Kevin Love at peace, not worried about trade chatter

Kevin Love knows change could be coming.

A couple of years ago, uncertainty might have been something that stressed him out, triggered the sorts of feelings like the ones that manifested themselves in the form of an in-game panic attack in 2017, rendered him unable to compete as efficiently as he wanted.


Not this time.

Even though he has three full years and about $90 million left on his contract after this season, it’s no secret that Love could be traded by the Cleveland Cavaliers. Plenty of teams even make sense for such a move — Portland, Dallas, Denver, Miami among others.

But going public with the details of his panic attack — and his ongoing involvement in the conversation about the need to take care of mental health — has not left Love feeling vulnerable. He’s more at peace than anything else, and that’s why the rumors that are out there aren’t gnawing at him.

“I’m just going to let the chips fall,” Love said. “I know that this is a young team. I think I can help them. I’m going to do right by Cleveland, the organization. This is a league where teams want to rebuild, teams want to go young but certain teams are looking for a piece, a guy who’s played in the finals, a guy who has playoff experience. I don’t know what’s going to happen, but I think it definitely lessens the burden and the anxiety.”

Cleveland is 5-12 and Love missed Monday’s game against Brooklyn with back issues. Now in his 11th season, the five-time All-Star can still play — he’s averaging 17.9 points and 11.8 rebounds, is a 36% shooter from 3-point range and won a ring with the Cavs in 2016.


Even with him, the Cavs are likely a long shot for a playoff spot in the East. But Love insists that he isn’t forcing a change.

“I’ve been committed to Cleveland since Day 1,” Love said. “I know it’s been a little shaky at some points. It’s been really great at some points. But now I’ve found some semblance of balance in my life, not only on the court but away from it.”

Love also doesn’t shy away from the mental health questions.

Players like Love and DeMar DeRozan helped bring the conversation into the NBA mainstream by opening up about their own private and personal issues.


“I kind of played all my cards and spoke my truth,” Love said. “I just feel like there’s not a lot out there that could really hurt me. I feel like, not only for other people but selfishly for myself, it’s been very therapeutic.”

HISTORY LESSON

The Spurs are in trouble.

Monday’s loss to the Lakers dropped San Antonio to 6-12, and seeing that is all anyone would probably need to realize that the Spurs’ record-tying 22-year streak of postseason appearances is in major jeopardy.

But the numbers really hammer the point home.

Over the last 14 seasons, not including this one, there have been 103 instances of teams starting 6-12 or worse. Of those, only four have made the postseason — and none of those four came from the Western Conference.

And the last time the Spurs were under the .500 mark 18 games into a season was 1995-96, when they started 3-15. That’s the point where they fired Bob Hill for a guy named Gregg Popovich.

“They’re going to be OK,” said Charlotte coach James Borrego, a former longtime Spurs assistant, who crossed paths with Popovich in Washington recently. “At the end of the day, he’s coaching his team, I’m coaching my team. I know what they’re going through. But they’ve been in this territory before. I don’t know if they’ve lost as much as they’ve lost this early, but they’ll bounce back. There’s high character there. They know what they’re doing.”

The last West team to start 6-12 or worse and get into the playoffs was the 2004-05 Memphis Grizzlies, who began 5-11, went through two different coaches before bringing in Mike Fratello. He fashioned a 40-26 finish, the Grizzlies sneaked into the playoffs at 45-37 and as the eighth seed. They got swept in the first round.

The NBA champions that year? San Antonio.

KEMBA’S NECK

Boston guard Kemba Walker took a scary hit last week when he collided with teammate Semi Ojeleye during the Celtics’ game at Denver.


The way Walker fell, and how he had to leave the game on a stretcher, understandably raised plenty of concern. He was diagnosed with a sprained neck, which was probably about the best possible outcome given how bad the play looked in real time.

Perhaps overlooked is this: The sprain is Walker’s second neck issue in less than three months.

He played some games for USA Basketball at the FIBA World Cup in China in September while dealing with neck pain, which intensified to the point that he sat out the Americans’ finale there — the seventh-place game in Beijing against Poland.

MIGHTY MAVS

With MVP candidate Luka Doncic leading the way, Dallas is flying.

