Kevin Love’s return overshadowed
But impact of five-time all-star unmistakable for Cleveland Cavaliers
CLEVELAND — Once again, Kevin Love’s magnitude seemed to be minimized.
Cavaliers coach Tyronn Lue’s decision to take a leave of absence to address health issues superseded Monday’s return of the five-time all-star, who missed seven weeks with a fractured left hand.
During a 124-117 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks at Quicken Loans Arena, there was more buzz over the first-quarter salute to Hall of Fame-bound Browns left tackle Joe Thomas, who appeared hours after his retirement press conference.
Then LeBron James turned in a rare 40-point triple-double, continuing his post-Feb. 6 dominance.
It felt as if few noticed that Love came out of the gate determined to get his game in order as quickly as possible, with the end of the regular season now just 12 games away.
He turned in an impressive first half, scoring 11 points in 12 minutes with four rebounds, two assists and two blocked shots. He made 4-of-7 shots, including 3-of-4 from long range.
Finishing with 18 points, seven rebounds, four assists and two blocks in 25 minutes, Love lamented that he wasn’t as efficient in the second half, going 1-for-6 from the field and 1-for-5 beyond the arc.
But Love’s effect on the team was just as noteworthy as his performance in the first two quarters.
The Cavs, who hadn’t out-rebounded an opponent in the previous six games, claimed a commanding 42-32 edge against the Bucks.
In second-chance points, the Cavs held a 19-18 advantage. They had 19 or more in that category just twice in the 21 games Love missed, counting the Jan. 30 game in Detroit when he played 4:41 before being injured.
The Cavs’ floor spacing seemed better, especially when Love and Kyle Korver were on the court with James.
The Cavs went 11-10 without Love, counting the night he was hurt; they improved to 30-19 with him.
James said it was great to have Love back, but his initial comment carried little excitement when asked about Love’s impact.
“First of all just having another body is great for our team,” James said. “Then just his basketball IQ, his familiarity with our system, he fits right back in. And his ability to stretch the floor allows opposing bigs not to just sit and clog up the paint.”
Associate head coach Larry Drew, directing the Cavs in Lue’s absence, was much more upbeat.
“I thought he gave us a tremendous lift,” Drew said of Love. “Not only the fact that he made some shots, but that he was pretty active defensively.
“It was just really good to have him back, being able to run some of the things that we ran prior to him getting hurt. It opens up a lot, especially when he’s playing at the 5 against a centre who’s not used to being on the perimeter. That’s where we keep him a lot and he responded really well tonight.”
Love said he thought he could have gone a few more minutes and that his rhythm felt like it did early in the season. But he was critical of his decision-making, citing a common backdoor pass to James that resulted in a half-court violation and a couple “swing-swings” around the perimeter that he failed to see.
Love played his first game with guards George Hill and Jordan Clarkson, acquired at the trade deadline. Love still hasn’t played with two other newcomers — centre Larry Nance Jr. (sore right hamstring) and guard Rodney Hood (lower back strain), who could return soon. Love’s old running mate, centre Tristan Thompson (sprained right ankle), may also be back this week.
The Cavs were desperate to find a consistent No. 2 scorer in his absence, but Love could have questioned where he’d fit with all the changes as he returned.
“Yes and no,” he said. “I can always go out there and play my game. But as far as finding out where to pick-and-pop and where to pick-and-roll, I just felt a little rusty on that. It’s figuring out when and where to roll and kind of being back at the 5 and doing that again. I’ll get better. Once I watch some film tomorrow and pick my spots a little better, it will be all good.”
Korver said he liked what he saw from Love, especially considering the length of his layoff.
“He’s such a threat,” Korver said. “He’s playing centre and the centres have to worry about him. If it’s a big guy they have a hard time coming out to him and if it’s a smaller guy he can post him up.
“Just gives us a lot of different ways that we can attack and create triggers. I think there’s still some things that we have to iron out, but for a first night it was really good.”