Cleveland Cavaliers: Kevin Love Showed Up When It Counted

Kevin Love‘s play was not pretty but he showed why he is a member of the Cleveland Cavaliers‘ “Big Three” Sunday night.

Kevin Love is one of the best players at his position and in the NBA. Yet, this year’s NBA Finals did not show that. The reason Love was seen struggling instead of succeeding was due to the tough matchup the Golden State Warriors brought.

There is no question that Love had a role coaster-type of series versus the Warriors. Still, leading up to the championship series he was a major reason why Cleveland was not only winning, but winning very impressively. Last night in game seven, Love displayed the level of play that the Cleveland Cavaliers needed and expects out of him.

In 30 minutes, Love had nine points and 14 rebounds. It would have been nice to see Love at least double his scoring input, but due to his poor shooting (3-9 FG and 0-3 from 3 PT) such a goal was unrealistic.

Still, Love helped the Cleveland Cavaliers in more ways than just what is seen in the stat book. Second chance possessions, ability to space the defense, and moving without the ball are just a few of the ways Love added to Cleveland’s success.

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Watching Love having to miss a game due to concussion in the 2016 NBA Finals was difficult to watch because I knew how bad he wanted to be out on the basketball court. That injury had to have added fuel to the fire from his desire to play in last year’s finals, which he also missed because of injury.

Yes, Love’s stat line was not the greatest, but with Kyrie Irving and LeBron James handling the basketball and getting their points, there was not much else Love could do. Love’s game could have been better but the impact he ultimately gave the Cleveland Cavaliers still was exactly what they needed.