The Eastern Conference Finals have been a wildly up-and-down series for Kevin Love. He led all scorers with 25 points in the Cavaliers’ blowout win over the Raptors in Game 5 on Wednesday, but it came just days after Love lost his fourth-quarter minutes entirely to Channing Frye. Since he was traded to the Cavs before the 2014-15 season, Love’s role in Cleveland has fluctuated — at times he’s looked like the All-Star he was in Minnesota, but when he isn’t involved in the offense, he can become disengaged. It’s an awkward dynamic that the Cavs have never been able to get right for more than a few games at a time.
The switch that flipped in Game 5, apparently, can be credited to Frye. The veteran big man had a talk with Love that helped him get back in the right headspace, according to ESPN.com’s Dave McMenamin:
The real question was, how was Love able to re-engage so quickly after seemingly losing his way? It turns out a talk with Lue and a phone call from the guy some were calling to be his replacement on a more regular basis — Frye — did the trick.
“[Frye] called me and said, ‘Live in the moment, first of all,’” Love told ESPN.com. “He’s like, ‘You’re 27 years old, you’re playing in the Eastern Conference finals.’ He goes, ‘We don’t care if you 0-for-25. Just be aggressive, make an impact on the game and go out there and play hard. Let’s get a win.’ But he also told me no one is immune to the NBA playoffs, either. That kind of stuff happens. There’s different ways to impact the game. There’s different ways to get the job done. That was a big deal for me to hear that come from him.
“He also gave me an example of himself going through it. The Western Conference finals in 2010. He was like, ‘I was 1-for-20! And I had to find a way to make an impact and get stuff done.’”
This could have been the makings of an awkward situation, since Love and Frye play the same position, and Frye has all but taken Love’s spot in the rotation at points in this series. But Love took his teammate’s advice to heart, and it paid off in a big way. Now, Love and the Cavs are one win away from a return trip to the Finals.
