Often referred to as the ‘forgotten’ member of the Cleveland Cavaliers Big 3, Kevin Love made sure he wasn’t forgotten in his first career playoff game, as he had a major helping hand in guiding the Cavaliers to a 113-100 game one victory against the Boston Celtics.
Ironically though, even after finishing up one of his better games in a Cleveland uniform, Love still seemed to be ‘forgotten’ when placed with the other two thirds of the Big 3, LeBron James and Kyrie Irving.
As the three were sitting up at the table for their post-game press conference, James and Irving’s microphones had a nice big ‘NBA TV’ logo on the mic. Love, though just had a plain black one and wasn’t asked a question until about 5-6 minutes into the interview. Love was stunned when finally a media member (Chris Haynes of the Northeast Ohio Media Group to be exact), wanted to talk to him, Love was stunned, per Haynes, “Can I get the NBA TV [microphone]? I finally got a question too. I’m a little hyped. I want to make it count.”
Even though the comments by Love were made with a jokingly manner, it represents a microscopic of his first season as a Cavalier. Love, despite his former honors and distinctions that he earned during his sensational first six seasons with the Minnesota Timberwolves, has been the one left out when the Cavs tasted success and has been the one blamed when they have gone through tougher times. Love has been asked constantly about his role with this team throughout the season and has been heavily criticized all season. Plus, with Love holding a player option for next season, it just gives more ammo for the people who bash on Love.
When looking at his game-by-game stats this season compared to last, it’s understandable why Love has been often satirized this season. In Minnesota last season, Love was arguably a top 5 player in the league, as he put up 26.1 points a game, 12.5 rebounds a game, while shooting 45.7% from the field and 37.6% from three-point land. In contrast, this season those numbers are all down, as Love averaged 16.4 points a game, 9.7 rebounds a game, while shooting 43.4% from the field and 36.7% from three-point land during the regular season.
They key words there are, during the regular season.
While Love put up monster numbers in Minnesota, he was never apart of a winning team. Everyone knows in the NBA, you need to sacrifice to win; you hear the greats talk about it all the time. Putting up superstar stats is awesome but if you’re not winning, what’s the point? Love has sacrificed for the betterment for the team this season and while there has been more then a couple bumps in the road, Love now seems comfortable with his role and he showed how effective he can be in game one.
Oh, by the way, name another players putting up those numbers as a third option?
Didn’t think so.
Against the Celtics, Love put up 19 points, 12 rebounds, was 7-8 from the foul line and had a +/- of +15, which was the highest mark of anyone on the floor on Sunday Afternoon. While some may point to Love shooting 5-14 from the field as a negative, all of those shots were in the rhythm of the offense and were good looks. Even more encouraging was only four of those 15 attempts were from downtown. Love has often been mentioned as a ‘stretch-four’ this season and while that is a great part of his game, Love’s innate ability to be effective at all areas of the court and his outstanding passing skills need to be utilized better by the Cavs in the playoffs.
Love was aggressive on Sunday Afternoon, demanding the ball and taking it to the Boston defenders. James took notice of Love’s stellar playoff debut, per cavs.com:
"“It’s very important that Kev stays involved. For our ultimate goal, Kevin has to be in the rhythm or at least touching the ball and feel like he’s a part of what we’re doing, which he is. For me, I’m going to have the ball a lot, Kyrie is going to have the ball a lot but I just try to find a way to get Kev touches. Early on if it’s in the post, or if I come off pick-and-rolls, he’s always like, between him and J.R. (Smith), they find themselves open on the weak side for the those threes. Even though he was missing shots early, those were great shots and he was very aggressive. I wanted him to just stay with it…as one of our slogans ‘stay with it’ and he did that in the second half – getting down in the post, making a three as well. It was huge for our team.”"
James wasn’t the only one to talk highly about Love, as Coach David Blatt also praised his forward, again per cavs.com:
"“I just really liked the way Kevin was locked in the whole game. He was playing the game regardless of whether the shot was going in or not. I think he was 2-for-11 in the first half and he had some pretty good looks but he continued to play. The guy finished with 19 points, 12 rebounds, drew two charges, and at least one of them was a huge play. He really played a great game for a first playoff game. Everybody was worried about how Kevin and Kyrie (Irving) would do in their first playoff games. Well, Ky had 30 and Kevin had 19 and 12, and Tristan (Thompson), of course, played a great all-around game.”"
Love has been prone to drop his head at times this season when things haven’t gone his way and when his shot hasn’t been falling, Love has often drifted out of the game. This didn’t happen against the Celtics, as James was often seen patting Love on the back and chest and keeping his head up. Love could have easily drifted out of the game against Boston but James’ leadership and constant encouraging of him definitely had an impact on Love, as he played a more physical brand of defense, which included drawing two big charges and continued his excellent work on the glass. Love ultimately found his shooting stroke, as he starting hitting some of the easier shots he was missing earlier in the game and he kept getting to the free throw line.
James and Irving have stressed how important the Big 3 playing well is the key to the Cavaliers winning ballgames. It’s true, as when the deadly trio is on their game, Cleveland becomes almost unbeatable and Boston experienced that firsthand on Sunday Afternoon. The Big 3 combined for 69 points, 21 rebounds and 13 assists and while Irving’s unreal playoff debut and James’ solid all-around performance will catch the eye of most, it was Love’s game that ultimately helped Cleveland going up 1-0 in the series.
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Many questions were asked about how Love would play in his first playoff game. After what some, wrongfully, considered this regular season a poor one from him, Love made sure he silenced his critics for at least one game on Sunday. Love was sensational in his playoff introduction and for the Cavs to ultimate achieve their ultimate goal of winning the NBA Championship, Love needs to bring that performance to the table every game.
What did you think about Kevin Love’s performance yesterday?