On Wednesday evening, the Cleveland Cavaliers continued their winning ways with a narrow home victory over the Miami Heat, who put up a scrappy effort but ultimately came up short. The Heat were playing without multiple starters in this game, which opened the door for backup power forward Kevin Love to see more minutes than usual against the Cavs.
Love of course was a member of the Cavs’ only championship victory in 2016, and during a timeout on Wednesday, the Rocket Arena crowd gave Love a standing ovation as the public address announcer shouted him out.
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Love then waived to the fans and pointed to his ring finger, referencing the team’s victory eight years ago (via Love’s page on Instagram).
Love has been a member of the Miami Heat for the last three seasons, going on a deep postseason run with them as well in the 2023 playoffs, but it’s good to see the love that he still has from the fans up in northeast Ohio.
Meanwhile, the Cavs are trying to add a second championship to their trophy case this season, having gotten off to far and away the best start in franchise history at 52-10. Cleveland is currently lapping the field in the Eastern Conference playoff picture, and the team’s patience in building their roster around Darius Garland and Donovan Mitchell has paid major dividends so far this year.
Evan Mobley has turned himself into an All-Star, Ty Jerome is a legitimate candidate for Sixth Man of the Year, and the team has also gotten solid contributions from role players like De’Andre Hunter and Isaac Okoro, helping them to build arguably the deepest roster in the NBA.
Many still see the reigning champion Boston Celtics as the favorites in the Eastern Conference, but Cleveland certainly appears to have all of the pieces necessary to secure their first championship since the Kevin Love days this year.
