Celtics respond after Cavs coach says they're 'gooning the game up'
Down 0-2 to the Celtics in the Eastern Conference Finals, the Cavaliers have been outplayed in many facets of the game by their opponents.
Cleveland coach Tyronn Lue, for one, thinks part of the explanation for his team’s poor performance is that Boston is “gooning the game up.”
During his postgame news conference following the Cavaliers’ 107-94 loss in Game 2 on Tuesday, Lue told reporters the Celtics have played in a much tougher and more physical manner than the Cavaliers.
“We have to be tougher,” Lue said, per the Boston Globe’s Hayden Bird. “I think they’re playing tougher than we are. We’re seeing that. They’re being physical. They’re gooning the game up, and we have to do the same thing. We have to be tougher mentally and physically.”
“We’ve got to come out swinging. We’ve got to be aggressive. I think we’ve got to be physical, and we’ve got to have a physical mindset, you know, that they’re coming in, playing tough. They’re aggressive, and we’ve got to match that,” he added.
Lue’s characterization of how the Celtics have approached the series thus far was blunt, but several Celtics players indicated they were in agreement.
“I don’t even know what to say to that,” said Boston guard Jaylen Brown, according to ESPN’s Dave McMenamin. “I agree, I guess.”
Celtics forward Marcus Morris expressed similar sentiments, noting that Lue’s description of how Boston has played was actually pretty accurate.
“Gooning? That’s a good word,” Morris said. “S—, we’re doing what it takes. Whatever it takes, every player, one to 15, whatever it takes, that’s what we’re doing. You call it what you want to call it. We’re just trying to get the win.”
Lue’s comments about the Celtics’ physicality came across as somewhat hypocritical, though, considering one of his players was the culprit of what was far and away Game 2’s dirtiest play.
With under four minutes left in the fourth quarter, Celtics forward Al Horford jumped up at the rim in an attempt to complete an alley–oop. While he was in the air, Horford was pushed from behind by Cleveland guard J.R. Smith, who got called for a flagrant foul 1.
Following that play, Boston guard Marcus Smart confronted Smith, and the two exchanged words. Smith pushed Smart, and technical fouls were called on both players.
Later, Smart expressed his frustration with what he saw as a dirty play.
“Oh, man, we’re out there to play basketball,” Smart said. “You know, and I just looked at it: Al is a defenseless person. He’s in the air. He can’t control how his body goes, and he’s not even looking. And you go and take two hands to the back; that’s a dirty shot. You just can’t allow that to keep happening.”
Smith himself even admitted that the referees were right to call a flagrant foul.
“It was a good call,” Smith said. “I blatantly pushed him. It wasn’t like I was trying to low-bridge him or something to make sure he didn’t get it. It was a good, hard foul. I can understand why they gave me a flagrant.”
Horford seemed not have been phased too much by the foul. Instead he emphasized that his team is doing whatever it takes to win.
“I felt like it was uncalled for, that type of play there, but that’s the one thing about the group of our guys,” Horford said. “We have each other’s backs, and it is what it is. We moved on to the next play, and we just locked in even more after that.”
“I mean, we just play hard,” he added. “We go out there, we compete. It’s Celtics basketball. We’re really embracing Celtics basketball. We’re playing hard. We’ve got each other’s backs, and that’s it.”
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