Mike Brown Says Tyronn Lue's Comments on Defending Celtics, Warriors Are 'Cute'

Golden State Warriors acting head coach Mike Brown shrugged off an assertion by Cleveland Cavaliers head coach Tyronn Lue that the Boston Celtics are harder to defend than the Dubs.

On Thursday, Connor Letourneau of the San Francisco Chronicle passed along Brown's pithy reply as the Warriors await the winner of the Eastern Conference Finals after sweeping the San Antonio Spurs.

"That's his opinion, it's cute," he said.

Anthony Slater of the San Jose Mercury News passed along video of Brown's comments: 

Joe Vardon of Cleveland.com provided the original comments Lue made Wednesday about how the challenges of the intricate Celtics offense compare to the star-studded Warriors' attack.

"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," he said. "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."

Boston has been forced to get more creative with its offense against the Cavs since superstar point guard Isaiah Thomas suffered a season-ending hip injury in Game 2.

While the resulting changes helped the Celtics score a 111-108 victory in Game 3, Cleveland bounced back with a 112-99 triumph in the last contest to take a commanding 3-1 series lead.

Saying any offense is harder to defend than Golden State is going to raise some eyebrows. The Warriors have ridden their dynamic group, led by Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, Draymond Green and Klay Thompson, to a 12-0 start in the postseason.

The three-time reigning Western Conference champions lead all playoff teams at 118.3 points per game during the postseason. They also led the NBA in Offensive Efficiency during the regular season.

Trying to slow them down is a challenge that likely lies ahead for Lue and the Cavaliers. For now, they are focused on trying to close out the Celtics in Game 5 on Thursday night.