NBA Finals: Why Cavaliers can win Game 3 without Kevin Love
By Tom West
Kevin Love is out for Game 3 of the NBA Finals with a concussion, but not all hope is lost for the Cleveland Cavaliers to win their first game against the Golden State Warriors.
Many fans, experts and players alike picked the Golden State Warriors to win the 2016 NBA Finals and close out their magical 73-9 season in the only way that was fitting. For all the three-point barrages they put together earlier in the playoffs, the Cleveland Cavaliers were simply hard to favor in this matchup. And after the first two games being decided in favor of the Warriors by a combined total of 48 points, it’s clear the Cavs are pretty much in the most disheartening 0-2 hole possible.
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Even for everyone who picked them to lose this series, it’s still hard to see them losing this badly. A 110-77 loss in Game 2 is nothing shy of useless. At the very least, with LeBron James and the healthy pairing of Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love, not to mention the team peaking at the right time earlier in the playoffs, this should have been a far more competitive series.
Plus, with neither Stephen Curry or Klay Thompson reaching the 20-point mark in a game so far, leaving the role players to step up and show off the champs’ depth, the Cavs should have had an even greater opportunity to rise up for an early upset on the road.
ESPN sources say Love has been lobbying hard for clearance to play Game 3 but has been told Friday's Game 4 is the soonest he'll be cleared
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) June 8, 2016
Yet, as the quarters have flown by with Golden State outclassing Cleveland at both ends of the floor, uniting behind the effort of Draymond Green and their bevy of talented role players, it’s become obvious that LeBron is likely finishing this series with a 2-5 Finals record.
However, don’t completely count out the Cavs to win a game, even if it’s an unconvincing victory that ultimately means nothing. In Game 3 as they head to Cleveland for the first time, being forced into making lineup adjustments without Kevin Love after he sustained a concussion in Game 2, they may have a chance to win. Here’s why.
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