The Mavericks have scored 137 points or more in each of their last three games. Only two teams in league history have gone on longer such streaks — Denver in November 1988 and Portland in November 1990, both of those being four-game runs.

The Mavs have reached the 125-point mark five times already this season. That matches their total from all of last season.

THE WEEK AHEAD

A game to watch each day in the coming week:

Tuesday, L.A. Clippers at Dallas: Doncic is rolling right now. Here comes a very big test.

Wednesday, L.A. Lakers at New Orleans: Welcome back to New Orleans, Anthony Davis.

Thursday, Happy Thanksgiving: It’s one of the days the NBA has no games on the schedule.

Friday, Boston at Brooklyn: A noon start time. Could it be Kyrie Irving versus the Celtics?

Saturday, Charlotte at Milwaukee: For some reason, few seem to be talking about the Bucks.

Sunday, Memphis at Minnesota: Through Monday, Grizzlies rookie Ja Morant averaged 19 ppg.

Monday, Utah at Philadelphia: A matchup of really good teams that usually put defense first.

source: sports.inquirer.net

Warriors beat Cavaliers 89-83 in NBA Finals rematch

OAKLAND, California—Draymond Green had 22 points and 15 rebounds and the Golden State Warriors got defensive in their NBA Finals rematch against Cleveland, beating the Cavaliers 89-83 on Friday.

Stephen Curry added 19 points and Klay Thompson had 18 for the Warriors, who improved to 28-1 by winning their 32nd straight regular-season home game. Instead of doing it with 3-pointers, defending champion Golden State maintained its edge over Cleveland by limiting the Cavaliers to 32 percent shooting.

LeBron James scored 25 points to lead the Cavaliers. They had their six-game winning streak snapped.

The Cavaliers were short-handed when they lost the final to the Warriors in six games, missing power forward Kevin Love the entire series with a shoulder injury and losing point guard Kyrie Irving to a knee injury late in the first game.

Having both those players healthy for the rematch did little to help Cleveland. Love scored just 10 points on 5-for-16 shooting, and Irving missed 11 of 15 shots in a 13-point game.

With those two struggling, the Warriors built a 10-point lead midway through the fourth quarter following a jumper by Thompson and a layup from Green.

But James responded with a pair of dunks and a blocked shot on Thompson before Love’s tip-in made it 81-77 with just over 2 minutes to play.

James missed two free throws after Cleveland got another stop and Curry responded with a pair of layups around J.R. Smith’s 3-pointer to make it 85-80 with 57.6 seconds to play.

James shot an air ball from 3 with 12.7 seconds to play to end Cleveland’s comeback attempt.

There was an increased intensity at the start of the seventh Christmas Day rematch of the previous season’s finals with fans on edge far more than for most regular season games.

The officials let both teams play through contact early and the Warriors built a 28-19 lead after one behind 10 points and six rebounds from Green.

But the Cavaliers picked up the defense in the second quarter against Golden State’s reserves, taking advantage of an extended absence from Curry who get his strained right calf re-taped in the locker room. The Warriors led 45-42 at the half.

source: sports.inquirer.net

James leads Cavaliers over Pacers despite bruised quad

CLEVELAND — LeBron James with a sore leg was about as effective as LeBron James at full health.

James scored 29 points and made several key plays down the stretch Sunday, leading the Cleveland Cavaliers over the Indiana Pacers 101-97 for their sixth straight win.

James took a knee to a leg Friday and said he would get round-the-clock treatment so he could play. Unfortunately for the Pacers, the treatment worked.

James hit seven free throws in the final few minutes and found Kevin Love for two key baskets in the final 27 seconds.

“I started off pretty well but I got hit again in the third quarter so it was really, really sore,” James said. “It’s pretty sore right now.”

Cavaliers coach David Blatt was impressed with James’ performance.

“Most guys probably wouldn’t have played with what he had, and he played, and you saw how he played,” Blatt said. “The guy is unbelievable. He really is. I don’t have a better word than that.”

“LeBron is the best player in the game,” Pacers coach Frank Vogel said. “We all know that.”

Love scored 22 points and had 19 rebounds for the Cavaliers, who haven’t lost since the season opener against Chicago.

