LeBron James: Kevin Love is passing up shots, might lack confidence

The Cleveland Cavaliers have finally come alive with 11 consecutive victories, but Kevin Love is still struggling offensively. Love is shooting just 42 percent from the floor, which is the worst mark of his career aside from two seasons ago when he appeared in just 18 games. He is hitting just 33 percent of his shots from 3-point range.

During Cleveland’s current 11-game win streak, Love has hit 37 percent of his field goals. LeBron James thinks Love might have a confidence issue.

“I think Kev had some shots that he passed up on,” James said, per Dave McMenamin of ESPN.com. “Maybe he felt that he just wasn’t in a good rhythm, but I know I hit him with a few [potential] shots after the first quarter where he had some good looks when he decided to swing-swing [with a pass], which is OK, it kept the ball moving.

“So, I think for Kev, I think his confidence maybe shooting the ball is a little down, but for me as a player, I get him good looks. I want him to shoot the ball and he needs to shoot it with confidence.”

Love hit just 1-of-7 shots in the first quarter against the Philadelphia 76ers on Monday night. He did not attempt a shot after that, but he disagrees with with LeBron’s assessment.

“Maybe one look, but it was more so on a swing-swing to [Matthew Dellavedova],” Love said. “I think a guy was closing out on me and I hit Delly and Delly didn’t end up shooting it. But, no, I think I had some good looks in the first quarter — a couple tip-ins that I missed; [Timofey Mozgov] and I both went for the lob, I thought I had my hand on it, and missed that one. But, you know, getting good looks there. Not for lack of confidence, no.”

Love also noted that he felt his performance was solid on the defensive end and that he is doing a lot of things that don’t show up on the stat sheet. He did, however, return to the court after the game to work on his shooting.

“I just wanted to get some extra shots up,” Love explained. “I was either going to go do that or lift after the game, and just went and got them up.”

Fortunately, the Cavs are winning lots of games. Love has already acknowledged that is having some issues adjusting to Cleveland’s offense. If the team was losing, things would probably be getting tense with him.