USA TODAY US Edition

Love finds a playoff role that fits

Forward’s timely three-pointers, rebounding make Cavaliers offense thrive

- Jeff Zillgitt @jeffzillgi­tt

Cleveland Cavaliers BOSTON forward Kevin Love scored fewer than 10 points three times in the first two rounds of the NBA playoffs — five points against the Indiana Pacers and nine and five points against the Toronto Raptors.

“We’ll do a better job getting Kevin involved, getting him more touches,” Cavs coach Tyronn Lue said before the start of the Eastern Conference finals against the Boston Celtics.

Against the right team to exploit a mismatch for Love, the Cavs unleashed their power forward, who turned in one of the best playoff performanc­es in his three seasons with Cleveland.

Love scored a playoff careerhigh 32 points — his first 30point game in the playoffs — and added a game-high 12 rebounds in Cleveland’s 117-104 victory against the Celtics in Game 1 on Wednesday.

“As I mentioned to Ty last

“I know I can impact the game whether it shows up in the stat sheet or not.” Cavaliers forward Kevin Love

week and throughout these playoffs, it doesn’t matter to me if I’m getting five shots or 25 shots, I just want to win,” Love said.

Love, in his third year with the Cavs, might not have always felt that way after being thrust into the spotlight alongside LeBron James in 2014, James’ first year back in Cleveland. His first postseason was marred by a dislocated shoulder against the Celtics in the first round. Last year’s run, which included his potential title-saving defensive stop against Stephen Curry in Game 7, still didn’t see him excel within the Cavs offense. He averaged 14.7 points on 38% shooting from the field with 8.8 rebounds throughout the playoffs.

But this postseason, through nine games (9-0), Love’s numbers are consistent­ly up. His 15.8 points per game are third on the team behind James (34.8) and Kyrie Irving (22.3), and he’s shooting 45% on twos and threes.

Said James, “I saw that in Kev (Wednesday) morning. I knew what type of game he was going to have.”

In the third quarter of Game 1, Love went to his three-point shot, making five of seven and had 18 points in the quarter. Love has the capability to expose the Celtics along the interior, especially considerin­g their lack of imposing big men. But it’s his threepoint shooting that has the potential to make the Cavaliers devastatin­g.

Not even the vaunted Golden State Warriors have been hitting threes at the rate of the Cavs this postseason. The Cavs’ 14 per game are slightly ahead of second-place Boston.

“Doubling is really scary against these guys, but it may be necessary,” Celtics coach Brad Stevens said. “The conundrum is, do you double and risk giving up those easy step-in threes and the rebounds? Or do you try to stay at home and do the best you can and make them make a tough shot? It’s all easier said than done, but we’ve got to figure out our best avenue quickly.”

That’s the luxury Cleveland has. It doesn’t need Love to score 30 every night, not on a team with James and Irving. But his presence — just the threat of him scoring — makes Cleveland’s offense thrive.

In nine playoff games, the Cavs have scored 118.5 points per 100 possession­s with Love on the court — just a tad less than James’ 118.8.

“I know I can impact the game whether it shows up in the stat sheet or not,” Love said. “That has allowed me to be comfortabl­e out there on the floor, knowing that my mind-set is really there — still being aggressive and making plays.”

At times, Love has been a riddle on the Cavs, and he admitted it took time to figure out his role.

It wasn’t easy coming from the Minnesota Timberwolv­es, where he was the primary offensive op- tion and top scorer. Most games in Cleveland, he is the third scoring option.

But it’s a third option that averaged 19 points and 11.1 rebounds during the regular season, and if Love is as comfortabl­e as he says he is, his box score from game to game might not be all that important.

That doesn’t mean he can’t be a huge offensive source when the matchups align. He scored an NBA-record 34 points in the first quarter against the Portland Trail Blazers on Nov. 23.

When Love is getting touches and rebounds, his offense is better.

“We want the mentality of Kevin from Minnesota, but his usage rate doesn’t have to be as high as Minnesota,” James said.

“Obviously, we all know that he was a featured guy pretty much every possession going down the floor, and here that’s changed a little bit because we have other guys.

“But his mentality needs to stay the same as Minnesota, and as he continues to get even more comfortabl­e and comfortabl­e.

“Tonight was one of those instances where every time he got the ball, it was a small guarding him or somebody was in the post, and he was aggressive.”

 ?? ELSA, GETTY IMAGES ?? Kevin Love, right, with Tristan Thompson, scored a playoff career-high 32 points in Game 1 Wednesday vs. the Celtics.
ELSA, GETTY IMAGES Kevin Love, right, with Tristan Thompson, scored a playoff career-high 32 points in Game 1 Wednesday vs. the Celtics.
 ?? GREG M. COOPER, USA TODAY SPORTS ?? In the playoffs, Kevin Love (No. 0) is third in scoring for the Cavaliers at 15.8 points per game.
GREG M. COOPER, USA TODAY SPORTS In the playoffs, Kevin Love (No. 0) is third in scoring for the Cavaliers at 15.8 points per game.

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