Cleveland Cavaliers forward Kevin Love won’t undergo surgery on his fractured left hand but is still expected to miss eight weeks with the injury, according to Jason Lloyd of The Athletic.
The big man first suffered the injury early in the first quarter of a 125-114 loss to the Detroit Pistons on Tuesday. Jae Crowder took over the starting power forward spot, as his replacement on Wednesday against the Miami Heat.
The Cavs said Love would undergo “a non-surgical treatment and rehabilitation process to repair the injury,” following a consultation with team doctors at the Cleveland Clinic and Dr. Michelle Carlson in New York, according to Joe Vardon of Cleveland.com.
Surgery or no surgery, the timeline remains the same for Love, making this a daunting task for a team trying to find its footing and regain control of the East — now four games behind the Toronto Raptors for second place and six away from the Boston Celtics for the Eastern Conference crown.
Love had been one of the Cavs’ key perimeter shooters, along with Kyle Korver — as no other starter had shot over 35 percent from behind the arc for the season. His 17.9 points and 9.4 rebounds per game will be sorely missed as a pillar of this Cavs team, forcing the front office’s hand to make a key acquisition at the trade deadline to help boost this injury-riddled team.
Love was named an All-Star last month, but after suffering the injury was replaced by Miami Heat point guard Goran Dragic, who got the first All-Star nod of his career.