INDEPENDENCE: During the early weeks of the season, when Kyrie Irving was still working his way back from knee surgery, LeBron James went out of his way to call Kevin Love the focal point of the Cavaliers’ offense.
It was a tough sell at times — Love even questioned the veracity of it — but James insists it’s still true. Despite Kyrie Irving this week calling himself and James two of the best closers in the game, James is still standing by his belief the Cavs’ offense runs through Love.
“If you look at the way we’re playing now, he’s still the focal point,” James said the morning of Game 4 against the Detroit Pistons. “Kev is getting a lot of touches on the interior and he’s coming through for us. We need him to come through for us and he’s taken that challenge, so that hasn’t changed.”
Indeed, Love was again terrific in the first round for the second time in as many seasons. He struggled with his shot in Sunday’s closeout victory, but that can be attributed to a hard fall he took on his right shoulder near the end of the first quarter. The arm bothered him the rest of the night. Otherwise, Love was terrific in the series, averaging 21.3 points and 11.7 rebounds. He shot 44 percent from 3-point range through the first three games before his shoulder problems in Game 4.
Love was equally good in the first-round series last year before suffering a shoulder injury in Game 4. He has no good explanation for why he struggled during both regular seasons to fit in, but suddenly looks great in the postseason. But he was one of the players throughout the year who maintained when it was time to shine in the playoffs, he and the team would both be ready.
So far, so good.
As for being the focal point, Love still has his doubts.
“I wonder how [James] defines that?” Love asked. “I feel like when we’re all engaged, myself included, we’re all naturally big, big focal points to this team. I think right now we’re going to be tough to beat if we all have that narrow vision.”
Some of the Cavs’ best lineups in the first round — and presumably for the rest of this postseason — include Love at center. The Cavs tinkered with it at times during the regular season and had great success with it against the Pistons.
When Joe Johnson was a free agent and choosing where to go, Cavs players privately envisioned their own “death lineup” with Kyrie Irving and J.R. Smith in the backcourt, Johnson at small forward and James at power forward. Love would’ve been the center.
As it is, the Cavs are missing a key piece to possessing their own death lineup. Love sidestepped the question Thursday if whether or not the Cavs have a lineup that can move the ball, play inside or outside and defend.
They can use Iman Shumpert as the third guard, but Shumpert is struggling through the worst shooting season of his career. Matthew Dellavedova doesn’t provide the same type of athleticism or post-up ability and Tristan Thompson doesn’t have the range or passing skills of other big men.
Still, the Cavs are managing to get by just fine with the lineups they do possess. As for Love, he hasn’t made an All-Star game in two years since coming to the Cavs and has struggled to fit in so badly at times his stock has seemingly dropped in the world of public perception. He insists, however, he’s the same all-around elite talent he was when the Cavs acquired him from the Minnesota Timberwolves. His brief playoff career confirms that.
“I don’t need to justify what I’m capable of,” Love said. “Kind of the same thing with All-Star, too. I don’t need that to justify how I feel about my game and where I think my value is in this league. I know what I’m capable of. I’m willing to show it.”
David Blatt endorsement
Cavs coach Tyronn Lue gave former coach David Blatt a strong endorsement one day after reports circulated that the New York Knicks interviewed him to be their coach.
“He definitely deserves another chance,” Lue said. “I thought Coach Blatt did a great and phenomenal job here. He taught me a lot. Just being friends with him and getting a chance to understand him was great for me. I know a lot of guys around here, we talked about it the other day, they miss him and his presence. I would just like to keep in contact with him. Hopefully, he gets another job in this league because he deserves it.”
Blatt interviewed with Knicks president Phil Jackson on Monday, according to multiple reports. He was fired at the halfway point of this season despite a 30-11 record and first place in the East. Blatt played with Knicks general manager Steve Mills at Princeton.
Dribbles
Smith returned to practice Thursday after sitting out Wednesday with a sore groin. The injury isn’t considered serious and Smith is expected to be ready for Monday’s Game 1. … While Smith, James and Irving threw a football around after practice, Love was asked who on the team would make the best quarterback. “Ever seen Tristan throw a football? OK, not Tristan,” Love joked before finally settling on Smith.
Jason Lloyd can be reached at jlloyd@thebeaconjournal.com. Read the Cavs blog at www.ohio.com/cavs. Follow him on Twitter www.twitter.com/JasonLloydABJ.