The Cleveland Cavaliers are expected to be without Kevin Love for at least two weeks after he dislocated his shoulder in a loose-ball scrap with Boston Celtics forward Kelly Olynyk.
With just under five-and-a-half minutes remaining in the first quarter, Celtics player Jae Crowder attempted a three-pointer when the ball ricocheted off the rim and landed in an open area.
In competing to grab the loose ball, the arms of Love and Olynyk became tangled, which resulted in Love’s left shoulder popping out.
Immediately, Love knew there was an issue and ran straight up the tunnel towards the locker room, while Olynyk was issued with a personal foul.
In a post-game interview, Love expressed his disgust about the incident.
“It’s just too bad he (Olynyk) would go to those lengths to take somebody out of the game,” Love said.
“I have no doubt in my mind that he did that on purpose.”
In an interview with the Boston Globe, Olynyk provided his side of the story.
“We were obviously fighting for the rebound. He grabbed my arm first. He clamped me and I clamped him back and we were wrestling for the ball,” Olynyk said.
“I’d probably get killed if I went to Cleveland right now”, he added.
Love missed seven games during the regular season, with the Cavaliers achieving a record of 3-4 without him. One of them was a 15-point loss to Chicago, who Cleveland are likely to meet in the next round.
An integral part of the squad, Love had been performing solidly for the Cavaliers, averaging 18.3 points and 9 rebounds per game, in just over 100 minutes of court-time during the first three playoff victories.
Early reports suggested Love could return within two weeks, however under further evaluation in Cleveland, Love has been ruled out of the entire Eastern Conference semi-finals.
Additionally, J.R. Smith will miss the first two games of the next playoff series, following a distasteful punch that connected with the face of Crowder in a separate incident.
While both competing for a rebound, Smith reacted poorly to a push in the back from Crowder, which prompted Smith to violently swing his arm around and collect Crowder.
Smith was issued with a flagrant two foul and ejection, while Crowder was carried off the court with a suspected knee injury.
The absence of both Love and Smith will stretch an already shallow bench. Tristan Thompson is likely to replace Love, while you’d imagine former New York Knicks guard Iman Shumpert will take the place of Smith in the starting line-up.
In the end, Cleveland was still able to complete a comfortable 4-0 series sweep against Boston, with a 101-93 victory on Monday.
Greg Taz
Guest
Advantage back to Lebron and the Cavs after game 2. I didn't watch but it looks like LBJ dominated the inconsistent Bulls. Cavs had to win. Bring on game 3.
Joe
Guest
Cleveland looked kinda lethargic in Game 1 last night. The other thing I noticed was the refs really 'let em play',a combined 35 FT attempts for the whole game. If they call it like that its a huge advantage for the Bulls. Prediction for Game 2 Wednesday night is we see Joey Crawford refereeing,ive seen it many times over the years in situations like this. So if Joey is out there expect the Cavs to get to the line a lot more often.
Greg Taz
Guest
Joe agree on vs the west. Warriors must be keen now with Spurs and Klove out. Fair enough on the east we can agree to disagree. The Bulls/ato/wiz don't exactly I still confidence. Game one played out very much the way I thought it would. Let's see if lebron and blatt can respond.
Squidward
Roar Rookie
NBA website says he's had surgery and will be out for 4-6 months. Season over :(
Squidward
Roar Rookie
My disagreement was Lebron is the only indispensable member. I think they can't win with Irving if he was to go down. And even mosgov after KI. But I agree they they can easily win the East with out Love and possibly still the whole shebang too
Joe
Guest
Your comment is agreeing with me then.I stated in my first comment Mosgov is far more valuable to the Cavs then Love is. And you're saying Cleveland will beat Atlanta or Chicago (maybe Washington if they advance),so you're basically saying that Love is not that important if you believe that Cleveland is going to advance to the Finals regardless of his injury. Thats my point in this whole situation,fans/media overreact to player injuries,especially in the NFL. The reality is,theres only a very small percentage of players who can affect a teams chances of winning or losing a game by being unavailable. And Kevin Love isnt in that very small group of elite players that can affect a teams chances of winning a game &/or championship. Cleveland will be just fine without him.
