Tag Archives: Kevin Love

Cavaliers lose fifth straight game

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Returning home from a six game road trip did not help the Cleveland Cavaliers all that much as they fell to the visiting New York Knicks 106-86.

What is it about the 3rd quarter and the Cleveland Cavaliers? The Cavs have been outscored 176-106 in the 3rd quarter during their five game losing streak. Cleveland’s opponents just seem to have the upper hand when it comes to starting the second half. This has without a doubt contributed to their struggles as of late.

Like many of their recent games, the game was close as the second half started. Unfortunately it did not last as the Knicks outscored the Cavaliers 57-36 in the final two quarters. The only bright spots are that Cleveland only committed 10 turnovers and won the rebounding battle 53-49. Everyone else was pretty much a disaster.

Rough shooting night for Darius Garland and Collin Sexton

Rough is right. Darius Garland and Collin Sexton combined to go 10-40 from the field and only made two of 10 three-point attempts. When Garland and Sexton are taking nearly half the shots and missing 75% of them that is a problem. Sexton led all Cavaliers scorers with 17 points. This just shows how poorly this game went for everyone involved.

Kevin Love and Cedi Osman also struggled

Things were not that much better for Kevin Love and Cedi Osman. Kevin Love made four of his 10 three-pointers, but missed his four two-pointers. Cedi Osman also made four threes on six attempts, but went 1-7 on his other field goal attempts. Kevin Love at least grabbed nine rebounds to give the illusion of a respectable performance.

Tristan Thompson grabs 20 rebounds

Part of the reason Cleveland won the rebounding battle was Tristan Thompson being an absolute animal on the boards. Thompson finished with 22 rebounds, including 10 offensive rebounds. Thompson’s 22 rebounds, 10 offensive, and 12 defensive were game-highs, this includes players on the Knicks as well.

Larry Nance Jr. with a double-double off the bench

Larry Nance Jr. was the only other player in the game to finish with double-digit rebounds (10). Nance also scored 12 points on 5-9 from the field (1-4 3PT) and made only one of four free throw attempts. Nance was only one of three bench players to get considerable playing time. Part of that is due to the team letting Alfonzo McKinnie’s contract expire. McKinnie was playing a considerable amount of minutes for the Cavaliers prior to today.

The Cavaliers have two days off to regroup before hosting the Washington Wizards Thursday.

4th quarter collapse leads to Cavaliers loss

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The Chicago Bulls outscored the Cleveland Cavaliers by 17 points in the 4th quarter as they lost their fourth straight road game.

This sounds a bit familiar doesn’t it? A collapse in the second half leading to the Cleveland Cavaliers losing a game on the road. This happened twice in a row in Los Angeles and the Cavs replicated the feat in Chicago Saturday.

Cleveland entered halftime with a 73-56 lead and things appeared to be in control. Even after the 3rd quarter the Cavs still led by 15. Chicago held Cleveland to only 14 points in the final quarter as the Bulls scored 31. Everything that went right for the Cavaliers in the first half went wrong in the second. Turnovers, poor shooting, and the Bulls making shots. While some players on the team may know how to win, the team on the whole does not.

Kevin Love, Collin Sexton, Darius Garland lead starters in first half, struggle in second

Kevin Love started out hot, but cooled off in the second half. 23 of Love’s 29 points came in the first half. Love went 10-20 shooting (4-8 3PT) and made all four free throw attempts. Love’s cold spell certainly led to the scoring drought that Cleveland experienced, but he is not the only one to blame.

Collin Sexton also started out hot and finished rather unspectacular. Sexton was taking and making shots and not forcing things in the first half. 17 of Sexton’s 26 points came in the first half. Like Love, his struggles did not help matters later in the game.

Darius Garland scored 13 of his 16 points in the first half, but the story with Garland is turnovers. Garland turned the ball over eight times in the game. This was twice as much as any other player on the Cavs. Garland did finish with five assists, but those eight turnovers are definitely concerning. This appears to be more of an outlier when looking at his performance in January (3.2 turnovers per game).

The Cleveland Cavaliers will return home Monday to take on the New York Knicks at 5:00 P.M.

Cavaliers need to evaluate their roster

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The Cleveland Cavaliers need to evalute their roster and decide which direction to go in as the NBA trade deadline approaches.

The Cleveland Cavaliers are near the bottom of the Eastern Conference. They are not a competitive team and have a lot of thinking to do when it comes to their roster. The Cavs front office needs to figure out if they are closer to or further from competing. Here’s some free advice for Cleveland, they are further from. The back-to-back blowouts in Los Angeles certainly prove that.

