If less Love means more losses, a segment of fans definitely don't want him on the floor.
Love recorded his fourth double-double of the season out of seven games played, and his first since returning Feb. 8th after missing 50 games due to foot surgery.
“I looked like I hadn't played many games lately and looked like I had just come off break,” Love, who committed a team-high four turnovers, said. “That will go away. Couple shots were pretty short, getting my legs underneath me, but overall I felt pretty good and just kind of progress in these minutes so long as I keep feeling good.”
Love finished with 16 points and 11 rebounds on shooting 6-13 from the floor, including 3-8 from beyond the arc, as the Cavs beat the Suns 111-98 in a matchup featuring two of the league’s worst teams jockeying for lottery positioning.
“The basketball moved and when he had the open shot he took it, and you can see our guys really feeding off of that,” Cavs head coach Larry Drew said. “Kevin being out there, his presence alone, makes it very gratifying. We go through him with a lot of stuff that we do, whether it be in the post, whether we’re running the pick and roll, whatever we do. Having him in there certainly makes life a lot easier for a lot of the other guys as well.”
Love’s return seems to have energized the once floundering Cavaliers, who have now won four of their last 11 games.
“He's a walking double-double," Larry Nance Jr. said. “That's something he's been his whole career and it's certainly not going to change now. He’s just such a weapon for us.
“With a guy like that on the floor, the defense has to respect him so much that it frees it up for the rest of us.”
Devin Booker scored 30 for Phoenix and Kelly Oubre Jr. had 23 but it wasn’t enough to keep the Suns from a franchise record 16th straight defeat.
Cavs center Ante Zizic joined Love in the double-double fun by totaling 15 points and 12 rebounds.
“He is just efficient,” Love said of Zizic. “Every time he catches the ball – he has such good hands and keeps that ball high and more often then not that ball is going to go in. So, he did a really did a good job tonight. Defensively he’s understanding our concepts, picking up our concepts better and he’s young.”
Even with Love on the bench for the entire fourth quarter, the Cavs were still able to pull away and win by 13. Cedi Osman scored eight of his team-high 19 points in the final quarter to help put the game away and lead five Cavs in double figures.
Love, who saw his minutes increased to 22 Thursday night, passed Cavs assistant James Posey for 100th all-time in three-point makes in NBA history with his third triple of the night that fell with 6:03 remaining in the third quarter.
The new lottery rules go into effect this year where, instead of the lottery being weighted to give the team that finishes with the worst record in the NBA the best odds to hit the jackpot, the three-worst clubs are now given the same odds to win it.
While fans might be rooting for losses, the players within the Cavs locker room are not.
“Our job is to play as hard as we can, play together and try to win,” guard Matthew Dellavedova said. “It’s not a worry for us.”
The three worst teams will have a 14 percent chance at the No. 1 pick and a 40.1 percent chance at a top-three selection. Prior to the change, the worst team had a 25 percent shot at the No. 1 selection.
Phoenix remains the worst in the NBA at 11-49 while the Cavs remain third-worst at 13-46. The Knicks are between them at 11-47.
Sharing the ball has led to better ball movement and offensive efficiency, and several teammates credited Dellavedova.
“I definitely try and do that, but it’s contagious,” Dellavedova said. “I think everyone’s been doing a great job of that especially the last couple of games.”
Nance had 14 and seven rebounds while Clarkson finished with 15 points, five assists and four rebounds.
“It was a full-team effort,” Nance said. “There wasn’t one guy who dominated.”
“Well, I think the furthest shot I made tonight was a dunk,” Nance said with a laugh.
But it wasn’t the most dunks he’s had in a game. Nance said he had 18 or so with the Lakers in one night but don’t think for a minute he wants to enter the dunk contest again.
“Absolutely not,” Nance said. “Yeah, I’ve got my beef. I’ve got my beef with them and I’m done.”