Foot injury may push Cavs’ Love off the court
It could be short-term or a ‘number of games,’ general manager says
CLEVELAND — Cleveland Cavaliers all-star Kevin Love could miss significant time with a foot injury that has bothered him since the pre-season.
Love sat out his third straight game Tuesday as the winless Cavs hosted Atlanta looking to end a six-game winless streak to start the National Basketball Association season.
On Sunday, the team fired coach Tyronn Lue.
The Cavs are still working through contract negotiations with assistant Larry Drew, who wants more security before he takes over.
Love has had more testing in recent days and doctors are reviewing results to plan his recovery.
General manager Koby Altman isn’t sure how long the Cavs might be without their best player.
“We’re still working through the diagnosis of what the best thing to do is,” he said.
“To be honest with you, we’re unsure what we’re going to do in terms of a timeline.
“Our doctors in-house have looked at this. We’re actually going to consult with outside doctors as well to put together the best plan for him.
“It could be a number of games that he misses moving forward or it could be sort of a short-term thing to try and manage it.
“But to be honest we’re going to figure that out in the next couple of days. This could be a number of games he could miss.”
The injury to Love only makes things tougher on the Cavs, navigating through their first season since LeBron James left.
Love’s injury has affected his shooting. He’s making only 32 per cent of his shots while averaging 19.0 points and 13.5 rebounds.
The five-time all-star signed a four-year, $120-million contract extension this summer.