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That's What He Said - Celtics at Cavaliers (Game 3)

Read what the players and coaches had to say following Boston's 86-116 defeat to Cleveland.

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

BRAD STEVENS

RE: The mental approach to begin the game, they hit you in the mouth and you guys tried to come back, but you staggered and just kind of never got back up. What happened out there?

RE: It seemed like similar problems at the other end of the floor. Just defensively what happened to you guys?

RE: With some of the high degree of difficulty passes that LeBron had tonight, is there anything defensively you guys can do differently to combat against that?

RE: How surprised were you with George Hill's energy in the first quarter with an 11-point performance?

RE: The difference for you guys between home undefeated and on-the-road struggling, can you put into words why there's such a big difference?

AL HORFORD

RE: You guys have been here in this situation after being up 2-0 and then losing by a substantial number in Game 3. How might that experience be able to help you moving forward into Game 4?

RE: And then secondly, as one of the leaders of this team, what was your message to the group in the locker room after this game?

RE: Points in the paint, rebounds, Cavs win both, and decisively in the rebounds. Was the physicality kind of a switch thing? In terms of attitude, were you not where you needed to be there tonight?

RE: Obviously you didn't play the fourth because the score was lopsided, but you had only four shots. Is there anything Tristan Thompson is doing to make it difficult for you? What can you do to get a little more involved in the offense moving forward?

RE: Ty Lue talked about shifting some of the coverages with Jaylen Brown. Did you see a different schematic from what Cleveland did the first two games to you defensively?

JAYSON TATUM

RE: On what went wrong tonight

RE: On the way they needed to play coming into tonight

RE: On their offensive struggles tonight

JAYLEN BROWN

RE: On not being able to match Cleveland’s sense of urgency early

RE: On the Cavs adjustment defending him tonight

RE: On how his early foul trouble impacted him

TERRY ROZIER

RE: On the game tonight

RE: On missing open shots tonight early

RE: On George Hill’s aggressiveness tonight

TYRONN LUE

RE: It looked like Jayson Tatum might have had a little more room to work and Jaylen Brown had no room. I know you don't like to talk about your game plan, but generally speaking, how much did you switch your coverages and how much do you think that played into what we saw as a team defensive effort tonight?

RE: Did you challenge LeBron or talk to him about putting forth that kind of effort on defense?

RE: Speaking of the first quarter, and you just mentioned the pace and aggressiveness that George Hill showed, but what opened up for him in Game 3 that wasn't there at the start of the series?

RE: There was no fatal flaw quarter today, no bad first quarter, no bad third quarter where things unraveled. What was the key for that to not happen?

RE: Your rotation tonight, did you go in with a mindset of who you wanted to play and you would adjust accordingly based on how they played, or was this the game plan from the get-go and you had your set rotation no matter what?

GEORGE HILL

RE: On the team’s great start tonight

RE: On the biggest change Cleveland made defensively tonight

JR SMITH

RE: On the difference tonight

RE: On if the win feels significant

RE: On what he was saying to himself once he got going

KYLE KORVER

RE: On if the threes falling tonight sparked the team’s play

RE: On the biggest difference in Cleveland’s play tonight

LEBRON JAMES

RE: LeBron, your defensive numbers tonight were your best of the postseason as the primary defender. What was your mindset about being more active defensively, and what made it easier for you tonight?

RE: LeBron, how would you rate your passing as a skill compared to the rest of your game? And then if you'd indulge me, the left-handed pass you had to Larry Nance Jr., in the lane, the left-handed pass to Tristan Thompson in the lane and the time you drove baseline and wrapped around Tristan, can you rank those three?

RE: A lot was made the last couple games of how well their point guards played and how your guards struggled. To see George Hill and J.R. both get off to good starts tonight, how important was that to get you guys going?

RE: LeBron, a very efficient scoring right for you, 27

points on just 12 shots, but what a healthy

boxscore, and how related are those two functions:
You only taking 12 shots and seeing everybody else just kind of flourish and everybody scoring the ball? And Kevin, could you speak to his ability to facilitate that coming forth of the whole team, and how dangerous a team are you when it looks like tonight?

KEVIN LOVE

RE: Kevin, Brad Stevens was talking about how you guys were just connected defensively all night. As a team, what are you doing to make it harder on Al Horford?

RE: We've talked all year about you at the 4 versus the 5, but now you're going to play alongside Tristan in this series. For this series, why does that work?

RE: Kevin, could you speak to his ability to facilitate that kind of production across the board?

RE: Kevin, you've battled against Al Horford a number of times and you did it in Game 1. How would you characterize the way Tristan has played against him defensively in the last two games?

RE: Kevin, your bounce pass to LeBron, does that show that things are really clicking between you two? And how satisfied were you when you saw the way he finished it?

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