CLEVELAND: Kevin Love is expected to play Friday and it’s likely he will come off the bench in Game 4 of the NBA Finals, a league source told the Beacon Journal.
Love still has another medical examination he must pass on Friday before he is cleared from the league’s concussion protocol, but he took part in some on-court shooting drills Thursday and the team is privately confident he will be available to play.
Coach Tyronn Lue would not discuss Love’s role on Thursday, insisting he hadn’t given it much thought. While one source stressed no final decision had been made, it’s likely at this point Love will be a reserve for the first time since April 14, 2010 — the final game of his second year in the league.
When asked generally about how he handles lineup changes, Lue said it’s important to be honest.
“They might not like it at the time, but I’ve always learned in this business if you tell the truth, guys understand and they know what the truth is,” Lue said. “They might be mad for a second, but they can always get back to understanding and realize that’s the right thing. And if you tell the truth, guys can respect that.”
The Cavs beat the Warriors 120-90 in Game 3 Wednesday for their first win in this series while Love sat. Lue inserted Richard Jefferson into the starting lineup, moved LeBron James to power forward and the Cavs flourished with their best game of the series.
The Cavs have privately been concerned for months how Love matches up defensively against the Warriors, with one team executive offering during the regular season that Love may have to become the Cavs’ version of David Lee — the high-priced, high-scoring forward who came off the bench last year to help spark the Warriors to a championship.
Love signed a five-year, $110 million deal last summer. Bringing him off the bench now can go one of two ways — it will either take some of the pressure off him or it will damage his confidence. The Cavs, of course, are hopeful for the former. To this point, one source said, Love has been open to the idea.
The Warriors shot 42 percent in Game 3 when both Klay Thompson and Steph Curry struggled to find a rhythm and James neutralized Draymond Green. The always outspoken Green said he didn’t see any difference with James at power forward instead of Love.
“There ain’t no X’s-and-O’s adjustment they made [that] worked. They punked us. That was the gist of it,” Green said. “I continually try to figure out, what adjustment can they make? I didn’t think there was an adjustment they can make other than to play harder than us. And that’s what they did.”
Green scored six points on 2-of-8 shooting in Game 3 while grabbing seven rebounds and passing for seven assists. He scored 28 points in the Warriors’ 33-point victory at home in Game 2.
“I need to be more active … on the offensive end,” Green said. “I don’t think I was that active or aggressive [Wednesday], so I’ll be more aggressive and I like my chances.”
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.