Revolving door in heavy use

The story of the Cavaliers’ entire 2018-19 season was squeezed into the first half of their game with the Bucks on March 20 at Quicken Loans Arena.

After waiting four months to see Kevin Love and Tristan Thompson together in a Cavaliers uniform, the reunion lasted less than three quarters of one game.

For the past two months, Tristan Thompson has been in the news much more because of what we will politely call a rocky relationship with Khloe Kardashian than for what he did with a basketball.

That in part is because Thompson missed 26 straight games with a lingering foot injury before returning to the lineup to face the Bucks. Admittedly, though, it is questionable whether anything a pro athlete does on a field or court could keep up with the Kardashians in the age of the 24-hour news cycle.

Thompson entered the game against Milwaukee with 4:23 left in the first quarter and the Cavaliers leading the injury-ravaged Bucks, 18-16. The crowd inside The Q cheered his return, though the applause wasn’t exactly thunderous.

It was the first game Thompson and Love were on the floor together since the fourth game of the season, which means Larry Drew had to coach 67 games without one or both of his most reliable big men (two games without Love were coached by Tyronn Lue before Lue was fired). But the 107102 victory over Milwaukee might also be the last time they are together for a long time.

With less than a minute remaining in the first half, Love, who missed 51 games recovering from foot surgery earlier in the season, and Eric Bledsoe cracked heads on a play near the Milwaukee basket.

Love stood up wobbly and rubbing his head. He finished out the half. He did not warm up before the start of the second half, but was on the floor for the start of the third quarter. He did not last long. The Cavaliers called a timeout with 9:10 left in the quarter. Larry Nance Jr. subbed for Love, and instead of heading to the bench, Love headed straight to the locker room and was not seen in the bench area the rest of the night.

Coach Larry Drew had no update on Love in his postgame news conference and would not speculate on a possible concussion. The official word is Love is being evaluated by the Cavaliers medical team.

Drew did not think Thompson would miss as much time as he did. Thompson was expected to return before the AllStar break, but he needed another five weeks to be deemed ready.

“I was hoping we would have gotten him back sooner, absolutely, but any time you’re dealing with injury you can’t rush players back,” Drew said before the game. “The last thing you want is a setback. I think he experienced a little bit of that. It would have been nice to have him a lot sooner than we’re getting him back, but injury is injury. Right now, he’s feeling pretty good.”

The Cavaliers, 19-53, are 7-7 since the All-Star break.

One can only wonder what the Cavaliers record would be if Thompson and Love could have played together for even half the season. Forty-one games. That isn’t asking too much.

Reach Schudel at JSchudel@News-Herald. com. On Twitter: @jsproinsider

TONY DEJAK — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS The Bucks’ Pat Connaughton, right, the Cavaliers’ Larry Nance Jr. and David Nwaba, and the Bucks’ Brook Lopez, left, vie for the ball during the first half March 20 at Quicken Loans Arena.