Cavs assistant ripped team following Game 2 loss

The Cleveland Cavaliers can thank an assistant coach for their turnaround performance in Game 3.

Having been routed by a combined 50 points in Games 1 and 2, the Cavaliers looked lifeless in the locker room as they prepared to flee Oakland, according to Chris Haynes of Cleveland.com. But one local native wouldn't let the Cavaliers off the hook.

Assistant Phil Handy reeled off a profanity-laced tirade to whip the Eastern Conference champions into shape, sources told Haynes.

"He's an Oakland boy, and we went out to Oakland and got our ass whipped twice," veteran forward Richard Jefferson explained to Haynes.

"He was pissed off. He has to show up there every day. It means a lot to him, it means a lot to us, and for us to go out there and play the way we did was embarrassing. Look, we personally feel that no team should handle us the way they did the last two games, and it was disrespectful."

Normally a quiet figure, Handy apparently raged about his team's toughness, and his team heard him loud and clear. They played with renewed vigor in Game 3 to take a 30-point victory off the Golden State Warriors.

"Sometimes you need somebody to remind you of who you are," Channing Frye said Wednesday about Handy's message. "Sometimes you get caught up in the moment instead of being reminded of how hard it took to get here and the work you put in to get here. You saw it today. You saw the big difference."

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Cavs assistant ripped team following Game 2 loss