Ever since head coach David Blatt was fired, the Cleveland Cavaliers have played with an obvious pep in their step, and Kevin Love is “finally” starting to look like, well, Kevin Love.
LeBron James says that the big fella is has at last found his comfort zone within the team—Love even joined his boys for a postgame photo op Monday night, after being ignored all season long.
The Cavs’ Big Three of James, Love and Kyrie Irving reportedly had a heart-to-heart, and promised that they would hold one another accountable going forward.
Per the Akron Beacon Journal:
“I think right now he’s finally getting comfortable in his role,” LeBron James said. “I think coach (Tyronn) Lue has done a great job clearing the air what he expects out of all of us, including Kev, and he’s a big focal point of our team. When he’s playing locked in like this, it’s great for us.” […] Love is averaging 23.7 points in his past three games (going into Monday’s matchup in Indiana.) His 71 total points in the Cavs’ past three victories is his second-highest total when he, James and Kyrie Irving share the floor. The only time it was better was a brief three-game stretch last season in wins against the Wizards, Pacers and Bucks.
“There are a lot of levels to this,” Love said. “I think it can get even better.” […] Making Love comfortable in this system was never a priority to Blatt, who often grew defensive whenever questions about Love’s role surfaced. Love talked with coaches last summer about installing some of the elbow sets he thrived in during his Minnesota days, but those conversations and ideas never gained much traction until Lue took over.
One guy who looks inspired defensively is Kevin Love. His string of 20-point scoring games ended (he finished with 19), but Love has been active defensively in recent games and made a big impact Monday. He was credited with two steals and two blocks, including a big one on Paul George coming out of a pick-and-roll in the fourth quarter. Then he posted this to his Twitter account. #lovethehashtag […] Love has often conceded he isn’t a great defender, but Lue was surprised to hear that after the game. “He admits that?” Lue asked. “Oh, I’m not going to say that. I’m not going there. I’m not going to admit that.”
