The Cleveland Cavaliers will be without Kevin Love in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals on Sunday, and they are hoping Jeff Green can be the one to pick up most of the slack.
Cavs head coach Ty Lue told reporters at Sunday morning’s shootaround that Green will start in place of Love, who is out with a concussion.
From Cavs shootaround: Jeff Green will get the start in Kevin Love’s place for Game 7, in the hopes of giving Cleveland the defensive versatility they showed in Game 6. As for LeBron, he’ll play his 100th game of the season tonight pic.twitter.com/xz4rqJ3D0a
Green had his best game of the series and arguably the entire postseason in Game 6, as he scored 14 points and blocked two shots. Brad Stevens and the Boston Celtics will have had more time to prepare for facing him heading into Sunday’s game, but Cleveland will likely need Green to be equally effective in order to win on the road.
Love ended up in the NBA’s concussion protocol after a nasty collision with Jayson Tatum on Friday night. He has averaged 12.5 points and 9.8 rebounds per game during the series.
This can’t be considered a huge surprise considering the circumstances that Love is dealing with. The Cavaliers had been playing it safe, but given the nature of the injury and the short turnaround, there was nothing they could have done. The onus will be on LeBron James to win a road game for the first time in the series if the Cavaliers want to play in their fourth consecutive NBA Finals.
The Cleveland Cavaliers offered little clarity on Kevin Love’s status for Game 7 on Saturday.
The Cavaliers announced that Love remains in the NBA’s concussion protocol, and there’s no word on whether he’ll be able to play in Sunday’s Game 7 with a trip to the NBA Finals on the line.
#Cavs F Kevin Love placed in concussion protocol, status for Game 7 vs. #Celtics still not known.
As a reminder, Love has a number of steps to clear before he can be allowed to play.
Now that Kevin Love is officially in the NBA’s concussion protocol, here are the steps he would have to pass to be cleared to play again: pic.twitter.com/mAde9ZzXHG
The Cleveland Cavaliers forced a Game 7 in their Eastern Conference Finals series against the Boston Celtics on Friday night, but it sounds like All-Star big man Kevin Love will be very much questionable for that deciding contest.
Love, who was injured in the first quarter on a collision with Jayson Tatum and did not return to the game, told Jason Lloyd of The Athletic afterwards that he was a “toss-up” for Sunday’s Game 7 in Boston. Lloyd also noted that Love will have more tests to pass before he receives any clearance.
Saw Kevin Love on his way out of the arena. Sounds like we'll have more answers tomorrow. He has more tests to pass before he can be cleared to play. As for his status for Sunday: "Toss-up," he said.
The Cavs were mostly tight-lipped about Love’s status during the game, but the concern here is that he may have suffered a concussion. Jeff Green and Larry Nance Jr helped picked up the slack for Love for the rest of Game 6 (on top of another superhuman performance by LeBron James, of course). But it remains to be seen how well-equipped the already-thin Cavs will be if the star big man is out for Sunday’s Game 7 as well.
Kevin Love has been declared out for the remainder of Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals on Friday night after hitting his head in a collision with Jayson Tatum.
Love checked out with just under seven minutes to go in the first quarter. He had run into Tatum and appeared to hit his head on the Boston Celtics forward’s head/shoulder. Love went down immediately and called to the bench to be subbed out.
Oh no. Kevin Love looks pretty banged up after bumping heads with Jayson Tatum… pic.twitter.com/b7OXcJc67m
Love had four rebounds in five minutes prior to leaving the game.
Love was taken into the locker room for evaluation. At halftime word emerged that he would be out for the rest of the game as he was evaluated for a concussion.
If Love does get diagnosed with a concussion, it would be tough for him to be cleared from the league’s concussion protocol in time for a potential Game 7.
According to NBC Sports Boston, a player needs the following to be cleared from concussion protocol:
– He is without concussion-related symptoms at rest.
– He has been evaluated by a physician.
– He has successfully completed the NBA return-to-participation exertion protocol.
– A team physician has discussed the return-to-participation process and decision with the Director of the NBA concussion program, Dr. Jeffrey Kutcher.
Kevin Love’s performance in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Finals on Monday night earned him high marks from even LeBron James’ daughter.
According to Cleveland.com’s Hayden Grove, LeBron was on FaceTime with his daughter in the Cavs’ locker room after Game 4. Zhuri, who is 3.5 years old, asked to speak with Love to congratulate him.
Great scene in Cavs locker room. LeBron was FaceTiming his daughter, Zhuri. She asked to see Kevin Love. Someone brought the phone over to Kevin and she said “good game!”
Kevin responded, “Not me, that was your Dad.” #Cavs
Love shot just 3-for-12 with 9 points and six turnovers, though he did have 11 rebounds. As if his Cleveland Cavaliers getting the 111-102 win over Boston weren’t enough to make him feel good, the love from Zhuri had to push things over the top.
Kevin Love exited Friday night’s Cleveland Cavaliers-Indiana Pacers playoff game after taking an elbow to the face.
Love was down low to fight for a rebound following a LeBron James missed jumper early in the third quarter. He got caught in the face by an inadvertent elbow from Myles Turner and went down to the floor.
Love’s Cavs were down 62-47 in Game 6 of the series at the time that he got hurt. Love remained on the floor but missed two possessions entirely and then was kind of a non-factor for another two possessions — though he grabbed one rebound — before there was finally a timeout called to get Love out of the game.
Tristan Thompson entered the game for Love to get some rare minutes in the series. Love had seven points and seven rebounds in 20 minutes before exiting the game.
Cleveland Cavaliers head coach Ty Lue expects Kevin Love to play in Game 3 of their playoff series with the Indiana Pacers despite an injury scare late in Game 2.
Love jammed his thumb while reaching for a steal in the fourth quarter of the Cavs’ Game 2 win. He left for the bench and was examined and then taped up.
Love injuring his thumb seemed more concerning because he previously missed time this year due to a broken bone in the same hand. But Lue said after Game 2 that Love just has a jammed thumb and will be fine for Game 3.
Ty Lue says that Kevin Love is good to play in Game 3. Just had a jammed thumb. He didn’t go back in the game because Lue liked the flow of the team he had on the floor. https://t.co/NWOPYnybp5
Kevin Love left Game 2 of the Cleveland Cavaliers-Indiana Pacers series on Wednesday to have his left thumb examined.
Love was looking to get a steal in the fourth quarter when his left thumb got jammed by the ball. He reacted in immediate pain, and the video shown by TNT appeared to show Love’s thumb being bent awkwardly.
Love went to the bench where his thumb was examined by the Cavs’ medical staff. TNT’s Allie Laforce later said that Love was being tested to see where he was feeling pain and that the Cavs forward would have his hand taped.
Love missed significant time earlier this year with a fracture in his left hand, so seeing him injure the hand again is no doubt frustrating.
Love had 15 points and eight rebounds at the time of his injury. He had made just five of 16 shots.
Love went into the locker room to receive medical attention. The Cavaliers later said that Love suffered a subluxed tooth and was probably to return, which he did in the second quarter.
