The Cleveland Cavaliers will have a full stable of frontcourt options available on Wednesday night against the Milwaukee Bucks. Whether that will make Larry Drew’s Cavs team any more successful trying to slow down the Bucks remains to be seen.
According to Spencer Davies of Basketball Insiders, Kevin Love, Tristan Thompson and Larry Nance, Jr. are all available to play for the Cavs against the league’s best team at Quicken Loans Arena.
Kevin Love missed his team’s 126-119 victory over the Detroit Pistons on Monday night with a sore back. He first suffered the injury while taking a hard fall during his team’s loss to the Dallas Mavericks over the weekend. Since returning from surgery on his left foot early last month, Love is averaging 18.1 points and 10.4 rebounds in a closely-monitored 25.2 minutes per game.
Tristan Thompson, meanwhile, returns to action after missing the previous two months of play with a sprained left foot. He and Nance figure to be Cleveland’s primary defensive options against the Bucks. Thompson has acquitted himself better than many anticipated this season without LeBron James wearing Wine and Gold, averaging 11.5 points and a career-high 11.1 rebounds per game.
Larry Nance Jr., out since March 8 with a chest contusion, almost played over the weekend, but he was held out by team doctors after a routine sneeze caused him audible pain. Nance is averaging career-highs of 9.1 points, 7.9 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game in 2018-19, starting 24 games for the Cavs while Love and Thompson have dealt with injuries.