Kevin Love is silently succeeding for the Cleveland Cavaliers

The Cleveland Cavaliers, who lost their second scoring option in Kyrie Irving this offseason, have seen Kevin Love step up and excel behind King James.

With Cleveland Cavaliers superstar LeBron James having such a phenomenal season, we tend to lose sight of the teammates that surround him. One player, in particular, has been having quite the season of his own, and that player is Kevin Love.

Throughout the season, the main storyline that has come out of Cleveland is how well LeBron James is playing. A 33-year-old James is putting 27.5 points per game along with 9.1 assists and 8.1 rebounds per game. Not to mention, Isaiah Thomas recently made his return to the court — which was exciting to watch.

With the success the Cleveland Cavaliers have had and all of the other excitement to go along with it, their All-Star teammate has again been overlooked.

Love has put up incredible numbers this season. He’s currently averaging 19.6 points per game, 10.0 rebounds, and shooting 41.0 percent from beyond the arc. Love has been doing his part this season by carrying an injury-riddled team alongside James.

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Love and James soon will no longer have to carry this team because another All-Star in Thomas will be back to play (without any restrictions) soon. This may mean Love will get fewer opportunities to put up numbers similar to what he has been doing.

However, Love has been in this situation before. He knows how to play the role of the third option and is okay with it.

One major key to Love’s success this season is a position swap from power forward to center. There are too many stretch-fours that are faster and can blow by him. By playing center, the floor can be stretched even further for James and Thomas allowing Love to have more open opportunities outside the arc.

A final note on Love and his play. It’s evident that Love is as comfortable as he has ever been wearing wine and gold. He now pulls up for three in transition without hesitation. Three years ago, he would without a doubt have given the ball up to someone else.

With more looks and significant confidence, Love will continue to thrive for the Cleveland Cavaliers. Even with a poor performance against Boston that made many fans scratch their heads, we must remember Love’s 31 point, 18 rebound performance in Oracle on Christmas Day and hope for the best of Love moving forward.

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*Unless otherwise referenced, all stats gathered from www.basketball-reference.com