BIRMINGHAM, MICH.: Tyronn Lue keeps a notebook that dates back to his playing days full of ideas and plays. He has a whole section dedicated to After Timeout plays — or ATOs.
And after the Cavaliers’ Game 3 victory Friday night against the Detroit Pistons, he has a new entry.
The intricate adjustments of a postseason series were on display in the final minute Friday night. As a result, the Cavs can complete a sweep of the Pistons in Sunday’s Game 4 at the Palace of Auburn Hills.
The Cavs had good success in the first two games running ATOs, but Lue said Pistons coach Stan Van Gundy changed his defensive scheme on the inbounds plays and Lue needed something new.
So shortly before the start of Friday’s game, Lue huddled with his lead assistant, Larry Drew, to brainstorm ideas. They came up with the play that ultimately won the game for the Cavs when Matthew Dellavedova heaved a 45-foot pass to the corner and Kyrie Irving made a 3-pointer with seven-tenths left on the shot clock.
“We’ve got to be able to burn them with a counter on this,” Lue told Drew. “We just played with it for 10 minutes and came up with something. It’s crazy that play right there sealed the deal for us and we worked on it right before the game. That’s why I was so excited.”
Lue has enjoyed a great deal of success in his first playoff round as a head coach, and he has done it against a savvy tactician in Van Gundy. There were some clunky rotations early in the series and the defense has looked vulnerable at times, but Lue has drawn up some big plays at key moments and his decision to play big again in Game 3 after playing small in the first two games seemed to catch the Pistons flat-footed yet again.
All of it will make good entries into his book.
“Being a defensive coach for Doc [Rivers] and a defensive coach for coach [David] Blatt, you get to see all the film and all the games,” Lue said. “You get to pick up a lot of plays, a lot of ATOs from a lot of different people. You can try to tweak it to help and benefit your team.”
The Cavs are one victory away from LeBron James’ fourth consecutive sweep in his first-round series, and the Big Three are playing perhaps their best basketball together.
“It’s been the best I’ve seen them play, all three together,” Lue said.
James is averaging 23 points, 8.3 rebounds and seven assists in this series. Irving is averaging 26.3 points and Love is averaging 21.3.
“Right now we’re in a great flow, as far as us three,” James said. “We understand what we all want individually and what will help the team. Guys are picking their spots. We’re going to Kev a lot in the post. We want Kev to continue to be aggressive, put pressure on the defense and we want Kyrie as well to be aggressive on pick-and-rolls and when he’s able to get his shot, we want him to take it.”
All of the problems from the regular season, the chemistry issues and lackadaisical efforts have washed away — for now. There are plenty of postseason games to go and turbulence certainly lies ahead at some point, but as the Cavs inch closer to closing out their first-round series, there is harmony in the locker room.
“It’s definitely the most I’ve seen all of us happy and joyful for one another and at the same time having everybody healthy as well,” J.R. Smith said. “It’s the highest I’ve seen since I’ve been here.”
Jason Lloyd can be reached at jlloyd@thebeaconjournal.com. Read the Cavs blog at www.ohio.com/cavs. Follow him on Twitter www.twitter.com/JasonLloydABJ.