One of the biggest factors in the Cleveland Cavaliers’ hope for a return trip to the NBA Finals was Kevin Love. His tenure with the team got off to a painfully rocky start last year, and once he finally did begin finding a rhythm, a shoulder injury knocked him out for the remainder of the season. If the Cavs wanted to bring home a championship, Love not only had to stay healthy, he also had to play better.
At the start of this season, it sure looked like he was turning a corner. Love no longer appeared lost on the court and was finally looking like someone who could be a huge contributor for Cleveland. Most importantly, he was playing with a confidence rarely seen from him last year. He’s still had some nights where his shot simply wasn’t falling, sure, but it was starting to look like he could handle the challenges facing the Cavs on their way back to the postseason.
And then came Thursday night’s game against the San Antonio Spurs.
It was a contest Cleveland no doubt had marked down on the calendar, a marquee matchup with one of the NBA’s best on the last leg of the longest road trip of the season. Obviously, January games aren’t nearly as important as those played in May and June. Still, the Cavs need to prove they’re a force for the league’s upper-echelon teams to reckon with, and this was a true test.
If Love learned anything from said test, it’s that he still has a lot of work to do to prepare for a playoff run. Not only did he have a night to forget, he was also a major liability for his team in the 99-95 loss to the Spurs.
It certainly looked like it was going to be a great night for Love, as he came out of the gate hitting two of his first three shots. Unfortunately, he would only make two more for the rest of the game. Love went frigid on offense, finishing the night with just 10 points on 4-of-10 shooting.
However, as bad as his offense was, what Love put forth on the defensive end of the court was drastically worse.
The Cavs were going punch-for-punch with San Antonio heading into the fourth quarter. Though their 12-point lead had dwindled down to just one, they were at the very least proving they could go toe-to-toe with one of the West’s best. Unfortunately, the Spurs decided their fourth quarter strategy would be to target Love on defense, and it was both frighteningly and overwhelmingly successful.
Whether San Antonio was running picks to switch Love onto a much faster guard or just hammering him down in the post, everything seemed to be working. Cleveland’s stretch forward was worked over so badly by everyone he was forced to guard, looking lost more often than not. Not only did the Spurs convincingly pull away late, they also exposed just how bad of a defender Love really is.
To be fair, Love wasn’t the only reason Cleveland lost, but he was a major factor in the end result. Granted, he’s never been known as one of the NBA’s top defenders, so it isn’t as if we should be terribly surprised. At the same time, it’s not asking much for at least passable defense from Love, something he was hardly able to contribute against San Antonio.
Again, Love has admitted defense will likely never be his strong suit. However, the Cavs can’t just shrug this off. They’ll need him for his offense in games like this, but if he’s playing so terribly on defense that it doesn’t matter who he’s guarding, he becomes a burden the team can’t afford to have on the court in the clutch.
The fact is teams like San Antonio and the Golden State Warriors will see Love as an Achilles heel on defense and will be able to flawlessly take advantage. If Cleveland expects to topple any of these teams in the postseason, it can’t afford to have one of its best players either stumbling over himself to guard someone or forced to the bench in attempts to stop the bleeding.
The playoffs are a long way away, so there’s no need to go into intense panic. However, even if Love will never truly be an all-NBA defender, he still needs to show his team he can handle the task of giving decent defense at the very least. Otherwise, the Cavs will find themselves in a pickle when they need points late in a crucial game and one of their best scorers is nailed to the bench.