Cleveland has some young pieces they can build around. Collin Sexton, Darius Garland, and Kevin Porter Jr. These players look to be the foundation for the Cavaliers moving forward. Build around this trio and find some young bigs to compliment their abilities.

Dante Exum is a player who might be able to carve out a bench role for the Cavs. Exum is under contract until the 2020-21 season, seeing what they have in Exum is definitely worth the time while they hang out in the basement of the Eastern Conference.

There is also the unknown about Dylan Windler. Windler will miss the entire season due to injury. Windler should be able to contribute next season and help the Cavaliers win a few more games.

There are also players who do not look to be integral to their longterm future. Kevin Love, Tristan Thompson, John Henson, and Brandon Knight. By the time the group of younger players on the team reach their potential, it is highly unlikely that these veteran players will be playing at the same level.

This is not a quick retool in Cleveland. This is going to be a long process. Growth that will take some time and come in a gradual manner. The team lacks depth and the near certain departure of veteran players will draw the process out longe and that is fine. It is about the big picture and not immediate dividends. Properly evaluating the roster will be crucial to their longterm success.

Second half collapse leads to Cavaliers loss

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The Cleveland Cavaliers were outscored by 30 points in the second half which led a blowout loss to the Lakers in Los Angeles.

The Cleveland Cavaliers kept things close in the first half, they even held a one-point lead. Unfortunately, this did not last. The Los Angeles Lakers predictably went on a run in the second half. Cleveland was outscored by 30 over the final two quarters, leading to their blowout loss.

The Cavaliers lost the turnover battle yet again (20-9). Cleveland continues to be on the worst teams in the league when it comes to turnovers. Their 16.4 turnovers per game are second-most in the league.

Bench scoring was also a major factor. Cleveland finished with only 14 points from their bench players. 21 of the Lakers 60 bench points came from just Dwight Howard. The depth of Los Angeles clearly had the advantage.

Cavs starters score in double-digits, but not enough to keep the second half competitive

Kevin Love (21), Cedi Osman (15), Tristan Thompson (17), Collin Sexton (16), and Darius Garland (16) all had productive scoring efforts. Some were more efficient than others.

  • Kevin Love: 7-17 FG, 1-4 3PT, 6-6 FT
  • Cedi Osman: 5-12 FG, 4-6 3P, 1-1 FT
  • Tristan Thompson: 8-11 FG, 1-2 FT
  • Collin Sexton: 6-16 FG, 0-2 3PT, 4-4 FT
  • Darius Garland: 7-13 FG, 2-6 3PT

Collin Sexton continues to struggle with consistency. It seems like a frequent occurrence that he misses at or near 10 shots a game. Cedi Osman’s night was only saved by making four shots from deep.

Cleveland continues their road trip Tuesday

Monday’s loss to the Lakers was the third game of the Cavaliers six game road trip. Cleveland came out victorious in their first two games against the Pistons and Nuggets. Game four will be in the same building as game three. This time their opponent is the Los Angeles Clippers. Tipoff is at 10:30 P.M.

Cavaliers top Nuggets in Denver

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The Cleveland Cavaliers managed to defeat the Denver Nuggets by a score of 111-103, winning their second consecutive road game.

This road trip for the Cleveland Cavaliers is off to a great start. After slugging out a win in Detroit, Cleveland took down the Nuggets in Denver 111-103.

The Cavaliers led for the majority of the game, the first time they trailed was in the 4th quarter with 4:46 to play. At that point Denver took a one-point lead which did not last long. Cleveland managed to to go on an 18-7 run to close things out and come away with a victory.

Three Cavs starters finish with double-doubles

Kevin Love, Cedi Osman, and Trsitan Thompson all had a double-double. This was expected from Love and Thompson, but not Osman. Osman can certainly be hit or miss when it comes to just about everything. Saturday was night was apparently more of a hit for Cedi than anything. Osman grabbed 12 rebounds and went 4-8 from the field (2-4 3PT) while making his lone free throw attempt.

Kevin Love had a rough night when it came shooting from deep, only making two of his nine attempts. Love did manage to go 5-9 with his two-point attempts. Love also had 12 rebounds and four assists.

The difference between Tristan Thompson’s double-double and the double-doubles from Love and Osman are that Thompson had offensive rebounds. Love and Osman only have defensive rebounds. Thompson had seven offensive rebounds (13 total) and 18 points.

Sexton and Garland put together an impressive performance

Collin Sexton led the Cavaliers in scoring with 25 points on 9-18 from the field (4-7 3PT) and 3-4 from the free throw line. Efficiency still seems to be an issue for Sexton. Sexton is still young and can improve upon this particular area of his game.

