Cleveland Cavaliers big man Kevin Love posted 32 points on 9-14 shooting (14-16 from the free-throw line), 16 rebounds, three assists, two steals, and one block in his 35 minutes of playing time during Tuesday night’s 124-119 win over the Milwaukee Bucks. His teammate, LeBron James, liked what he saw, and now he’s asking for more of the same.
“We need Kevin to play like that all the time,” James told reporters after Tuesday’s win over the Bucks. “Tonight he was great”
The Cavs, now 5-6 and tied for 10th in the Eastern Conference, jumped out to an early lead in Tuesday night’s game. In fact, Cleveland got into the bonus with over nine minutes remaining in the first quarter, which allowed them to build a nine-point advantage through the first 12 minutes of play. As most hoops fans know, the Cavs have been struggling with sloppy starts this season, so gaining an early advantage was exactly what they needed.
After Tuesday night’s game, Love spoke to Fox Sport’s Ohio’s Allie Clifton with regards to his overall performance. Although they gave up 39 points to the Bucks in the second quarter, Love and the Cavs were able to hold on down the stretch.
Watch out for J.R. Smith’s video bomb. “Swish,” as he’s known, was clearly feeling good after his 20-point performance.
“There has been a lot of talk about the disparity between that first unit and the second unit,” Clifton said to Love during his postgame interview. “Tonight, things started much different. You guys have always taken onus of what needs to be better. What was different?
“I think we were super aggressive getting to the free-throw line,” Love replied. “We got in the bonus early, and that started us off on the right foot on both ends of the floor. So we were talking, had a lot of communication on the defensive end of the floor.”
The Cavs will begin a four-game road trip on Thursday night, when they’ll face off against James Harden and the Houston Rockets in a nationally-televised showdown. Tip-off is scheduled for 8:00 p.m. with TNT having live broadcast coverage. In the mean time, have a go at Love’s highlights from Tuesday night.