Center Tristan Thompson said the Cavaliers brought a "must-win" mentality to Game 3 of the Eastern Conference finals Saturday and it resulted in a 30-point victory.
But the Cavs trail the Boston Celtics 2-1 going into Monday night's Game 4 at Quicken Loans Arena and coach Tyronn Lue said they must sustain the same edge.
"We know what it takes. We did it before. We've got a lot of veterans and they know what it takes to win," Lue said. "We can't get satisfied with just one win. It's just one, we've got to come out tomorrow night and duplicate it again."
Lue said he didn't use Sunday's practice at Cleveland Clinic Courts to remind the Cavs the Celtics still lead and hold home-court advantage. The Celtics are 37-0 when they take a 2-0 lead in a series.
"Just remind them that this is the way we have to play," Lue said. "Reminding those guys of just bringing the physicality, 1 through 5, picking up full court, being on bodies. The biggest thing is the multiple effort, making the second effort. We made some mistakes defensively, but we covered for one another last night, we really continued to keep moving.
"I thought last night was one of LeBron's best games I've seen in a long time as far as helping, closing out to Jaylen Brown's chest, making him put it on the floor. Closing out to (Marcus) Morris. Closing out to (Marcus) Smart. He did a really good job of just setting the tone of multiple effort and that was good for us."
According to ESPN Stats & Info, when LeBron James was the primary defender he held the Celtics to 2-of-10 shooting, allowed the Celtics .36 points per play, his best of any game in the postseason, and forced four turnovers. In Games 1 and 2 combined, the Celtics shot 9-of-23 when James was the primary defender and he forced three turnovers.
The Cavs contested 58 percent of the Celtics' shots in Games 1 and 2 combined and 76 percent in Game 3, according to ESPN Stats.
Thompson knew what Lue's emphasis would be even before he heard the message.
"We did a lot of good things," Thompson said Saturday. "We know they're going to make adjustments. They definitely missed some shots that they made in Boston, so we've got to prepare for that. It's all about being physical from the opening tip. The team that throws the first punch and comes ready to play is definitely in the driver's seat."
