Cleveland Cavaliers: LeBron James’ Absence An Opportunity For Kevin Love
By Austin Remo
Now that the Cleveland Cavaliers will be without their best player in LeBron James for the next two weeks, coach David Blatt and his players will have their work cut out for them to keep the ship afloat. The real question to ask here is who is going to step up for the Cavs in the absence of the King?
Playing in the weaker Eastern Conference, the Cavs are coming up on a crucial five-game road trip out West, all games James is likely to miss.
They’ll be squaring off against the likes of the Golden State Warriors, Phoenix Suns and Los Angeles Clippers on their road trip. Although he may be ready for the Clippers on Jan. 16, a day after his scheduled two-week timetable, he will also be out for games at home Sunday against the Dallas Mavericks and the Houston Rockets on Wednesday.
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Cleveland now sits at 19-14 after a strong defensive outing against the struggling Charlotte Hornets on Friday night on the road, pulling out the 91-87 victory. It snapped a three-game losing streak, the last two without James.
WHO WILL STEP UP FOR CAVS?
Not only should this question have an easy answer, but it’s the only answer there should be for David Blatt and the depleted Cavaliers.
Kevin Love has to step in and take control in the offense, as he’s done so many times in the past, albeit for a losing Minnesota Timberwolves squad.
And what did he do Friday night to show he’s ready to take charge and fill the void in the offense? He put up 27 points on an efficient 9-of-15 from the field and 3-of-4 from deep, adding five rebounds in the victory.
Not only did he lead the Cavs in scoring, he was called on in clutch time by David Blatt when they desperately needed a basket.
Catch the highlights from his game below, including his nasty turnaround jumper with only four seconds on the shot clock and less than 30 seconds to go in the game.
Cleveland was trailing nearly the entire game when Love caught fire from distance in the third quarter after a brief injury scare.
He came out after the timeout to knock down three straight threes, putting the Cavs up 51-50 at the time.
Another great sign about Friday’s game was his scoring inside the painted area and around the block, something he’ll have to continue doing, as well as Blatt, to get him going and get him into his rhythm.
With LeBron James on the court, Love has mostly been working as a spot-up shooter, taking long jumpers outside the paint and from the three-point line.
In 11 of the 29 games Love and James have played together this season, Love has taken six or more threes in a game. In two of those 11 games, he hoisted nine shots from the three-point line.
Last season with the Timberwolves, 55 percent of Love’s shots came from behind the arc. This season with Cleveland through 33 games, he’s taking 58 percent of his shots from behind the arc.
Obviously last year he was the main offensive threat and the No. 1 option where he was relied upon heavily to keep Rick Adelman‘s group in every game, perhaps taking a number of those threes to play catch-up or when he was forced into a bad shot.
However, this year in a stacked offense, Love should not have to keep taking as many threes as he has been.He actually leads Cleveland this year in three-point attempts with 150, compared to Kyrie Irving‘s 142 and James’ 130.
Blatt should make it an obligation to get his All-Star forward touches down low and around the paint, the areas where he’s made most of his living.
With the absence of LeBron James, he’ll have the opportunity to do so.
Going back to the win over Charlotte, Love took only four of his 15 shots from deep, and went to the free throw line ten times.
As you can see in the video above, he was mixing it up inside and using his footwork and craftiness to get high percentage shots in the restricted area.
For the duration of James’ injury, expect to see more stat lines like Friday’s for Kevin Love. More touches deep, getting to the free throw line, all which should lead to his growing confidence and knowing his role in David Blatt’s offense.
When a future Hall-of-Famer such as James goes down, it’s never a good thing for your team. Luckily for Cleveland, they still have Love and Irving to pick up the slack in the wake of his injuries.
And make no mistake, Love has to, and will, step up for Cleveland and become the main beneficiary with the King sidelined. It will no doubt give him the ability to find himself in Blatt’s offense, and make him that much more important once the team is at full health.
All stats via Basketball-Reference and NBA.com.