Freak injury
Kevin Love can’t get any breaks. Just when it looked like he was finally underscoring his importance to the Cavaliers, he winds up in the sidelines due to a freak injury. After having gone through a rough regular season that saw his status as an All- Star questioned, the last thing he needs is a dislocated shoulder to keep him out of the court. He’s a would-be free agent, after all, and he banked on his showing through the playoffs to boost his stock. Now, his plan’s all shot, and prospective employers have only his past performance to lean on in order to assess his value.
To be sure, the timing can’t be worse for all quarters. For starters, the Cavaliers need to replace the 18 and nine Love brings to the table every night from here on, not to mention the spacing he creates as a formidable scoring threat. Not for nothing did the wine and gold norm close to 121 points per 100 possessions in the first round with him on the floor and just 97 with him riding the pine. Meanwhile, he’s deprived of the postseason experience he longed for in six years with the Timberwolves, the sacrifice he willingly made in lowering his usage rate over the last six months seemingly for naught.
Creditably, the Cavaliers aren’t about to waste time carping on how the cause of Love’s injury “was not a basketball play.” It’s irrelevant at this point, and, in the grand scheme of things, simply one of countless examples to be found in hoops annals of the unpredictable nature of playoff competition. If there’s any consolation, it’s that they have LeBron James on their side, and his unique combine of talent and experience figures to help them weather the storm. Little wonder, then, that he remains confident of their chances; back in 2012, he had to deal with the prolonged absence of Chris Bosh en route to the championship.
So, yes, Love’s decommissioning is a big blow. If the Cavaliers are truly fated to prevail, though, they’ll find ways to cope. As head coach David Blatt contended: “Our guys have been locked in for quite some time now. Everyone recognizes that we all have to pick it up. The nextman-up mentality is prevalent in our work and our feeling. We’re hurting for what happened to Kev on a team level, on a personal level, but not discouraged to the point where we are any less ambitious and
any less hungry to continue on this path.”
Love’s deprived of the postseason experience he longed for in six years with the Timberwolves, the sacrifice he willingly made in lowering his usage rate over the last six months seemingly for naught.