As part of his rehabilitation process, Cleveland Cavaliers forward Kevin Love took part in a series of on-court drills during Thursday morning’s practice session at Cleveland Clinic Courts. Though he was wearing a protective glove on his left hand, the former UCLA standout seemed to be in good spirits as he worked with members of the Cavs’ training staff.
Love, now 29 years of age, suffered a fractured bone in his left hand on Jan. 30. Earlier this week, the Cavs announced that Love’s injury would not require surgery. However, the 6-10 rebounding machine is expected to miss six to eight weeks, which would place his return roughly two weeks before the end of this season.
“I’ll do everything right,” Love told NBA.com before this season’s All-Star break. “I’ll do whatever I need to do to get this thing to heal as quickly as I can and go from there.”
In his 48 appearances with the Cavs this season, Love has racked up averages of 17.9 points on 46.3 percent shooting from the field (40.4 percent from beyond the arc), 9.4 rebounds, and 1.6 assists. Without question, he’s an important part of Cleveland’s game plan, and they’ll be happy to have him back when that time comes.
The new-look Cavs have played relatively well in Love’s absence, but he’s itching to play with his new teammates (George Hill, Jordan Clarkson, Larry Nance Jr, and Rodney Hood). They’ve won six of their last ten games, including Tuesday night’s 129-123 victory over the Brooklyn Nets.
The Cavs continue their five-game home stand with a matchup against the Philadelphia 76ers on Thursday night. Tip-off inside Quicken Loans Arena is set for 8:00 p.m. EST with TNT and FOX Sports Ohio having live broadcast coverage.