat to Cleveland.

Click on a player or coach to reveal quotes from their postgame press conference.

BRAD STEVENS

RE: How do you explain the difference in the halves,
getting outscored by 23 in the second half of this
one?

RE: Did you feel like it was a missed opportunity at
all when you have LeBron on the bench in an
unusual situation for seven minutes and you didn't
extend the lead, and what did Kyrie do --

RE: What are the positives maybe or the takeaways
you're going to take back to Boston? You come
here, 1-1, and you're going home?

RE: You attributed to Irving and LeBron hitting
shots, but when Irving gets in that kind of zone, is
there something you can do? One-on-one he's
wearing everybody out.

RE: Last game you caught them in a momentum
shift and you rode it and made the plays down the
stretch. Tonight did it almost show more about
your guys because the Cavaliers knew what was
coming and you guys were still able to do what you
do?

AVERY BRADLEY

RE: I'm curious about your own role from the
standpoint of leadership; obviously with IT [Isaiah
Thomas] not here you've assumed a mantle of
leadership. How much responsibility do you feel
and who else shares that with you within the team?

RE: Coach Lue just said you're the best on-ball
defender in the NBA. What was the hardest part
about being able to stay in front of Kyrie tonight?

RE: Just to follow up on that, what makes him so
difficult to defend in one-on-one situations?

RE: During the first half only a few turnovers total for
the whole team and then nine during the second
half alone. What changed in that department, and
then how badly did that hurt you guys?

RE: You mentioned the team defense aspect; how
much of a balancing act is it to have team defense
on guys driving to the rim the way they are and
then still staying home on some of the three-point
shooters like Kyle Korver and the rest of the team?

TYRONN LUE

RE: LeBron, four fouls in the first half. You're down
13 at the time. Why did you decide to leave him in
there after three, and what was going through your
mind when you had to get him out at four and
you're down 13?

RE: Specifically LeBron's third foul on [Marcus]
Smart and the fourth foul, the offensive call, what
did you make of those calls?

RE: Nine turnovers in the first half, you limit that in
the second half. What was the difference in
valuing the basketball in the second half?

RE: LeBron and Kyrie with the points, a lot of people
are going to focus on that, but Kevin with 17
rebounds tonight. Talk about how important he is
in that area.

RE: What changed in particular for Kyrie Irving there
in the second half, and then seemed like he rolled
his ankle or something there late in the second
half, and then it seemed like he just kind of got
sparked again from that. What was the difference
with his game tonight?

KYRIE IRVING

RE: Kyrie, 42 points tonight, career playoff best for
you; what was the difference, and when did you
kind of flip that switch in the second half?

RE: Did LeBron's foul trouble force you to be a little
bit more assertive there, and how much did that
play a role in what you did there in the second
half?

RE: In that scary third quarter moment did you feel
like you needed to get back up and keep setting the
tone, and what's your condition right now?

RE: What is it with you and big moments? Why do
you seem to flourish in those moments and rise to
the occasion?

RE: Why does this team love adversity?

LEBRON JAMES

RE: When you were on the bench with four fouls,
Kyrie just went to another level. 33 points in 19
minutes I think it was when you had your fourth.
What did he show you and the world tonight?

RE: When the Celtics were switching on you in the
fourth quarter, what were you seeing?

RE: Fourth quarter it seemed like it all came back to
you scoring the ball and shooting the ball over kind
of a difficult stretch. Is that just kind of a thawing
out thing, you're through that stretch, and return to
the player, the shooter that you were the previous
10 games, or is it something you just kind of had to
fight through?

RE: By the same token do you feel as a team that
you've kind of recovered now that you've got to go
back to Boston for Game 5?

RE: I was going to ask about that exactly. Do you
feel like the second half was evidence of you guys
starting to understand exactly what it was they
were trying to do without Isaiah now that he's not
there?

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