From Cleveland, with Love, Cavs may only lose by single digits

Kevin Love is officially cleared to play in Game 1, but it hardly matters.

Thursday night kicks off the fourth consecutive NBA Finals matchup between the Cavaliers and Warriors. After suffering an injury (what’s new?) in the Eastern Conference Finals, Cleveland’s Kevin Love sat out the conclusion of that series and his status for the Finals was unknown. Now, Love has been officially cleared to play in Game 1, but it hardly matters as the Cavaliers are seemingly set up to fail.

After being pushed around last season — with an even better team — few are expecting the Cavs to stand in the Warriors’ way of another ring. Even with Love healthy and on the court for the entirety of the series, Golden State is just too good. Although he’s the second best player on the Cavs, Love isn’t even a top five player in the series. James, Durant, Curry, Thompson and Green are all better players. He was an All-Star (before injury) this season, but that speaks more to the weakness of the East than it does Love’s play. Few expect Love to have any impact on this series at all. Even if he plays at a consistently good level, the Cavs are still going to lose (again).

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At first, the Cleveland vs. Golden State narrative was a great one. James and his big three against Steph Curry and his big three. However, after four straight seasons of the same teams squaring off, the storyline isn’t exciting anymore. The parity of the league — or lack thereof — is becoming laughable to some. Now, it’s the Warriors dynasty against whichever group of rag-tag players James carries to the Finals. With Love back, maybe the Cavs will only lose by single digits. If they’re lucky, they’ll win a game.