LeBron James and Kyrie Irving have kept the Cleveland Cavaliers afloat in the NBA Finals, but in order to dethrone the Golden State Warriors, Kevin Love must do his part.
LeBron says that three-time All-Star—currently mired in a slump with averages of 8.8 points and six rebounds and shooting 37.1% from the field and 28.6% on three-pointers in the title round—has to step up his game.
Cavs head coach Tyronn Lue did, however, compliment the big fella for his work on the defensive end against the Dubs.
Per USA Today:
“We definitely need Kev to play better. We want him to play better,” Cavs star LeBron James said. “But we don’t want to add more stress on him or added pressure. We just want him to go out and play. Just let it hang out.”
“Guys are focused on Kevin not scoring the basketball,” Cavs coach Tyronn Lue said. […] Contrast that to his production in three rounds of the Eastern Conference playoffs: 17.3 points, 9.6 rebounds, 39.1% from the field and 44.6% on three-pointers. He had nine double-doubles in 14 games against Detroit, Atlanta and Toronto.
“Kevin was great. Defensively, he did a lot of good things,” Lue said. “Offensively, we have two guys that did something that hasn’t been done in NBA history – two guys score 40 points in a single (Finals) game. So there wasn’t a lot of room or a lot of shots for a lot of other guys because they had a special moment.” […] “He needs to be aggressive to help us try to send this game back to Golden State,” James said. “I think he’s looking forward to the challenge. I think he’s looking forward to the moment. We definitely need him. He’s too big of a piece to our puzzle.”
