Cavaliers forward Kevin Love could miss Game 1 of the NBA Finals against the Warriors as he remains in concussion protocol, Cleveland coach Tyronn Lue told reporters Tuesday before the team flew to the Bay Area.
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Love suffered a concussion in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference finals last Friday when he knocked heads with Celtics rookie Jayson Tatum. Jeff Green started for Love in Game 7 and scored 19 points with eight rebounds in an 87-79 Cleveland victory Monday..
Ty Lue says that Kevin Love is still in the concussion protocol and he’s “not sure” if he’ll be available for Game 1.
— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) May 29, 2018
Unfortunately, Love has a history of missing time in the Finals. He missed a game in the 2016 Finals with a concussion and sat out the entire 2015 Finals with a separated shoulder.
He is averaging only 13.9 points per game in the playoffs after averaging 17.6 in the regular season. If he is to miss Game 1 (scheduled for Friday at 11:00am AEST), Green is expected to start and extra pressure will be on Kyle Korver, J.R. Smith and others to account for Love's scoring and rebounding ability.