After the Cleveland Cavaliers announced Monday that forward Kevin Love would miss the NBA conference semifinals against the Bulls -- or the Bucks who cut Chicago's series lead to 3-2 Monday -- after the shoulder injury he suffered in his tangle with Kelly Olynyk, Cavs GM David Griffin told reporters Tuesday it is "highly unlikely" Love returns at any point in the playoffs. For all intents and purposes, Love's season seems over.
On a human level, Love suffered a painful injury that wasn't limited to one particular injury. He suffered a dislocated shoulder, torn labrum and suffered a bone bruise. That's painful and he's going to be hurting for weeks. Just from a pain standpoint, this is awful, especially for it to happen in a pretty meaningless game, with Boston clearly outclassed.
Here's what you need to know about the basketball impact.
1. COMPROMISED VERSATILITY: The Cavs have a number of players who can play multiple positions. Kyrie Irving is a scoring point you can use with another point guard (or whatever Matthew Dellavedova is), their guards are big enough to play some small forward, LeBron James is the alpha and the omega, Tristan Thompson can play four or five.
But Love gave them a lot of flexibility. He's a four, there's no doubt about that, but he can play as a perimeter stretch four, mainly as a spot-up weapon, or as a low-post component. That's what he did vs. the Celtics. Look at how many shots he had in the paint:
Whether vs. the Bulls or the Bucks, Cleveland would be able to pull their interior defenders out by using Love on the perimeter. That would open up more driving lanes for Kyrie Irving and James, which is a big deal. They can still accomplish this, but that means changing the lineup structure. (We'll get to that in the minute.) The cost is in rebounding, where Love is capable of monster games. Against a team that thrives on extra possessions like Chicago, that's a huge loss.
The Cavs have to go with a smaller, but more defensive, structure now and that's a tough line to balance.
2. LEBRON AND THAT WHICH HE DOES NOT WANT TO DO: James is going to have to play more power forward now, at least some, which is something he has very little interest in after playing three years at it in Miami's small ball lineups. It's a pounding on the body, it doesn't allow him to play the sweeping perimeter game he prefers, it's exhausting due to rebounding and battling inside. James likes three shooters and one big on the floor with him, but that's why Love was so perfect despite the struggles this season; he's a big that stretches the floor.
Let's say Milwaukee doesn't pull off the miracle. If it's Chicago, you're talking about James having to guard Pau Gasol, Taj Gibson or Joakim Noah for stretches. That's a painful, exhausting experience. He can counter the Nikola Mirotic power forward lineups well, that's a great matchup for the Cavaliers to exploit. And James can cause mayhem with the Bulls' defense at the four spot by forcing Gasol out of the paint the same way Love would have, and working both bigs in pick and rolls which will open up back-door opportunities and force help middle to open for shooters.
James won't play all his time at the four, Tristan Thompson will be there most often, Mike Miller may get some time there, and there will be a ton of James-Shawn-Marion lineups. But James will see time at four, and how that operates will be key.
3. DEFENSIVE APTITUDE: Losing Love hurts Cleveland offensively, but it's a bonus defensively. Love's given better effort as of late, but he's still limited laterally. Marion has looked very much like a guy who is retiring in June -- he is -- but he's also more fleet afoot than Love, and a much stronger, smarter defender. Going with the Thompson-Mozgov combo means a lot of size to counter opponents. They can also use, yes, Kendrick Perkins for stretches.
The Cavaliers' defense has been their weak point all season. They even struggled with Boston outside of Game 4. But if they need to win a slugfest, they'll be better suited to do so without Love on the floor. The problem relates to the aforementioned rebounding issue. Love's strength as a box out master and ability to cover ground sideline to sideline will be missed, and if you allow extra possessions, it means a higher possibility of mistakes. And the Cavs are loaded with perimeter defenders who give good effort but make a lot of mistakes. Something to watch.
4. MATRIX RELOADED: Marion was put in mothballs when the Cavaliers made their midseason additions. Marion has looked like a guy who's 36 with a lot of miles and minutes on him. But Marion's going to be very useful for them in this capacity. Even without the ability to stretch the floor, Marion has a high level of offensive versatility. The baseline jumper, the hook shot inside vs. a smaller defender on switches, quick and short rolls off the screen, Marion can do a number of things.
Defensively, he's simply got a wider knowledge base than a lot of the Cavaliers' weapons. Putting Miller in means subjecting him to a physical matchup, no matter who the Cavs play the next three rounds. Marion gives them a bigger body, but he needs to have a playoff-Marion type performance, one more time. This is a great opportunity to use him.
5. AN UNCOMFORTABLE FUTURE: This is the big elephant in the room. Yahoo Sports commented on the possible repercussion of the events in Boston for Kevin Love in free agency. The fact that Olynyk did this is meaningless. If Love says he wants to sign with Boston but wants Danny Ainge to get rid of Olynyk, Ainge will immediately reach for the phone to trade the Canadian. More important is that the Cavaliers had Love's back in that game. They retaliated for the injury by busting up Jae Crowder on two possessions and basically punking the Celtics.
Fair or not, smart or not (and J.R. Smith's swipe to the head was not), that has to create some loyalty from Love and appreciation for the team's locker room culture.
But it also presents the possibility that the Cavaliers could win the title without Love, and that gets awkward. Love never has seemed comfortable and David Blatt has not used him to his fullest potential.
Will this injury provide a quiet exit? Will a Cavaliers failure make them realize how much they need Love? Will the team's old school retaliation for Love make him more likely to return? This is a complicated situation that becomes even more complicated with the injury.
