Cleveland Cavaliers head coach Tyronn Lue insists his side must play their own game when they take on the Golden State Warriors in the NBA Finals.
The two teams will go head-to head in the best-of-seven series for the second consecutive year, following the Warriors 4-2 success in 2015.
The first match of this year’s finals will take place at the Oracle Arena on Thursday, with Cavaliers coach Lue insisting his side are only concerned with playing their own game and they will not be influenced by the quality of the defending champions.
“We just have to play our game,” he said. We’re not going to slow the ball down and be at ease. We’re going to push the pace, try to get easy baskets early in transition but make sure we’re taking good shots.”
Cleveland have been in impressive form during the play-offs, as they whitewashed the Detroit Pistons and the Atlanta Hawks, before defeating the Toronto Raptors 4-2 in the Eastern Conference finals.
Golden State were less convincing in reaching the Finals, as they came from 3-1 down to dramatically beat Oklahoma City Thunder in the Western Conference finals on Monday.
Lue, who only took over as coach of the Cavs in January, insists his side are not frightened of the defending champions and he believes they have enough versatility within their ranks to claim their first ever NBA title.
He added: We’re not going to be scared of their small lineup. We’re going to play our bigs and if the flow of the game calls for something different, then we’ll do something different.”
Cleveland are available at 2.75 to claim overall glory in the best-of-seven series, while Golden State are on offer at 1.40 to successfully defend their title.
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