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How Tyronn Lue pushing LeBron to be better is bringing them closer
- Updated: May 4, 2016
10:41 AM ET
CLEVELAND — Last year after he made his biggest play to that point of the season, LeBron James took the opportunity to point out over he overruled his head coach on what set to run for the final shot in a playoff win over the Chicago Bulls.
After he carried the Cleveland Cavaliers over the final five minutes of another quality playoff win, this one over the Atlanta Hawks on Monday, James went out of his way to praise his head coach.
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1 Related
It’s not fair to boil everything about David Blatt and Tyronn Lue into individual anecdotes, but it is helpful in explaining the complex relationships they have with Cavs players. And it is moments like this that illustrate why the team’s decision-makers feel positive about that midseason coaching change, regardless of how this season plays out.
Evaluating Lue has been somewhat challenging over the last few months. The raw data hasn’t been much different than under Blatt, if not slightly declined in some areas. Factually, the Cavs had a worse record with Lue (27-14) than Blatt (30-11).
However, there continue to be moments where it becomes more clear how much stronger Lue’s connection is with the Cavs’ core players. Game 1 had several examples. The most vivid were from James, who on multiple occasions made sure to explain how Lue’s actions were a factor in the victory:
On the strategy of focusing the defense on Kyle Korver, who got just one shot, and allowing Dennis Schroder a playoff career-high 27 points, James said: “We had a game plan and we follow the game plan our coaching staff gives us.”
On what Lue did during second-half …
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