2 studs and 1 dud for Cavs in win over Pelicans on Monday

Cavs dud from Monday’s win over the Pels: Kevin Love

For how well Kevin Love thrived a season ago off the bench, this season has not fared as well for the veteran Cleveland big man.

Love averages 8.2 points per game, which would be a career-low if the season ended today. Love is also connecting on 35 percent of his three-point attempts, which is about four percent less than a season ago.

Recently, Love has struggled mightily with his long range shooting. Over his last eight games, Love is connecting on just 19 percent of his three-point shots, and for January is just 6-of-36 shooting from three-point range.

Overall, Love is shooting just 28 percent this month and is scoring just 6.3 points per game.

Focusing solely on yesterday’s game, Love was just 1-of-7 shooting and missed all four of his three-point shots. Love did grab eight rebounds and dished out three assists, but Love’s role off the bench is essentially to be a stretch big man.

All players go through rough stretches of their careers, and for Cleveland’s sake, they are hoping Love can work out of this slump because he is a pivotal piece to their success on offense. Perhaps the return of Ricky Rubio, his former teammate on the Minnesota Timberwolves as well previously, can make a difference, too.