According to ESPN’s Marc Stein, Kevin Love has not been medically cleared for tonight’s game 3 of the NBA Finals. The Cleveland Cavaliers are down 0-2 to the Golden State Warriors and no matter how you slice it, this is a blow. Love, when used correctly, provides spacing and when engaged is an above average rebounder.
Now, you can argue that what he provides on the offensive end is mitigated by his lack of defensive ability. And, you wouldn’t be wrong. But without Love in the lineup what will the Cavs do? Play more Channing Frye, Timofy Mozgov, and Tristan Thompson? How is that a marked improvement when the Warriors unleash the “death lineup”? And, you’re taking away a plus scorer, how does that help when scoring is the Cavs’ number one problem?
Regardless, the Cavs don’t seem to have any answers to unlock the complex puzzle that is the Warriors. Tonight’s game is a must-win and beating the Warriors four times in the next five games is already a highly unlikely task. If they go down 0-3, winning four straight will be virtually impossible.
What do you all think?