Kevin Love Injury Update: Cleveland Cavaliers' Star Could Miss NBA Finals Game 1 Against Warriors

The Cleveland Cavaliers are going to need all the help they can get if they want any chance of upsetting the Golden State Warriors in the 2018 NBA Finals. That includes production from Kevin Love, though it’s uncertain if the forward will even play in the series opener.

Cavaliers head coach Tyronn Lue told reporters Tuesday that Love remains in the NBA’s concussion protocol, making his status for Game 1 unknown. Love left Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals after colliding with Jayson Tatum and didn’t play in Cleveland’s Game 7 win over the Boston Celtics.

Game 1 is set for Thursday night, six days after Love suffered his injury. Love left a regular-season game against the Miami Heat with a concussion on March 27. He missed the next night’s contest and returned to the floor on March 30.

It was just two years ago that a concussion forced Love to miss an NBA Finals game against the Warriors. Cleveland defeated Golden State in Game 3 of the 2016 Finals when Love was sidelined. He came back in Game 4, five days after getting hurt in Game 2.

The Cavs didn’t exactly miss Love in his absence against Boston. Cleveland won Game 6 comfortably, outscoring the Celtics by 14 points after Love went to the locker room midway through the first quarter. Jeff Green took Love’s spot in the starting lineup as the Cavs won Game 7, 87-79.

Green was Cleveland’s second-best player in Game 7, scoring 19 points on 50 percent shooting with eight rebounds. The veteran scored 14 points on 10 shots in Game 6.

LeBron James, of course, is the biggest reason why Cleveland came back from a 3-2 series deficit. He totaled 81 points, 26 rebounds and 18 assists without Love.

Love has struggled mightily against the Warriors on the NBA’s biggest stage. After missing the 2015 NBA Finals with a shoulder injury, the power forward averaged just 7.3 points and 5.9 rebounds per game while shooting 36.2 percent from the field in 2016. Love shot below 40 percent from the field again last year, averaging 16.0 points and 11.2 rebounds per game.

Cleveland won’t be able to survive a poor showing from Love like they did in 2016. That Cavs’ team had Kyrie Irving as their No.2 scorer, and they were facing a Warriors’ team that had yet to sign Kevin Durant.

James leads the Cavs with 34.0 points per game on 54.2 percent shooting this postseason. It’s a steep drop off to Love, who’s second on the team with 13.9 points per game on 38.8 percent shooting. No other Cavs are scoring in double digits.

Love is grabbing 10.0 rebounds per game, and he’s had a few moments in which he’s looked like the player that made the All-Star team. Those, by in large, came against the Toronto Raptors in the second round when Love scored more than 20 points on at least 50 percent shooting three times.

Love averaged 24 points and 12.5 rebounds on 41.2 percent shooting in two regular-season games against the Warriors. Cleveland lost both contests.