Steve Clifford Talks Win Over Celtics
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00:00 down nine, about two and a half minutes to go to 20.
00:05 Got the shots you needed, got the stops you needed.
00:07 And I guess just overall, what did you say to the team after this one?
00:10 >> No, I mean, we fought, right?
00:13 We battled and they hung in there.
00:16 We had the one time in the first half we were down, I'd say like 15, 16.
00:22 And they fought their way back.
00:23 Obviously a lot of guys played well.
00:26 I mean, the second half defense was the best we played.
00:29 And there was a lot of guys, but Gordon Hayward's defense in the second half was
00:34 big time stuff.
00:35 He's picking all defenses, individual defense, and
00:39 he made a bunch of team plays too.
00:42 >> No, this is not something necessarily you can use for confidence and
00:46 motivational purposes, but to kind of show the guys that to get against this team,
00:52 I think you're down 18 at one point in the second quarter and then down nine.
00:55 Is this something that can be used as a little bit of a springboard of saying,
00:57 hey, do these things you can?
00:59 >> Yeah, for sure.
01:01 And the reality is this is, and they know this, we talk about it all the time.
01:06 This league is not about a great win.
01:08 This league is about, can we come back and play well Wednesday and win?
01:13 That is what the league is about.
01:14 If you wanna look at every year, the teams that end up at the end of the year
01:19 where the worst record beat the teams with the best record.
01:23 That's the way the league is.
01:24 They're all such good players that the difference in teams is night to night.
01:31 It's not one night, it's can you put games together?
01:35 >> Cliff, what did you draw up 108 to 106 or whatever?
01:40 You had like seven, eight seconds left.
01:42 You needed two or three to get into overtime and
01:45 then Lamella ended up with the layup.
01:47 >> Yeah. >> What was that?
01:48 >> That was a play that Jaylen Brown jumped up.
01:52 It was a play for Mello to come from the top and actually look for a three.
01:57 But then he kinda jumped up and took it away and Mello made a good play and
02:00 went to the open area.
02:02 And he had a clean drive to the basket because that is a tough time defensively
02:07 in this league up to, you don't wanna give up the three to lose it.
02:11 So guys are more, they're less apt to help, right?
02:14 And so you see it a lot, right?
02:19 Down to you get wings to drive the ball, but he made a good read just to get there.
02:25 >> You obviously started Miles tonight over PJ.
02:28 Just what was that decision to make that change line up wise and
02:32 anything about Miles- >> Yeah,
02:34 just because that's the way we're gonna do it.
02:37 PJ and I have been talking about this ever since Miles came back.
02:41 So he's still gonna play, his minutes won't change.
02:47 PJ will play just as many minutes as he was before.
02:50 But we have to get to playing groups like we were talking about before the game.
02:56 And so, and they're gonna play together too.
03:01 So PJ is, listen, PJ is all about the team.
03:07 He's extremely team oriented.
03:09 He grew up in a basketball family.
03:11 He has no problems with it.
03:13 And again, this has been something that's been discussed since Miles came back.
03:18 This wasn't like I brought him in yesterday and said, so
03:22 this was not anything anybody wasn't planning on.
03:26 >> And then with Melo, his last couple of games here,
03:29 he's not just a really hot streak.
03:30 What do you see from him overall?
03:33 Just how much is he into a good rhythm for
03:35 you guys to kind of get you where you wanna go?
03:36 >> Playing great.
03:37 I mean, their defense obviously is about as good as it gets.
03:42 And when you have 36 in and nine rebounds, and
03:46 his defense is getting better and better too.
03:49 So he's a very talented player.
03:53 And I would say, I don't know if it shows, but if you watch him in the weight room and
03:59 you look at all the data that they give us, he's a lot stronger than he was last year.
04:05 He couldn't do a lot this summer on the court or conditioning because of his foot.
04:10 But he did spend a lot of time in the weight room.
04:13 And I think that that's paying off too.
04:15 His numbers finishing at the rim, although it's early,
04:19 I believe are much better than they have been in the past.
04:21 And a lot of this is strength.
04:24 >> Steve, obviously, PJ has been in the lineup, in the starting lineup and
04:27 off the bench and been productive in both roles.
04:29 But it seems like this kind of helped get him out of that couple of game drive spell.
04:33 Do you feel like with Miles back that this is just a better spot for
04:37 him to come off the bench mentally?
04:40 >> You know what, it's a valid point.
04:43 I don't know if I could answer that truthfully.
04:45 I mean, how do you really know?
04:46 I know this, is I watched him do his routine.
04:50 They all have different shooting times in the morning before shoot around.
04:54 And he works with Mike Wells.
04:56 I said, he's gonna play well tonight.
04:58 You can just see by the way he walked into the building.
05:01 He's a prideful guy.
05:02 He's a very, very important player for us.
05:05 And I think sometimes people don't understand,
05:10 fans can get upset with guys when they have a couple bad games.
05:13 The fans are no more upset than the players are.
05:16 So I think he walked in the building this morning, got himself ready to play, and
05:20 he played a really good game.
05:21 >> Coach, we talked about Mark Williams, a game best, plus 33, 18, 16,
05:27 including eight field boards.
05:29 >> This is the best game.
05:30 I know he had the monster game.
05:32 Tonight, he made more just effort plays than he's made so far in this two years.
05:39 And it was, think of the number of offensive rebounds he kept alive,
05:44 he ran down, not just rebounds in his area.
05:47 He blitzed tonight well, when we needed to do that, he was good in the drop.
05:53 But he had a lot of juice tonight.
05:56 And it's playing every night for the first time.
06:01 I think people look at him and you gotta remember,
06:06 he didn't play 82 games last year.
06:09 So some of this he's learning on the fly also.
06:11 But I thought that this was by far the best game.
06:14 His attitude, his intensity, all of it.
06:17 >> Steve, obviously you are still about Terry Brazier.
06:20 Do you have any indication when he may be back?
06:23 >> No, he was able to do a little bit today and shoot around.
06:26 But so he's getting closer, but nothing for sure.
06:31 Thanks, everyone.
06:32 Good.
06:33 Thank you.
06:33 Thank you.