The Cleveland Cavaliers are a close-knit family, and last year they got a nice Mother’s Day present from Kevin Love.
Today is Mother’s Day. If that’s news to you and if you’re reading this from anywhere near the Atlantic Ocean, it’s too late. A call never hurts though, fellas. Anyhow, we decided to rewind to last year on this holiday, where Kevin Love had no love for the Atlanta Hawks. It was on May 8, 2016 at Philips Arena, where the Cleveland Cavaliers were looking to complete their sweep of the Hawks.
It seems like whenever a LeBron-led team is in that situation, it bodes pretty well (just an observation). So on to the closeout bid.
It was a back-and-forth offensive affair in the early going, in which Atlanta had a 58-56 lead at halftime. I was just waiting for the Bron and the Cavs to break it open and gain control, but to Atlanta’s credit, it stayed tight the whole way.
The Hawks actually got after the King on the defensive end throughout the game, as he had six turnovers and only shot 43.5 percent from the field. Kyrie Irving was more efficient, going 8-for-16 and accounting for 21 points with eight dimes. He and Dennis Schroder (21 points and +11), who was the Hawks’ backup point guard last season, had a good battle going.
However, it was K-Love who really got it done for the Cavs.
He was 8-for-15 from three-point range, and for whatever reason, he seemed to have so much room on most of those. It was corner threes galore, as Love was getting lost with the Hawks focusing most of their attention on Kyrie and the King.
Love’s ball fakes were on point to counter closeouts and he even toyed with Thabo Sefolosha late in the third quarter, getting him up in the air and registering a rare four-point play.
They needed every one of those long-range bombs, too, considering the Cavs got the job done by the slimmest of margins (100-99). As Matt Medley of NEO Sports Insiders touched on, Love’s production paced Cleveland on the road, and let’s not dismiss his 13 rebounds and four dimes. One of those was a TD pass to LBJ, too (Hubie Brown loves those).
So give Mom a hug ladies and gents, and let’s all be grateful for Lil Kev.
Can the Cavs start playing again? I mean seriously, though?
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What did you think of Kevin Love’s Mother’s Day performance last year? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section or Twitter @KJG_NBA.