As the Cleveland Cavaliers made a big comeback in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Finals on Monday before falling to the Toronto Raptors 105-99, Kevin Love was nowhere to be found.
The Cavaliers forward did not play any minutes in the fourth quarter and finished with 10 points and seven rebounds in 31 minutes. Was Love benched because of an injury? Because he wasn’t playing well? Or simply because the lineup change seemed to be working for the Cavaliers? Head coach Tyronn Lue indicated after the game it was the latter.
“I’m not sure of his health, but it’s no concern. I thought Channing (Frye) came in and gave us a great lift when we were down. And like last game, to try to put Kevin back in with four minutes to go in the fourth quarter in a hostile game, hostile environment, would not have been fair to him. Channing gave us a great lift off the bench and we kind of just rolled with it,” Lue said.
The question about Love’s health was an allusion to the forward seemingly hurting his knee/leg while inadvertently stepping on a referee at the end of the third quarter:
Love was later seen grabbing his knee as well.
Like Lue said, Frye played well. He went 4-for-8 on threes for 12 points and six rebounds in 21 minutes. But you have to wonder based on the way Love was acting on the bench whether or not he genuinely was injured. Though, after what he said about Kyrie Irving’s chest after Game 3, Lue could very well be telling the truth.
