Kevin Love Is Playing Like An All-Star Again At Just The Right Time

The story of Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Semifinal matchup between the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Toronto Raptors was that having LeBron James on your basketball team is one hell of a trump card. Cleveland won the game, 105-103, because James had 38 points, seven assists, six rebounds, three steals, and one awkward floater as time expired to turn a whole bunch of NBA players into witnesses to King James.

But a smaller subplot that may be far more important for the Cavaliers in their pursuit of a title was that Kevin Love had his second straight game where he looked like, well, Kevin Love. The All-Star big man had his second double-double in a row, accruing 21 points and 16 rebounds. Ty Lue summed things up pretty well after the game.

James went to the bench at the 4:04 mark of the third quarter for Rodney Hood. Cleveland’s five-man group when that happened — George Hill, Hood, Kyle Korver, Jeff Green, and Love — closed out the quarter and had not played with one another during the postseason, per the NBA. Going even further, Lue didn’t use that grouping of players during the regular season.

During the stretch with those five players on the floor, Cleveland decided to go to Love early and often. Love had seven points and three rebounds over the final 4:04 of the frame as that group extended the Cavs’ lead from 11 points when James checked out to 14 as the quarter closed.

Love didn’t look like the guy who averaged 11.4 points and 9.3 rebounds during the first round series against Indiana. Sure, his Game 1 performance against the Raptors left a lot to be desired, but through the small sample size of two games, Love has looked like he’s turned things around. Cleveland made a concerted effort to get him the ball in Game 2 — which paid off to the tune of 31 points and 11 rebounds — and his run of form continued into Game 3.

The Cavs again went to Love early and often in Game 3, and at the half, he had 12 points and 11 rebounds. Even on plays where he wasn’t scoring or rebounding, Love just appeared to be in the groove that evaded him through Cleveland’s first eight games. We know this because Love was making the little plays that have become a hallmark of his game, like the smart passes out of the post that lead to hockey assists.

Let’s look at this play, in which Love is isolated against Kyle Lowry on the block. Most big men would try to go to work against a player of Lowry’s stature, even as Jonas Valanciunas came over to help. Instead, Love saw that Kyle Korver and Jordan Clarkson were defended by DeMar DeRozan, so with some prodding from Korver, Love kicked the ball out to the wing. This led to a wide open shot for Clarkson, who buried his attempt.

It’s the kind of smart play you expect out of Love — turn down a potential two for a potential three, and use your ability to see the floor and pass out of the low post to get it. Here’s another: Love blocks a shot and, despite the fact that there was some chaos under the rim, he tipped the ball to James to trigger the fast break, which ended with James throwing down.

More than his shooting or rebounding, these are the plays that make Love so special when he’s really cooking. His feel for the game is superb, and he’s able to open up a completely different dimension of the Cavalier offense when he’s firing off passes and getting his teammates looks in opportune situations.

Of course, it also helps that Love is no longer struggling to put the ball in the hoop. In the first round, Love attempted 11.6 field goals a game and connected on a paltry 33.3 percent of them. Those numbers are elevated to 16 attempts and 43.8 percent, respectively, in the second round. That field goal percentage is a little below the 45.8 percent clip at which he connected during the regular season, but it’s still a huge step forward.

An underrated improvement between the first and second rounds comes at the free throw line. Love is 13-for-14 from the stripe against Toronto, which includes zero free throws in Game 1. Against the Pacers, Love went 12-for-14 in seven games (including back-to-back 0-for-0 efforts in Games 6 and 7). He’s been more aggressive, and has gotten to the line thanks to fouls by the following players:

GAME 2:

Pascal Siakam
Delon Wright
OG Anunoby
(One technical free throw)

GAME 3:

DeMar DeRozan
Delon Wright
Pascal Siakam
Serge Ibaka

Love is no longer finding himself confounded by the strong, athletic, and powerful defenders that the Indiana Pacers threw at him. He’s using his size against smaller defenders or using his quickness to go to work against Valanciunas.

There is, however, a place where Love could stand to improve: He’s actually taken a step back from three against the Raptors. He went 14-for-35 (40 percent) against the Pacers and is 4-for-13 (30.8 percent) against Toronto, which shows that Love (who hit 41.5 percent of his threes during the regular season) has plenty of room to become even more dangerous on the offensive end this series.

As long as he keeps playing like this, though, that might not be a huge concern. Because while a subpar percentage from three is a gripe, the Cavs are probably to just have Love looking like an All-Star again.