Warriors coach Mike Brown on Tyronn Lue saying the Celtics are harder to guard than Golden State: ‘It’s cute’

Ronald Cortes/AP

The Cleveland Cavaliers are one win away from a third straight Finals against the Golden State Warriors, and already, the exchange of words has started.

On Wednesday, speaking to a group of beat writers, Cavaliers coach Tyronn Lue said that he has his hands full preparing for Game 5 against the Boston Celtics.

Lue said he’s not thinking about the Warriors, saying of the Celtics offense, “The stuff they’re running, it’s harder to defend than Golden State’s [offense] for me,” pointing to the amount of screening, cutting, and passing in Boston’s offense.

Lue continued, saying, “Like, they hit the post, Golden State runs splits and all that stuff, but these guys are running all kinds of s—. I’ll be like, ‘F—.’ They’re running all kinds of s—, man. And Brad [Steven]’s got them moving and cutting and playing with pace, and everybody is a threat. It’s tough, you know, it’s tough.”

While Lue likely meant this in praise of Boston — surely, a team with Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green is not easy to defend — the NBA world could not help but raise its eyebrows at the comments.

They’re not the only ones. On Thursday, Warriors coach Mike Brown (who is filling in for Steve Kerr while Kerr rehabs from a back ailment) was asked about the comment and offered his response:

The Cavaliers still have to finish off the Celtics before they can think about the Warriors, but should there be third straight Finals between the two teams, Lue may have just provided Golden State with some whiteboard material.