INDEPENDENCE, Ohio -- Kevin Love’s dislocated shoulder has reduced Cleveland’s Big Three to a Big Two, most likely for the duration of the playoffs.
It's an obvious blow to the Cavs’ title chances. Love was averaging 18.3 points and 9.0 rebounds while shooting 47.4 percent from 3-point range through Cleveland’s 3-0 start to their first-round series against the Boston Celtics before the injury occurred early in Game 4.
If there is a silver lining to be found, perhaps it’s the fact that LeBron James persevered through a similar situation. During the 2012 playoffs, a lower abdominal strain caused Chris Bosh to miss nine straight games in the Miami Heat’s postseason run through the Eastern Conference semifinals against the Indiana Pacers and Eastern Conference finals against the Celtics. The Heat won both series and went on to defeat the Oklahoma City Thunder in the NBA Finals in five games, capturing James his first championship.
Could James lean on that experience to help the Cavs get through their current predicament?
“Every situation's different,” James said after practice Tuesday. “That postseason is so far behind me. I would have to watch those games and see how we were able to go about our game plan, how we worked without C.B. C.B. was just as important as Kevin. I'll have to go back and watch it.”
James averaged 30 points, 10.8 rebounds and 6.2 assists in the series against Indiana after Bosh went out in Game 1. Miami went on to win in six games.
James said he will “possibly” review the tape from the Heat’s 2012 championship run in the next week as Cleveland awaits Game 1 on Monday against the winner of the first-round series between the Chicago Bulls and Milwaukee Bucks.
“Just to see what we were able to accomplish having one of our big guys out,” James said. “I won't get too far into it.”
Bosh returned for Games 5-7 against Boston in 2012 and made his presence known in the Finals, averaging 15.8 points, 9.4 rebounds and 1.2 blocks against the Thunder.
Love’s return, even if the Cavs make it to the Finals, isn’t guaranteed. “I still got a sliver of hope very late [in the playoffs], but highly unlikely,” Cavs general manager David Griffin said.
While David Blatt was overseas when James and the Heat went through their postseason bout without Bosh, the Cavs coach said Cleveland already got a taste of what it’s like to be undermanned in Game 4 against Boston and passed the test.
“I thought that the other guys really stepped up well. We had four players with double-doubles in the last game, and that says something,” Blatt said, referring to James (27 points, 10 rebounds), Kyrie Irving (24 points, 11 rebounds), Timofey Mozgov (12 points, 11 rebounds) and Iman Shumpert (15 points, 10 rebounds). “That’s without Kevin Love, who is our double-double guy. So other guys are stepping up, and other guys are recognizing the moment. We won a close-out game in Boston basically without two of our starters and that’s what we’re going to see come the beginning of the next series, whoever it may be. We’re ready to face that challenge and hungry to do so.”