Tyronn Lue Says Celtics Offense Harder Than Warriors' to Defend for Cavaliers

Cleveland Cavaliers head coach Tyronn Lue may have inadvertently given the Golden State Warriors bulletin board material if the two teams meet in the NBA Finals for the third straight year. 

Per Joe Vardon of Cleveland.com, Lue said he believes the Boston Celtics offense is more difficult for the Cavs to defend than Golden State's:

"The stuff they're running, it's harder to defend than Golden State's (offense) for me, as far as the actions and all the running around and all the guys who are making all the plays, so it's a totally different thing. Like, they hit the post, Golden State runs splits and all that stuff but these guys are running all kinds of (stuff). And Brad's (Stevens) got them moving and cutting and playing with pace and everybody is a threat."

While Lue may view Boston's style as more difficult to defend, the Warriors have a decided advantage over the Celtics by virtue of having three of the best scorers in the NBA: Kevin Durant, Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson. 

The Celtics have been playing the Eastern Conference Finals without All-Star Isaiah Thomas since the start of the second half of Game 2 because of a hip injury. They were able to carve out a victory over the Cavs in Game 3 on Avery Bradley's three-pointer with one-tenth of a second remaining. 

The Warriors led the NBA with 115.6 points per game during the regular season and have won each of their first 12 playoff games by an average of 16.3 points. 

With one more victory, the Cavaliers will set up the third straight NBA Finals matchup against the Warriors. The two teams have split the last two series, with Golden State winning in 2015 and Cleveland winning in 2016.