Kevin Love and the Cleveland Cavaliers are enjoying the moment

Kevin Love and the Cleveland Cavaliers haven’t had smooth sailing this season, but they are enjoying the moment again now.

There’s still a good chance that the Cleveland Cavaliers’ first selection in the 2019 NBA Draft is a top-five pick, but that’s not what they are playing for currently. The Cavs earned a hard-fought win over the Orlando Magic yesterday (who have played really well since the turn of the year), and they are enjoying the game much more as of late.

For a team that has been near the cellar of the Eastern Conference all year and is focused on getting younger pieces substantial playing experience, having both the young guys and veterans dialed in and still competing at a high level every night is a plus.

Now, the Cleveland Cavaliers are playing better overall (4-2 post-All-Star break, per NBA.com), and just watching and listening to Cedi Osman (who was mic’d up against the Magic), you see that Cleveland is still having a positive outlook for the rest of the 2018-19 season.

Here’s a bit of that (courtesy of Fox Sports Ohio), where Osman hit a clutch three-point shot to basically put the game on ice.

Cleveland’s W over the Magic was a complete team effort on both ends, as the Cavs (per Fox Sports Ohio) had six guys score in double figures.

That was likely the formula coming into the season (obviously having Kevin Love miss 50 games due to reported toe surgery derailed that, but you’re seeing more of this type of approach with Love back).

You’re seeing more of Collin Sexton, Jordan Clarkson, and others showing boyish enthusiasm, and after a team that’s had such tough circumstances this season with all the injuries and growing pains they’ve had, it’s okay for them to have some fun out there now, especially with their star in Love back.

Many have discussed how Love being back gives this Cleveland team a completely different look, and Osman reiterated how “it’s really different when you have an All-Star on your team,” (per the Cleveland Cavaliers) and yes, that’s Love he’s talking about.

This is encouraging to hear another Cleveland Cavaliers’ player in Osman, who projects as a key piece for the team moving forward, to detail what Love still means to this squad.

In a recent interview with The Athletic’s Jason Lloyd (subscription required), who at one point essentially asked Love about the Cavs’ and his motivation for the rest of the season, with Cleveland being a great position to land a really high draft pick, Love said how the team is “getting the most out of it,” in terms of competing greatly in every game, but they are “also having fun.”

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Cleveland is playing better basketball over the last month or so, and in their last 15 games, the Cavaliers have a respectable record of 7-8, per NBA.com.

Really in the games after the All-Star break, as we hit on, they are playing better in large part because of Love’s presence, and Jordan Clarkson said (per Cleveland.com’s Chris Fedor) that Love’s presence on the floor “gives other guys confidence and they know that if they give the ball up they’re going to get it back.”

It’s no coincidence that among Cavaliers’ players post-All-Star break, Love has the highest on-floor true shooting percentage, per NBA.com.

When he’s been on the floor, Cleveland’s true shooting rate has been 62.0 percent.

Love’s offensive gravity has clearly given this team some life, and players like Osman, Sexton and Clarkson have demonstrated that with their praise of Love and their overall body language as of late.

Even though the Cavs haven’t had a good year, they are starting to enjoy themselves by playing better as a team, and with players such as Love, Clarkson and Matthew Dellavedova playing hard, they are not just going to tank the last 18 games of the year, whether fans want them to or not.