Kevin love played just 24 minutes on Monday night as the Cavs power forward experienced a serious bout of food poisoning. Love left the game against the Pelicans midway through the fourth quarter as he headed straight to the locker room, and did not return as LeBron James and co. pulled one out with a win in an ugly contest.
Despite playing just 24 minutes and missing crunch time, Love did register a double-double of 12 points and 11 rebounds in limited minutes helping the Cavs to a scrappy win. He may have been effective in his minutes, but it was obvious Love was uncomfortable out there, as he was really struggling with his jump shot shooting just 5/19 on the night, and struggling during timeouts with discomfort.
The condition of Love didn’t come to the surface until after the game, where coach Ty Lue told Cleveland.com that he believes Love became ill after eating sea bass on the Cavs flight home from Charlotte on New Year’s Eve.
Lue revealed Love has lost 10 pounds through vomiting these past couple of days, and believed he wouldn’t be healthy enough to suit up against the Pelicans.
“We didn’t think he was going to be able to play today,” Lue said. “He said he’s going to give it a go. He came out there and gave us 24 strong minutes, which we needed. He had 12 and 11 in those 24 minutes but just his presence on the floor was big for us and for him to gut it out the way he did was big for us.”
Coach Lue even cancelled morning shootaround to give his team the chance to rest, as the Cavs have been hit by the injury and flu bug. It is a tough period, but they have done well to record two wins in a row with only 10 players available to take to the court on both nights.
The champions are being tested right now, and they’re passing with flying colors as everyone is contributing and battling through.
The Cavs now welcome the Bulls to the Q on Wednesday night in the hopes of getting their revenge for the loss they gave them a month ago.
