CLEVELAND, Ohio – Kevin Love isn’t the least bit interested in the NBA Draft lottery odds.
Neither are his teammates.
With lottery positioning hanging in the balance, Love played arguably his best game of the season when it mattered the least as he scored 30 points to go with 14 rebounds, three assists, and two steals in 34 minutes to lead the Cavs to a 102-94 win over the Celtics on fan appreciation night at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.
“I just wanted to win one at home before the season was over,” Love said.
This season hasn't been kind to Love.
He missed significant time battling a calf strain. Frustration in a game saw him lackadaisically flip an inbounds pass that got stolen for a layup went viral and resulted in a lengthily 13-minute mea culpa a few days later.
Wednesday night’s win helped sooth some of that pain.
“Before the game I had been talking to Larry [Nance Jr.] and a couple other people and I was just like, ‘I don’t want that feeling of coming into the locker room and having my head down and being angry after a loss’ because those pile up and sometimes you get lost in that,” Love said. “Sometimes it’s anger, sometimes it’s heartbreak and I didn’t want to feel that. That’s why I was smiling out there. It felt good. Naturally it feels good to hit a bunch of threes, move the ball, play well, rebound the ball. I think that definitely added to it as well. Winning is definitely more fun.”
Love, who finished 10-of-16 from the floor, hit six threes, and his bombs from deep damaged the Cavs’ chances of landing the top NBA Draft Lottery odds.
“He was not himself and he was trying to find his rhythm and the ups and downs of that and wanting to help the team any way possible,” Cavs head coach J.B. Bickerstaff said. “Tonight he was able to do that. You could see the love of it, the joy of it in his face. You could see how his teammates treated him and supported him, so it was big time.”
The 22nd victory of the season, which ended an 11-game losing streak, dropped Cleveland to fifth in the lottery sweepstakes behind 16-53 Houston, who clinched the worst record, 20-50 Detroit, 21-49 Oklahoma City and 21-48 Orlando. The three worst teams receive equal 14% odds to win the draft lottery.
Collin Sexton added 28 points and eight assists and Isaac Okoro 15 points, six rebounds and six assists in the victory.
“We want to win. None of us in the organization, nobody on the team wants to lose,” Sexton said. “At the end of the day, we’re not losers. We didn’t get here because we are losers. We want to win and we’re gonna go out there and fight each and every game. We don’t really worry about what people say. We just continue to fight and just continue to get better. That’s just talk.”
The Celtics, led by 29 from Jayson Tatum, already clinched a spot in the play-in tournament, so the outcome was inconsequential to them.
Tristan Thompson received a warm reception when he was introduced prior to his first game back at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.
Thompson, who spent nine seasons with the Cavs after being selected fourth overall in 2011, finished with 10 points and seven rebounds in 28:21.
“He’s a great person. He’s a great teammate,” Bickerstaff said. "The legacy here speaks for itself. He’s a guy who this city embraced, obviously, part of a rebuild all the way to a championship. He was there the entire way. His style is respected and appreciated.”
Anderson Varejao played just over three minutes and scored 4 points and collected a pair of rebounds in his Cleveland finale.
The first half was downright painful to watch.
The Cavs led 42-39 through 24 minutes but they shot 38.1% in the half, including 1-13 from three. Both teams made 16 field goals, but Boston chucked up a few more bricks and hit just 33.3% from the floor. Cleveland turned it over 10 times and the Celtics seven.
The third quarter featured 13 lead changes and seven ties before the Cavs took control midway through the fourth thanks to Love’s long-range precision.
