The Cleveland Cavaliers suffer another blow to their team’s psyche with the loss of Kevin Love due to injury.
The Cleveland Cavaliers are having an up-and-down season. Locker room turmoil, dealing with LeBron James and his pending free agency and inconsistency on the court have plagued the team’s season. So far, the Cavaliers are 29-20 after suffering a loss to the Detroit Pistons Tuesday night (Jan. 29). Any other team will be satisfied with those results, but the Cavaliers aren’t just any other team.
The Cavaliers posses one of the most talented core group of players in the NBA: James, Isaiah Thomas, and Kevin Love. The latter has been an instrumental part of the team’s attack, averaging 17.9 points and 9.4 rebounds per game. But Love suffered a left-hand injury in last night’s game, and according to Brian Windhorst, he should be out 6-8 weeks.
Kevin Love likely out 6-8 weeks
— Brian Windhorst (@WindhorstESPN) January 31, 2018
This injury to Love couldn’t have come at a worse time for the slumping Cavaliers. It’s expected for the Cavaliers to get in order eventually, but at what cost? The playoffs are just around the corner so a solution is needed quickly. SB Nation’s Chris Manning gave his best/worst case scenarios for the Cavaliers moving forward.
"A 6-8 week timeframe would knock him out of the All-Star game and keep him out all of February and at least part of March. In the best case scenario, Love would have about a month to play before the playoffs started. In the worst case scenario, his return would brush right up against the start of the playoffs."
Next: Patrick Mahomes era begins now.
The NBA All-Star break will be approaching in a couple of weeks, so the Cavaliers have some time to figure out how to replace Love’s production. From now until Love comes back is the perfect time for Thomas to find his footing. If not, it will continue to be tough sledding for the Cavaliers.