Heading into Game 1 of the NBA Finals, there has been plenty of uncertainty surrounding the availability of Cleveland Cavaliers All-Star big man Kevin Love, who has been in the concussion protocol for over the last several days.
With the opening tilt of the NBA Finals set for Thursday night, there is still no clarity on the situation as head coach Tyronn Lue stated on Wednesday afternoon that he’s still unsure if Love will be able to give it a go, according to Tomer Azarly of ClutchPoints.
Love has been sidelined since suffering the injury in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals after butting heads with Boston Celtics rookie forward Jayson Tatum. Despite the injury forcing him to miss the decisive Game 7, the Cavaliers were able to prevail on the road behind another stellar outing from LeBron James along with Jeff Green stepping up in his spot with 19 points and eight rebounds.
If Love is unable to take the floor for Game 1 of the NBA Finals against the Golden State Warriors, Green will likely be in line to have another spot start. Through 18 games played in the playoffs, the 31-year-old is averaging 8.3 points on 43.9 percent shooting from the field with 2.7 rebounds in 23.7 minutes per contest. This includes scoring in double figures six times while drilling multiple 3-pointers four times.
The potential absence could be a significant blow for the Cavaliers as Love has brought some much-needed stability behind James in the playoffs averaging a double-double with 13.9 points and 10.0 rebounds per contest. In this year’s playoffs, he has put together five double-doubles while scoring in double figures 11 times over 17 games played. This is certainly a situation that Cleveland will continue to monitor ahead of Game 1 as he attempts to work his way through the concussion protocol to get on the floor on Thursday night.