Paul George scored 32 points for Indiana, which went scoreless for nearly four minutes after taking a 90-88 lead. George’s 3-pointer with 18 seconds remaining cut the lead to 97-95.

The Cavaliers broke full-court pressure and James hit Love for a dunk with 8.2 seconds left. George Hill scored with 6.7 seconds remaining, but James made two foul shots at the 5.3 mark.

James remained in Friday’s game after the injury and said he was hopeful he would play against the Pacers. He was 10 of 23 from field and came within two points of matching his season high, recorded Friday.

A third-quarter basket gave James 9,018 for his career, moving him past Jerry West into 19th place on the field goal list.

George, who scored a season-high 36 points Friday against Miami, had another outstanding game, making 11 of 21 from the field and grabbing 11 rebounds. Despite the loss, George sees no reason to back down against Cleveland.

“I think we match up well against this team,” he said. “This team doesn’t really scare us. They had to play a full game against us. It’s on us to get where we want to get to. It’s all about who gets the last laugh when we’re in the NBA Finals or playing against the Cavs in the Eastern Conference finals or whoever.”

Joey Crawford, one of the game’s three officials, left the court in the third quarter with an injured right knee and didn’t return.

STAR WARS

George, who missed most of last season with a broken leg, has been guarding opposing power forwards, but was shifted to the small forward slot to defend James. “Everyone can see that Paul is healthy and looks fantastic, so this is a great chance to play against the best player in the world,” Vogel said.

HALFTIME SPEECHES

After a lackluster first half Friday against Philadelphia, James Jones had some fiery words for his teammates at halftime. James spoke Sunday. He wanted Love more involved in the second half.

“Egos need to be checked at the door and you have to be able to handle constructive criticism,” James said. “We’re here for one common goal and that’s to get better every day to put ourselves in a position to compete for a championship.”

“Just that he wanted to get me going,” Love said. “That was it. You guys know, it’s no secret, we’ve had a lot of conversations over the past, not only year, but leading up into this season. He’s a guy that’s a leader. When he speaks up, we listen and follow his lead. That’s a big help for me and the rest of the team.”

TIP-INS

Pacers: C.J. Miles (sore right ankle) sat out his third straight contest, but coach Frank Vogel is optimistic that he will return Monday against Orlando. . Rodney Stuckey (sprained right ankle) didn’t travel with the team after leaving Friday’s game with the injury. … Indiana played its 3,900th game in franchise history.

Cavaliers: J.R. Smith (right knee, quad) missed his third straight game. He took shots on the court in warmups and could return Tuesday. … Richard Jefferson started at shooting guard and scored five after Jared Cunningham got the start Friday.

UP NEXT

Pacers: Host Orlando on Monday.

Cavaliers: Host Utah on Tuesday.

source: sports.inquirer.net

Cavaliers gain salary room for possible Kevin Love deal

CLEVELAND — A salary-dumping deal Tuesday by the Cleveland Cavaliers could help the new NBA team of superstar LeBron James swing a deal with the Minnesota Timberwolves for star center Kevin Love.

The Cavaliers obtained guard John Lucas III and forwards Malcolm Thomas and Erik Murphy from Utah for second-year guard Carrick Felix, a second-round pick in next year’s NBA Draft and $1 million.

All three players who went to Cleveland have contracts that are not guaranteed for next season, meaning the Cavaliers would have about $3.3 million toward Love’s $15.7 million salary should they swing a deal for him with Minnesota.

The Timberwolves are looking at a deal involving other players that could force the Cavaliers to seek the aid of a third club in order to make the trade work.

Andrew Wiggins, the top pick in last month’s NBA Draft by Cleveland, could be on the trade block once he signs with the Cavaliers, a move that could come this week. After that, he could not be traded for 30 days but then could be part of a move for Love.

Landing Love together with 2012 Olympic gold medal teammate James and guard Kyrie Irving would give the Cavaliers a “Big Three” to rival what James enjoyed with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh in Miami, where he led the Heat to two titles and four NBA finals before announcing earlier this month he was leaving to return to the Cavaliers, which he spurned in 2010 to join Miami.

source: sports.inquirer.net