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Lue: Thomas-less Celtics are harder than Warriors to prepare for

Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports / Action Images

Cleveland Cavaliers head coach Tyronn Lue isn't willing to look ahead at an NBA Finals rematch with the Golden State Warriors, not while the new-look Boston Celtics are giving them a run for their money in the Eastern Conference finals.

Since All-Star point guard Isaiah Thomas went down with a season-ending hip injury, the Celtics have found new life and provided more of a challenge to the Cavaliers over the past two games, even taking Game 3 by a narrow margin at Quicken Loans Arena.

"You can't," Lue said when asked if he's begun to think about squaring off with the undefeated Warriors once again, according to Cleveland.com's Joe Vardon. "As much as you want to, it's not over.

"This team (the Celtics) is, like I told you guys before, it's like we're preparing for a whole new team. Like, we didn't know what they were going to run. Isaiah (Thomas) goes down and they're running a totally different offense than we prepared for so it's been tough on us. And defensively, they're a lot better. They don't have a lot of weak links to go to, to go at."

Cleveland's primary objective with Thomas on the floor was to make him more of a liability on defense than he already was, while also zeroing in on him while he had the rock. If he's not getting the 28.9 points he averaged during the regular season, the Celtics' offense flounders as a result.

Now that he's injured, though, Boston coach Brad Stevens has had to conjure up new schemes with the pieces he has left. When compared to Golden State, Lue apparently feels more comfortable battling the devil he knows than the devil he doesn't, which is a Celtics squad with a variety of different options he may not have had on his radar previously.

"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," Lue added. "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."

The ECF now heads back to TD Garden for Game 5 on Thursday night, with the reigning champions up 3-1 following Tuesday's 112-99 victory. Boston lost the first two games of the series on its home court by a combined by 57 points. Also, no LeBron James-led team has ever blown a 2-0 lead in a series.

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