By Mark Bacon
The Cleveland Cavaliers are better against the Golden State Warriors when Kevin Love is not on the floor.
In the two games Cleveland have played with Love, they've lost to Golden State by 48 points. In the seven games he has been out over the past two years, they've been a different squad against the Warriors. Without Love, the Cavs competed in almost every contest in last year's Finals, and it just won Game 3 on Wednesday night at home, handing the Dubs their worst loss of Steve Kerr’s tenure 120-90.
There have been whispers that were more like loud murmurs coming from Golden State before this series and after the first two wins that they felt more confident with Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving in the lineup than they did last year against the bigger, slower team left over after Love and Irving were hurt. The Warriors isolate Love, hunt him down in pick-and-roll situations and hammer him. Speed by him with Curry. Power past him with Harrison Barnes and Andre Iguodala. Hammer him with bigs. Force help, create space and exploit the matchup.
Without Love, in Game 3, the Cavaliers turned to 35-year-old NBA journeyman Richard Jefferson ... yeah, RICHARD JEFFERSON! ... and their defense improved considerably. Jefferson cuts to the rim are more crisp, and defensively, the Cavs were able to stay home on switches without bringing help. Combine that with a terrific performance from Irving (30 points on 12-of-25 shooting) -- and a horrific Warriors effort that Draymond Green decried -- and we witnessed an absolute demolition of the mighty Warriors.
The Love dynamic has been complicated from the start in Cleveland. Love was pretty much ignored in David Blatt's offense, he struggled with "fitting in" which LeBron James did not take well and there was widespread speculation he might depart via free agency. Instead, after a pool-side talk with LBJ before free agency, he re-signed on a max five-year deal. And began the season with a bang. Then Irving returned ... and the same problems resurfaced. But still, lineups with Love and the Big 2 on the court were dominant. Love contributed multiple 20-plus-point performances as the Cavs blew through the Eastern Conference into the Finals.
But here we are again, wondering how the Cavs are better with a 35-year-old journeyman than the max contract superstar who cost them Andrew Wiggins in a trade that looks worse by the day.) Whatever this means for the future is speculative. A rumored possible trade of Love (long rumored to likely involve Boston), the bigger picture, that can wait.
The Cavaliers face another must-win Game 4. They put the Warriors on their ass in Round 3, but going back to the Bay down 3-1 would spell certain doom. Charles Barkley said on NBA TV on Wednesday night that the Cavaliers need to (and will) start Love in Game 4; that they got to this point with him.
In truth, they don't have that luxury. The Cavs, despite the 30-point margin of victory in Game 3, have zero margin for error. They can't mess around or trust the process. They've found something that works vs. the Warriors and must pound it with a jackhammer. They can't trust and hope on a matchup that has shown no promise.
That's not to say Love should sit entirely. Start Jefferson, deploy Love in situational lineups where he can have success in against the Warriors' bench unit (which have been huge for Golden State and terrible for the Cavs) and worry about the long-term ramifications later. Love might even flourish in a different situation. But what they cannot do is charge back into the face of the Warriors' starters with Love.
In other words, the question is now: Can this great Cavaliers team beat this all-time Warriors team with Love as their third-best player? The evidence says no. That's no referendum on Love's career, nor does it diminish his significant contributions as a passer, scorer and rebounder.
Growing evidence suggests that whatever formula Cleveland needs to beat the Warriors team in four of seven games, Love is not central to that equation.
There's no getting around it. The Cavaliers have been better without Love vs. the Warriors.
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