1 stud and 1 dud for Cavs in their win over the Heat on Monday
By Mark Wilson
Cavs stud: Kevin Love
I wrote about Love recently, ranking all of his games against the Minnesota Timberwolves; his former stomping ground for six seasons. The motivation for such a topic came about due to Love’s recent performance in Minnesota, posting 18 points and 13 rebounds in 23 minutes. Love’s contributions however have been far more than just one “revenge” game.
Despite playing the lowest minutes per game of his career, Love has bought in to this team, proving to be a legitimate weapon off the bench. In 20 minutes per game, the 2016 Champ is averaging 11.9 points and 7.2 rebounds while shooting 40.4 percent from downtown. His PER (Player Efficiency Rating) is the highest it’s been (20.7) since 2017-2018 while the Cavs’ most-used lineup with Love on the floor boasts a net rating of plus-13.2 per NBA.com’s lineup tracking data.
Our own Dan Gilinsky explored Love’s recent flame throwing, which now includes an especially flammable last five games – 15.6 points and 7 rebounds on 51.4 percent from 3-point range in just 20 minutes per game.
Against the Heat on Monday, Love saved his prowess for the most important part of the game – the second half. After a P.J. Tucker jump shot tied the game, Love responded with a 3-point shot which saw the Cavs lead for the rest of the way. His final three-pointer resulted in a 100-86 lead, sealing the deal on another dominating performance – a season-high 23 points that came all in the second half, including 5 three-pointers.
Love also recorded 9 rebounds which included game-highs of defensive box outs (4) and total box outs (5) (again, per NBA.com’s box score). Kevin Wesley Love is officially back, folks.