Kevin Love suffered a thumb injury in the Cleveland Cavaliers 100-98 victory over the Indiana Pacers in Game 2 of the first-round of the 2017-18 NBA playoffs. Love, who had 15 points and eight rebounds before leaving the game with the injury, was seen on the sidelines in the fourth quarter having his hand examined. Tyronn Lue never brought Love back into the game and many Cavs fans wondered if Love was going to miss Game 3 of the NBA playoff opening round. After the game, Lue gave an update on his valuable power forward.
Kevin Love injury problems
This isn't the first injury for Kevin Love this season and the Cleveland Cavaliers have had to play on without their second best player for way too many games already. This is the second consecutive season -- and the fifth time in 10 years -- that Love has had to miss more than 10 games in an NBA season.
As a matter of fact, Kevin Love missed almost the entire last full month of the NBA season, falling to an injury in January with a broken hand and not returning until the week before the 2017-18 NBA playoffs started up. He missed 21 games in that stretch of the season. He also suffered a tooth injury the final week of the season that caused concussion issues.
The good news for Cleveland Cavaliers fans is that Kevin Love won't likely miss Game 3 against the Indiana Pacers.
Tyronn Lue said that Love was "good" and the only reason he didn't bring the power forward back into the game after his thumb injury was because he was happy with the way the Cavs were playing at the time and didn't want to disrupt the chemistry.
The Cavs plans for Game 3
While Kevin Love is going to play in Game 3 of the Cleveland Cavaliers first-round NBA playoff series against the Indiana Pacers, he might get to rest a little more than usual.
Both Tristan Thompson, who did not play at all in Game 2, and Larry Nance Jr., who was on the court for 24 minutes, will get playing time if Love rests.
So far in the Indiana Pacers series, the Cleveland Cavaliers lost the first game and won the second. Kevin Love played 34 minutes in each game and has averaged 13.3 points and 13.1 rebounds a game in the two contests.
On the other hand, Larry Nance Jr. has averaged only six points and five rebounds, averaging 27 minutes a game. Jeff Green, who started in Game 1 for the Cleveland Cavaliers, only played 13 minutes in Game 2 and has only two points and six rebounds combined in the two games.
The Cleveland Cavaliers went small in Game 2, with Kyle Korver, J.R. Smith and George Hill getting the start alongside Kevin Love and LeBron James.