Darius Garland led the Cavs in assists with eight. Garland has become the clear point guard for the Cavs with Sexton shifting to the shooting guard position. Garland is averaging 5.8 assists per game in January. This is much improved upon his previous monthly averages (3.5 in October, 3 in November, 2.7 in December). Garland did more than just set up his teammates, he also scored 18 points (8-16 FG, 2-9 3PT). Not the best shooting night for the rookie point guard. Like Sexton, his shooting should improve, but as long as he racks up assists it is a bit more forgivable.

Cleveland continues their road trip on Monday in Los Angeles as they take on their old friend LeBron James and the Lakers.

Cavaliers unable to hold on against Pistons

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Kevin Love’s game-high 30 points were not enough for the Cleveland Cavaliers as they are edged out by the Detroit Pistons 115-113.

With 0.4 seconds left on the clock, the Cavaliers had a chance to win. Unfortunately the halfcourt lob from Kevin Love to Tristan Thompson was not meant to be and Cleveland fell 115-113 at home. Cleveland lost all four games of this home stand.

The Cavaliers entered the 4th with an 11 point lead but struggled in the final quarter. Detroit outscored Cleveland 31-18 in the 4th, which led to the Cavs loss.

Kevin Love led all scorers in the game with 30 points on 12-15 from the floor. Love made 4-6 attempts from behind the three-point line and made both free throw attempts. Even with this excellent scoring effort, Love did not attempt a field goal in crunch time. This is part of the reason why Love has been frustrated this season. In the closing moments of the game the Cavs needed someone to score and Love was hotter than hot. He was the perfect person to take a shot with time winding down. Kevin Love’s final shot attempt came with 2:57 left in the game to give Cleveland a 111-105 lead.

Collin Sexton did not have his best game. Sexton’s scoring again came with a lack of efficiency. Sexton went made seven of 19 attempts, including one of three shots from deep. Sexton was efficient from the line as always, but his shooting from the field continues to be sub-par. Collin Sexton had the Cavaliers final legitimate field goal attempt in the game. He missed, leading to a shot clock violation and a turnover.

Speaking of turnovers, Cleveland was on the wrong side of the turnover margin yet again. The Cavs turned the ball over 18 times compared to only nine for the Pistons. This is just a recurring theme that is not going to go away.

The Cavaliers begin a six game road trip starting Thursday in Detroit.

Kevin Love apologizes for actions on court

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Kevin Love has taken the time to apologize for his actions on the court when the Cleveland Cavaliers hosted the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Kevin Love had a highly publicized outburst against the Oklahoma City Thunder this past weekend. Everywhere you looked that is all that would pop up. Kevin Love absolutely losing it while Collin Sexton dribbled the ball just beyond the halfcourt line. Go ahead, search twitter right now. The first thing that pops up is this video.

It’s going to take a minute for that video to go away.

Love took the time to apologize for what happened against Oklahoma City.

A previous incident in Toronto also made the rounds.

Love took the the time to apologize for this incident as well.

This is definitely a good step moving forward. Tensions have been high for quite some time. At least Love is able to recognize his fault in this.

This should help Kevin Love recoup some of his trade value. Love’s trade value was not necessarily the highest to begin with, these outbursts have not helped matters. While his value may not get back to where it was, it is at least better than rock bottom.

There is a right time and wrong time to vent frustration. On a basketball court with thousands of people with cameras is certainly not it.

Moving forward, Love needs to make sure another outburst like this does not occur. It impacts the morale of his current teammates and it tanks his value in the event the Cavaliers look to trade him.

Kevin Love expected to return against Pistons

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Cleveland Cavaliers forward Kevin Love is expected to return to the lineup for Tuesday’s game against the Detroit Pistons.

Kevin Love was held out of Sunday’s loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves. A game which saw an outstanding performance from Dante Exum and an injury to Kevin Porter Jr. This was preplanned and not a direct result of his outburst the night before. Resting Love was something that was discussed prior to the beginning of the season. Love is expected to return to the lineup at home against Detroit.

Adding Kevin Love back to the starting rotation should help them offensively. The Cavaliers are going to need some help scoring points since they are going to be without Kevin Porter Jr. for two weeks. There is still the question about his effort on defense. Love often has taken plays off or completely ignored his assignment to vent his frustration.

Kevin Love has appeared in 30 games this season. Love is averaging 16.4 points, 10.3 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game this season. Scoring wise, Love has the second-highest total for the Cavaliers. Cleveland’s leading scorer is Collin Sexton with 18.5 points per game. Love is tied for the team lead in rebounds with Tristan Thompson. He also ranks second in assists which speaks more about the Cavaliers poor performance than his ability as a distributor. Although, Kevin Love is an excellent passing big man.