Squidward
Roar Rookie
We sure will and as a long time Cavs fan I hope they don't miss a beat. I think it'll hurt them but could still prob take Chicago and Atlanta 4-1 4-2 anyway without him. Mosgov prob would be a bigger loss to them at this stage
Joe
Guest
Ok so you disagree.Thats fine.Good thing is we'll find out over the next few weeks who's assessment is correct. Im the only one here who says Cleveland will continue on just fine without Kevin Love. Everyone else seems to think Love is a massive loss that is going to cost Cleveland bigtime,& they won't be able to overcome it. We will get an answer by the end of May when the Eastern Conference finals are close to ending.
Squidward
Roar Rookie
Cleveland actually had a tough time when Irving was the only player injured. So I have to disagree with joe
Joe
Guest
Greg im not saying Love isn't a good player,he is very good.But there's plenty of very good players in the NBA. My point is theres only a handful of great players in the NBA that if they went down it legitimately reduces their teams chances to compete for a title. Kevin Love isn't in that 'great' category where a team can't survive without him on the court. It may affect the Cavs offense slightly,but their defense will improve With or without Kevin Love the Cavs will still win the East. In the finals vs a team from the West,I don't know if with or without Kevin Love the Cavs would win anyway. The teams from the West are superior to anything in the East. I guess we'll get a definitive answer & find out over the next few weeks how much Cleveland misses Kevin Love.
Greg Taz
Guest
Arrghh Joe. I agree Lebron James is indispensable. Hell, he is the best player in the world. But he can't win it on his own. Look at last years Finals. He killed it and they got smacked. Look at his first term with Cavs. He did everything and couldn't drag that sorry team over the hump. As good as he is, he will struggle to beat good teams with his jump shooting. We all know his strength is putting his head down and rampaging to the basket. Gasol and Noah will get in his way at the top and the middle of the key to try and stop his drives.
Nathan Farebrother
Roar Guru
Couldn't agree more.
Nathan Farebrother
Roar Guru
With Love (out for the series) and Smith (out for two games), Cleveland doesn't have a bench. They have a front court that's even more shallow than it was before. Thompson comes in for Love but can't shoot threes, which means it's that much harder for James and Irving to drive against both Gasol and Noah (known for defence), if the Cavs are to play Chicago. Thompson sits at the ring, whilst Love sits at the three-point line, like Greg Taz said above, which will draw Noah out of the lane. Love is the Cavaliers fast-break, regularly providing full-court outlet passes to James. It may be hard to believe, but a lot of what James does has revolved around how Love plays. Love is an extra threat, bigger than Thompson. Before Love's injury, the Cavs had the luxury to bring on Thompson, like a Taj Gibson from Chicago, but now they don't have that. It will affect Cleveland's chances. It's just become that much harder for them.
Joe
Guest
It makes no difference.Kevin Love playing or not playing won't affect Cleveland's chances of winning the East or the NBA championship. LeBron is the only part of the team who is indispensable
Greg Taz
Guest
I disagree. It isnt the defence or the box score that will hurt the cavs. It is his mere presence in offence and where he would have been placed. Thompson will stand near the ring and bring his defender Gibson and gasol with him. This means noah has another body to clog the lane and defend the irving and lbj drives and more defensive rebounding. With klove on the floor, gibson gasol will be pulled away from the basket. This doesnt even take into consideration the value of his scoring as a threat d option if lbj and irving are struggling. Whilst mozgov is good he isnt a klove fix. this won't mean the cavs will lose especially considering the opposition they will face but it will be so much harder.
joe
Guest
Losing Love isn't that big a deal.His numbers will be made up by other players who get more minutes per game now he's out.Its not like Love is a defensive presence either,so the Cavs arent losing a guy who contributed much on that end. Mosgov was a much better acquisition for Cleveland & im guessing had they acquired Mosgov before love they'd never have traded Wiggins away. But thats all 'what ifs' now.They acquired Love,lost Wiggins & Love will be out of Cleveland at the end of this season
Greg Taz
Guest
There was little doubt the cavs would sweep the celts regardless of the celts late season form. The celts are near listless and did great just to get in the playoffs. They will be better in the future especially with a war chest of draft picks. This is the first article I have read with olynyk comment. The cavs fans have their claws out for him saying he meant to dislocate loves shoulder. Love is very unlucky. Maybe the mailman could help him work on those skinny arms and shoulders? If Chicago weren't so inconsistent I would be confident they could knock the cavs off now but can they even beat the bucks? It would be a different story if the cavs were in the west.