Kevin Love might be the quietest $113 million player in NBA history. Strangely aloof off the court, and often anonymous on it, Love – a former MVP candidate and franchise superstar – fades into the scenery with an ease that would be almost artful if it wasn’t so damn disappointing.
Last year I saw two Cleveland Cavaliers games in person. I remember LeBron James’s athletic majesty taking flight, running fast breaks with a presence and intensity that seemed to make the rim cower in frightened anticipation. I remember Kyrie Irving’s wizardry, slithering to the hoop, finessing shots from the mid-range, and performing his special acrobatics at the rim. I remember Dion Waiters going off, in a way that seemed aberrational at the time, but now seems oddly instructive. I even remember wondering what the hell Shawn Marion was doing starting games. But I don’t remember a single thing about Kevin Love.
Since arriving in Ohio, Love has been a distant third banana: the Val Kilmer to LeBron and Kyrie’s De Niro and Pacino in Heat, the Harrison to their Lennon and McCartney (yes, that absolutely makes J.R. Smith Ringo). When Cleveland traded for Love, it was widely assumed that issues of fit would pain Irving much more than him. The heart of this team would be James/Love pick and rolls, with Love’s offensive dynamism unlocking the entire floor for Cleveland. Not so.
More from our Experts
» Queensland will win Origin again and I couldn’t care less
» Russia needs to be banned from Rio
» Return on investment: Franklin makes Swans flag favourites
» Waratahs banking on Rob Horne in midfield
Irving, for better or worse, and usually better, gets his on offence. He’s not a selfless player, but he is a brilliant one, and his talent demands the ball. Love has never been so forthright. He’s become a glorified Ryan Anderson, a spot-up shooter in the corner making $113 million. Last season, the narrative was that the Cavs weren’t utilising Love correctly. The problems have remained this year, however, and at this stage the blame has to at least be split between the Cavs and Love.
For all the antipathy directed in Dwight Howard’s direction for his whining about wanting the ball more, wouldn’t basketball fans appreciate Love more if he moaned just as loudly?
But the real problem with Love is on the other end. Love and Irving are statistically the worst pick and roll defensive tandem in the entire league. Irving is an offensive supernova whose output on that end justifies keeping him on the floor despite his defensive frailties. Pair him with Love, though, and things get dicey. That’s how you lose two games in the playoffs to a team starting Luis Scola and giving not insignificant minutes to James Johnson.
The Cavs are going to beat Toronto and return to the finals. The Raptors may eke out game six at home, but if they do they will only succeed in becoming the first team in NBA history that has literally a zero per cent chance of winning game seven. Whoever Cleveland plays in the finals, Love is going to be run off the court.
If the Warriors pull off the improbable, we’ve seen how their suddenly-not-death-line-up-but-still-a-mortal-wound-line-up has made Love unplayable. Oklahoma City, the likelier opponent, has become a force of destruction by going small, and Love will be left to die against their Durant-at-the-four units. With Andre Roberson unexpectedly becoming a capable pick and roll weapon and cutting to the hoop like he’s peak Dwyane Wade, Love will have nowhere to hide.
The dirty truth that has plagued the Cavs ever since James returned is that their defence is mediocre. After ranking 19th in adjusted defensive rating last year, they finished 10th this season. The only time they found an impactful defensive identity was in last year’s playoffs when, of course, Love was out injured.
Season long rankings can be misleading. Who finished one spot behind the Cavs in defensive rating this year? Oklahoma City, who are currently in the midst of one of the most dominant defensive stretches in recent basketball history. But the blueprint was always there for the Thunder. They’ve had multiple top five defensive rating finishes in the past, and their outrageous speed and length has always implied that a defensive juggernaut was lurking.
The Cavs have no such force lurking, at least not in their present construction. They won’t get to the finals and all of a sudden morph into the Bad Boy Pistons. If they do win the title, it will be because their offence is incandescent.
On that end, Love can help. His game five against the Raptors was his most important game as a Cav. 25 points in 24 minutes on 80 per cent shooting isn’t a bad outing. Love spent the night looking like the player that Cleveland traded for. He hit trailing transition threes, artfully manoeuvred his way to the rim on post-ups to hit baby hooks, nailed face-up jumpers, threw inch-perfect outlet passers, and, most importantly, played with real force and intensity. You knew Kevin Love was out there the entire game: his presence was felt. It feels crazy to mention that as a positive for a three-time All-Star on a $100+ million contract, but these are the times in the Cleveland.
As good as he was in game five, his performance only highlights how bad the rest of his playoffs have been. He’s shooting 38.7 per cent from the floor in the playoffs, and Love, one of the game’s finest artists within the arc, is taking half his shots from deep. He’s averaging 4.4 rebounds per game in the conference finals.
LeBron James can say that he came back to Cleveland because he ‘bled on the streets of Northeast Ohio’ as a child, but that blood was still there when he took his talents to South Beach. The homecoming and the redemption must have factored into his Decision 2.0, but another significant consideration was that James must have seen Cleveland as a place where his load could be lessened by Irving and Love (and yes, he knew Love was coming).
Irving, while inconsistent, has played his part. Love has not. Ironically, Cleveland’s most devastating unit in the playoffs has been one that features neither of James’s Robins. The Cavs have been destroying teams to the tune of an insane 50 points per 100 possessions in the LeBron + bench units that start the second and fourth quarters. Who needs Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love when you’ve got Matthew Dellavedova and Richard Jefferson?
Irving has shown in the past, whether it was game one of the finals or dropping 57 in San Antonio, that he is built for big games. Love is yet to. Barring Drake selling his soul to the devil in return for two Kyle Lowry 60-point games, the Cavs are going to be in the finals. Once they get there, all eyes will be on Kevin Love. But the odds will be stacked against him, and you can’t help but feel that the series will be decided with him off the court. Which begs the question: how much better would the Cavs feel about their title chances if they just had Andrew Wiggins instead?
There will undoubtedly be upset results here and there in the NBA playoffs but there’s an overwhelming sense of fait accompli that Boston will…
https://twitter.com/KatieMox/status/1780695947481174464 https://twitter.com/CWilliamson44/status/1780696642917994703
LeBron James is going back to the Olympics for the first time in 12 years. Steph Curry is headed to the games for the…
The only realistic threat to Boston’s chances of strolling through the Eastern Conference is a team that could still end up in the play-in…
Australian guards Dante Exum and Josh Giddey have both come up big for their NBA clubs in crucial wins in the lead-in to the…
Minnesota Timberwolves fans have endured plenty of pain in their 35 years of being a laughing stock in the NBA. In all that time,…
