The curious case of Kevin Love

Through the first four games of the Cleveland Cavaliers opening round series against the Indiana Pacers, Kevin Love hasn’t looked anything like his usual self.

Through four games of the playoffs it has not exactly been smooth sailing for Kevin Love.

Once Kyrie Irving was dealt to the Boston Celtics last August, Love assumed a bigger role on the Cleveland Cavaliers.

After injuries limited Love to just 59 regular season games, he returned just in time for the playoffs. In five April regular season appearances Kevin scored 18.4 points and grabbed 9.6 rebounds. In addition to that Love shot 46.6 percent from the floor and an even better 54.3 percent from 3-point range.

That All-Star version of Love has largely been absent against the Indiana Pacers.

Overall, Love’s best game was Game 3 when he scored 19 points, grabbed 6 rebounds and shot 53.8 percent from the field.

However, 16 of those points came in the 1st half.  His final three points came on a shot from the corner with under 10 seconds left. In fact, Love’s 3rd quarter was one to forget.  He did not even take a shot and only grabbed one rebound in nearly eight minutes of action.

Through four games, Love is now shooting just 36.2 percent from the floor and 40.0 percent (8-20) from beyond the arc.

One key factor that could be holding Love back is his thumb. After injuring it in Game 2, Love has appeared hesitant at times. If Love’s thumb is still bothering him, that could very well be the answer to his playoffs woes this year.

Last night’s game will be one Kevin may want to forget.

Just as Victor Oladipo did in Game 2, Love picked up two quick fouls in the early stages of Game 4. In just more than nine minutes of game action in the first half, Kevin attempted just one shot and grabbed one rebound.

Despite Love’s less than impressive first half, Cleveland took a 10 point lead into the half.

These kinds of performances from Love are similar to what he did during the Cavaliers run to a title in 2016.  Against the Warriors that season (albeit as the No. 3 option) Love scored in double figures just once.

But in Game 7 in Oakland, when it mattered most, Love scored 9 points and grabbed 14 huge rebounds.  Even though his shot was not falling he still found a way to make an impact.

This is what happened to an extent in the second half last night. While only scoring 5 points on 2-9 shooting, Love still pulled down 10 rebounds (five offensive boards) as Cleveland hung on to win.

After Game 4, Love is scoring just 12.0 points per game but grabbing 10.5 rebounds.

While Love probably realizes he needs to play a bigger part in the offense, he must walk a fine line. Now is not the time in the season to slowly try to get Kevin engaged on offense, he must be ready to go from the jump.

With no Kyrie on the floor, Love is the second option. If Love cannot find offensive success in the latter stages of this series, Cleveland is in trouble.

Kyle Korver, Jordan Clarkson and J.R. Smith (42 points, 10 made 3-pointers) helped LeBron (32 points, 13 rebounds) tonight tie the series at 2-2. But 5 points in a playoff game from Cleveland’s second-best offensive threat is still troublesome.

Indiana has done a good job at frustrating Love when he catches the ball in the post. Even when he is able to grab an offensive board for Cleveland, Love is surround by yellow jerseys and has trouble finishing around the rim.

While some are waiting for a breakout game or consistency from the All-Star forward, that may not be what we see going forward.  This is year four of the Cleveland Cavaliers as we know them, and Love has largely been the same player that entire time.

Love still needs to touch the ball both in the post and around the perimeter.

With more open looks there is a chance the shots will start to fall. Just to reiterate the point again, Love will only hurt his teammates if he loses faith in himself.

The playoffs are all about fighting adversity and overcome hurdles.

Love fighting through his less-than-stellar performances is all apart of the process.  As long as Love keeps his confidence and trusts his ability on the court, he should be able to bounce back.

Nonetheless, the curious case of Kevin Love is just that. Curious.

here is no set thing wrong with Love’s game or there is not even really a set way to cure his playoff woes. As long as he, as well as his teammates, have faith in Love’s game, Cleveland should be able to survive and advance in the NBA playoffs.

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