Kevin Love Injury Creates Questions for Cavs

bleacherreport.com

The Cavaliers are fresh off of a sweep of the Boston Celtics. They easily handled Boston, but their triumphs weren’t without consequences. In game four of the series, the Cavaliers lost their starting power forward Kevin Love when Kelly Olynyk of the Celtics dislocated his shoulder in the first quarter. It has now been made public that Love will not be available for any of the Eastern Conference Semi-Finals.

Cleveland fans have the right to be critical of Love’s contributions to their team this season, but losing him will definitely hurt. Over the course of the regular season, Love chipped in around 16 points and 10 rebounds per game. Those certainly aren’t bad numbers, but Love just wasn’t the same impact player that he was during his time in Minnesota. Now, it is true that his numbers were expected to drop while playing with LeBron James and Kyrie Irving. However, if you watched any of Cleveland’s games this year, you may have noticed that he just wasn’t given the defensive attention that he demanded in Minnesota. Perhaps his drop in production can be attributed to a lack of chemistry with his teammates. Maybe it really is because his role has been so drastically reduced that he’s become discouraged.

Now that I’ve trashed on Love a bit, I will also review the positives that he brings to the team. The most obvious plus is the fact that he is incredibly talented. When Love has a good game, he becomes very hard to stop. When he turns his game on and the defense needs to respect him, it creates incredible opportunities for his other teammates. One thing that Love will do every single game, is rebound. Averaging 9.7 rebounds per game is no easy feat and it should be known that although he’s done much better in the past (15.2 rebounds per game in 2010), he is still a force to be reckoned with on the boards.

So, what will the Cavaliers be missing in their next playoff series without Kevin Love? They will be missing a vital piece of their starting lineup, as well as a large portion of their rebounding. In game three of the Cavaliers series against the Celtics, Kevin Love dropped 23 points while shooting 50 percent. No he didn’t “go off” but if you watched the game, then it should be obvious that his momentum killing three pointers were more important than anything for the Cavaliers. Replacing Love won’t be possible for the Cavs, but remedying his loss is.

In Love’s absence it’s safe to say that Tristan Thompson will assume the starting power forward role. The 24-year-old big man was a great bench option for the Cavs this year. He’s not a great scorer; certainly not on Love’s level by any means. He is, however, a great rebounder. There were plenty of times in the playoffs where Thompson was able to grab offensive rebounds late in the game. These extended possessions put the game out of reach multiple times for the struggling Celtics.

In the end, the loss of Love’s scoring could prove to be troublesome for the Cavs, especially considering they will most likely be playing the Chicago Bulls. However, J.R. Smith, Kyrie Irving and LeBron James should be able to adequately produce in Love’s absence.

Tristan Thompson will be capable of rebounding on a level similar to Love’s. Thompson can also be expected to score around eight or ten points per game. There’s been lots of negative buzz surrounding the Cavs following the news of Kevin Love’s injury. I am here to reassure Cavaliers fans that although they won’t be at 100 percent without Love, they will be more than capable of advancing to the Eastern Conference Finals.