How long Kevin Love remains in Cleveland is questionable. Love wants to be traded to a contender and the Cavaliers are far from that. Trading Love may be a bit difficult considering the latest series of events. The return for Cleveland’s best player may not be what it could have if the team traded him earlier.

Things are not going well for Kevin Love & Cavs

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What in the world is going on with Kevin Love? If you’ve been paying any attention to the Cleveland Cavaliers this season you can tell he is frustrated. The offense is not as fluid as it could be and the effort on defense is lacking. This has led to multiple incidents where Love has displayed some level of frustration while on the court. Things appeared to reach a whole new level Saturday against the Thunder. 

Is this the fault of Collin Sexton or John Beilein? Probably a little bit or both. It would be nice to see Sexton get closer to the hoop. Either way it is unacceptable for Kevin Love to act in this manner during the game.  This was not the first time that Kevin Love has acted out during a game.

Add in Love’s Instagram post from earlier in the day and things do not look better for him. 

https://twitter.com/EverythingCLE_/status/1213548089983807488?s=20

Love would later post on Instagram saying that he loves his teammates. This makes his earlier post as a shot at the Cavaliers organization and not necessarily his teammates. 

There is also the story that appeared in The Athletic, detaining some issues between Love and Koby Altman. Highlighted is a fine for $1,000 for his actions in late-December. I don’t know many players who are happy with teams that fine them, even if it is technically the right course of action.  

The Cavaliers are not without blame here. They didn’t realize that the being without LeBron James heading into the 2018-19 season would have this drastic of an impact on the team. They felt they could still complete and that was a selling point of sorts to Kevin Love when he signed his extension prior to that season. 

There is no denying that the Cavaliers have massively underachieved since Kevin Love signed his extension. The team wasn’t great, but they were better than one of the worst teams in the league. This version of the team is extremely young and far from good, but there appears to be some building blocks. Love didn’t sign up for building blocks or foundation building. He signed up to remain competitive, something that has not happened in Cleveland post-LeBron. 

Would things be different if Kevin Love didn’t get hurt four games into 2018? Possibly. His injury has a major impact on the team and eventually led to the trades of George Hill, Kyle Korver and Rodney Hood. Would that team make the playoffs if Love stayed healthy all year? Maybe, maybe not. 

Did the Cavaliers sell Kevin Love on something that wasn’t really possible? It certainly seems like it. In the end he didn’t have to sign that contract, but when offered that much money it is hard to pass up. Love has every right to be frustrated. That doesn’t mean he gets a pass for his actions. Love needs to know better and not act in this manner on the court. 

The Cleveland Cavaliers should look to resolve this matter as soon as possible and consider trading Kevin Love sooner rather than later.

Cavaliers: Love & Thompson on the move?

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Will the Cleveland Cavaliers trade veteran big men Kevin Love and Tristan Thompson to a contender before the trade deadline?

The NBA trade deadline is February 7th. The Cleveland Cavaliers are going nowhere fast and have players that could interest contending teams in Kevin Love and Tristan Thompson.

Even with Kevin Love and Tristan Thompson the Cavaliers are not a good team. Cleveland has one of the worst records in all of basketball. It is not like the presence of either is helping them win games on a consistent basis. If Cleveland can get something in return for either player they should definitely explore those options.

Kevin Love has the ability to space the floor on offense and sees the floor well for a big. The issues with Love are on the defensive end of the floor. To be blunt, Love is a liability defensively. He is just unable to keep up with some of the quicker and more agile players that are growing in number in the modern NBA. A team that is already solid defensively and can hide his flaws could do so just for his abilities on offense. On the other hand, a team that is not great defensively could expose his flaws even more so.

Tristan Thompson could draw some interest due to his ability as an aggressive rebounder. Thompson is proficient on both ends of the floor when it comes to rebounding and is able to keep possessions alive for multiple shot attempts. Thompson may be appealing to a larger group of teams because of his defensive ability and steadiness on the offensive end, he knows what he is capable of and won’t go out of his comfort zone. Tristan Thompson will live on offensive rebounds, dunks, put backs, and getting fouled close to the basket. This is valuable to a team with championship aspirations.

The Cleveland Cavaliers are in team building, long term, big picture mode. It is extremely unlikely that Kevin Love and Tristan Thompson will be on the team when they are good again. It is also unlikely that they are anywhere near the level of player they are now when that time comes. Contending teams will come calling. They will probably offer draft capital in one way or another. It would be wise to seriously consider trading one or both players. Look towards the future, do not reminisce about the good times in the past.