Finals quandary: Should Love start?
Without hesitation, CLEVELAND Golden State Warriors center Andrew Bogut answered the question that is now a major focal point of the NBA Finals between the Warriors and the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Asked if he thought Cavaliers forward Kevin Love would be in the starting lineup Friday in Game 4, Bogut said, “For sure.”
Love, who suffered a concussion in Game 2 and missed Game 3, must be cleared to play. But if he’s cleared — he was on the court working out Thursday — Cavs coach Tyronn Lue faces a difficult decision.
If Love is available, will Lue start Love or use him off the bench in Game 4 after Cleve- land’s impressive 120-90 victory against Golden State in Game 3?
Lue avoided the topic for the most part.
“I haven’t thought about it yet,” Lue said.
Love wanted to play in Game 3. But he needs to clear all steps in the league’s concussion protocol program, and he hadn’t done that in time for the game.
“It was tough. He wanted to play,” Lue said. “He was very up- set about the situation, but the guys said, ‘We’re going to win this game for you.’ And LeBron (James) and Kyrie (Irving) and those guys told him, ‘Tonight we’re going to win this game for you, so get yourself healthy, get yourself back.’ He was all happy after the game. And they told him, ‘Kevin, this was for you.’ ”
He rejected any notion that Love’s absence led to an improved performance.
“What made it easier is we played harder. We competed, we played harder and we were able to get matchups in transition. It didn’t have anything to do with Kevin being on the floor,” Lue said.
He dismissed a reporter’s request that he make a statement addressing the idea that the Cavs were a better team without Love.
“I’m not making a statement,” Lue said.
“We need him back. We miss his rebounding. We miss his post presence. We miss his threepoint shooting. So we want him back, but he has to take the steps necessary to get himself back.”
Any notion that the Cavs are better without Love is foolish. They have a higher net efficiency rating when Love is on the floor in the playoffs and regular season.
But could they be better in this particular series, because of matchups, with Love coming off the bench?
Lue has to consider that and other locker room machinations. How will it impact Love? How will it impact team chemistry?
This is where Love has to understand, with at least two games remaining, what’s best for the team. There are no better player and coach to turn to for an answer than Bogut and Golden State’s Steve Kerr.
In last season’s NBA Finals, the Warriors stumbled upon a small lineup with Andre Iguodala in the starting lineup and Bogut on the bench. They won the final three games of the series, and Bogut played a total of 2 minutes, 46 seconds in those three games, logging no time in Games 5 and 6.
“When you’re with a winning group and getting a championship ring, I’m fine with that,” Bogut said. “A lot of players say they’re fine with that, but they’re not. A lot of players want to win but are, ‘I want to win, but I want to win on my terms.’ I don’t care at this point in my career. I’ve had those individual successes.”
Kerr got to the essence of the issue.
“Well, they’re all big boys,” he said. “You know, they get paid a lot of money not only to play but sometimes to sit. You have to accept whatever comes your way as a player, especially in the playoffs when everything is more easily changed because of matchups or lineups or whatever.”
Los Angeles Clippers coach Doc Rivers recently told USA TODAY Sports that Lue impressed him with his ability to tell players what they needed to hear.
Lue said that was how he approached such situations.
“You just tell the truth,” he said. “They might not like it at the time, but I’ve always learned in this business, if you tell the truth, guys understand and they know what the truth is. They might be mad for a second, but they can always get back to understand and realize that’s the right thing. And if you tell the truth, guys can respect that.”
Lue just needs to find out what the truth is for the Cavs starting lineup in Game 4.