CLEVELAND - Moments after the Eastern Conference championship banner was raised by the Cleveland Cavaliers for the third straight time and the obligatory postgame interviews ended, head coach Tyronn Lue slipped quietly away and ducked into the shadows.

"I don't like the attention," said Lue, once a journeyman point guard who steered the Cavaliers to an NBA championship last season.

Still, he has grown more accepting of his frontman role. He'll again be center stage this week as Cleveland meets Golden State in the latest installment of their title trilogy.

If the unassuming, easy-going Lue had his preference, the teams would duke it out for the Larry O'Brien Trophy on a playground court in a stifling hot gymnasium, with only a handful of onlookers present. A student of the game, he's old school - with a fresh perspective.

Of the many juicy subplots between the Cavs and Warriors, one that frequently goes overlooked is Lue, the former assistant who has blossomed into one of the NBA's brightest young head coaches and a playoff savant.

He's 28-6 in two postseasons with Cleveland. His players credit Lue's soothing, steady influence - on and off the court - as nearly as vital to their success as a clutch Kyrie Irving 3-pointer.

"It's just his level of calmness no matter what's going on," Cavs captain LeBron James said following practice.

"He always says that at the end of the day, he's already won in life, so whatever else happens after this is extra credit. And I feel the same way. That's why I relate to him so much.

"Lose here, or you win a game here, it's like, 'Alright, cool. I've already done so much more than anybody ever gave me credit for doing or thought I can do, so there's no reason to get too high or too low.'

"So it's the even-keel mentality about our coach and it definitely helps us as players when we're going out into a war."

Lue has been preparing for the biggest battle of his basketball career this week.

From the moment he returned home from Boston following the Cavs' win in Game 5 of the conference final, he has immersed himself in the Warriors, a virtual All-Star team featuring two league MVPs (Kevin Durant and Stephen Curry), a dead-eye shooter (Klay Thompson) and a triple-threat performer (Draymond Green).

Lue's defensive strategy to this point in the playoffs has been to neutralize the opponents' top player.

The Cavs were able to do that with Indiana's Paul George, Toronto's DeMar DeRozan and Boston's Isaiah Thomas, who aggravated a hip injury in Game 2 and missed the remainder of the series.

Cleveland blitzed, double-teamed and did all it could to take away the other team's offensive threat. Lue was asked if it's more difficult to identify who that is in Golden State's lineup.

"Hell yeah," he said, his voice rising. "It's tough."

There are few weaknesses in these Warriors, the first team to head into the Finals 12-0 and winning by an average of 16.3 points per game.

"They have so many weapons. Having four All-Stars and now adding KD to the mix, who I've always loved as a scorer, just how he scores so easy," said Lue.

"They have a lot of options. It's going to be tough, but we have to lock into what we have to do defensively, and sometimes you can play great defense and it doesn't work.

"Steph is making tough shots, Klay is making tough shots and KD is making tough shots. But all you can do is play your defense, stick to your principles and just make it as tough as possible."

The Cavs know Lue won't panic.

He stayed cool last spring when Cleveland fought back from a 3-1 deficit to win its first title. The coach made subtle tweaks to his rotation, drew up key inbounds plays, then isolated Irving late in Game 7 on Curry. The Cavs All-Star guard made a go-ahead, step-back 3-pointer.

Pressure intensifies in the postseason, when possessions, turnovers and rebounds are magnified.

As the drama builds, Lue stays composed, setting the tone for his players.

"Throughout the postseason there's so many different emotions," James said.

"Going high, going low. And if you're a coach able to just stay even-keeled throughout the whole thing, it relaxes the rest of the group."

But don't be fooled by Lue's cool. He can get fiery when needed.

"I always get mad when guys make shots in the first quarter, second quarter, pumping their chest, and then the game on the line they miss," Lue said.

"So you're doing all that for no reason. I always like to stay even-keeled and just play the game the right way."

Associated Press

Kerr coy about Game 1 status

Steve Kerr expects to decide soon whether he will coach the Golden State Warriors at all in the NBA Finals, saying on Monday he is not yet ready but that he hasn't ruled himself out for Game 1.

"As of right now I would not coach on Thursday night. It's still up in the air. Still waiting for 'Ahhhhhh!'" Kerr said, reaching his hands to the sky as if to receive some miracle healing.

"It's coming, it's coming. ... I think once we get to Game 1, that might be a good time to make a decision one way or the other."

Golden State, unbeaten this postseason at 12-0 with sweeps of Houston, Utah and San Antonio, hosts the defending champion Cleveland Cavaliers in Games 1 and 2 on Thursday and Sunday.

The reigning NBA Coach of the Year is still not feeling well after a May 5 procedure at Duke University to repair a spinal fluid leak stemming from back surgery complications nearly two years ago. He addressed the media on Monday when acting coach Mike Brown was out with the flu.

"I told the team the good news is our players are really healthy, the bad news is the coaching staff is dropping like flies," Kerr joked.

Brown has been coaching the Warriors since Game 3 of the quarterfinal at Portland, with Kerr assisting at practice and before and during games.

"Mike's been amazing. It's an awkward situation, again this is so unique," Kerr said. "I'm not sure it's ever happened. It's just weird because on the one hand Mike has to coach the team as he sees fit.

"I'm taking part in practices, helping with the messaging, taking part in coaching meetings, but I'm not on the sidelines during games.

"And so he has to make those decisions as if it's his team, but he's also taking my advice and counsel behind the scenes. It's not easy, but he's obviously doing a good job.

"There seems to be a theme when I'm out, I think the team is like 108-2."

Brown is set to go up against LeBron James and a Cleveland team he coached in two separate stints.

He wasn't around during the past two Finals when the Warriors faced the Cavaliers.

Associated Press

(China Daily 05/31/2017 page22)