Cavs’ Kevin Love sidelined with calf strain, to be re-evaluated in 3-4 weeks

Cleveland Cavaliers big Kevin Love is set to be sidelined for three to four weeks with a calf strain, after which he’ll be re-evaluated.

Cleveland Cavaliers big Kevin Love missed much of preseason due to a right calf strain, to go with the squad’s first outing of 2020-21. He ended up playing most of the Cavs game at the Detroit Pistons on Saturday, which was a double overtime win.

Albeit Love was in action for just nine minutes in Cleveland’s win over the Philadelphia 76ers, in which he had four points, three rebounds and two assists. Love seemingly reaggravated that calf injury, and gestured over to the sideline and went out.

As far as the potential timeline for Love’s injury, Love is reportedly set to miss three to four weeks, approximately, per a Cavs team status update.

And here was more on that, per that Cavs team announcement.

"“Cavaliers forward Kevin Love left Sunday night’s home against the Philadelphia 76ers in the second quarter and did not return to action after reaggravating a right calf strain initially diagnosed during the preseason. Further examination and an MRI administered on Monday at Cleveland Clinic Sports Health confirmed the injury. Love will undergo a series of treatment and rehabiliation and will be reassessed in approximately three to four weeks. His stated will be updated as appropriate.”"

This Love injury is tough for him and the Cavs, of course.

This Love injury is rough for Love and the Cavaliers, especially given the long layoff. Hopefully, Love can get healthy in due time for the Wine and Gold.

His ability to space the floor, defensive rebound at an elite level, secondary playmake and make things happen in the mid-post aids Cleveland’s efforts game-to-game. On the plus side, Larry Nance Jr., who has played so well thus far, should hopefully be fine starting at the 4 in place of Love.

Nance is more than capable of doing so, at least as a spot starter, and he’s made quite a difference on both ends in Cleveland’s first three games. He did start in Cleveland’s first game against the Charlotte Hornets, and to begin the season, has had 8.7 points, 8.0 rebounds, 5.0 assists and 2.3 steals per game.

Nance has made an all-around imprint, and perhaps he could make an argument for a long-term starting 4 option over this potentially next month, give or take, for Cleveland. That’s maybe if the Cavs were to eventually look to trade Kevin Love, who has been a perpetual subject of trade rumors throughout recent years, down the road/possibly before next season, for instance.

Nance, just like Love, is a highly capable passing big, and defensively, he has shown the ability to defend 4’s, and even 3’s, competently.

In any case, when Love is back, I’d still expect to see Nance get plenty of burn, anyhow, and that’d include even as a situation 3 in big lineups, where he has still looked viable.

So we’ll see in regards to Love’s return for Cleveland. But in the mean time, hopefully the Wine and Gold can still keep moving the ball at a high level, led by Darius Garland’s 8.3 assists per game, and the young backcourt of Garland and Collin Sexton can keep progressing still.

As KJG’s John Carter recently emphasized, both Garland and Sexton, who’ve averaged 19.0 points and 27.0 points per outing through three, have been playing great ball for the Cavaliers to begin this season. And as Carter hit on, Andre Drummond has had an impact, to a large extent, and the Cavs bench has provided energy.

Let’s hope Love can get healthy, though, as when he is in there, he’s realistically Cleveland’s best pure shooter, both via spot-ups and off movement.

The 32-year-old Love had 17.6 points, 9.8 rebounds and 3.2 assists per outing in 2019-20, and hit 37.4 percent of a career-high 7.0 three-point attempts per game.