Cavs' All-Star forward Love could be out until 'new year'

CLEVELAND - Kevin Love may not be back until sometime in 2019 following foot surgery.

Love had an operation on November 2 to relieve pain and pressure in his big left toe, which he injured in the club's preseason opener. At the time, the team said Love would be out at least six weeks and his status would be updated in "approximately" when that period ended.

On Tuesday (Wednesday Manila time), Love said in an interview on ESPN that he expects "to be back sometime after the new year." Love said he's going to in a restrictive boot for two more weeks.


"There's just no telling at this time with the weight-bearing injury what it is going to be like moving forward," he said.

Love's loss was a devastating blow for the reeling and rebuilding Cavs, who are a league-worst 2-13 heading into Wednesday's (Thursday Manila time) game against LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers.

A five-time All-Star, Love signed a four-year, $120 million contract extension this summer.

source: philstar.com

LeBron, back in Boston, for another Cavs farewell

BOSTON- LeBron James and the depleted Cleveland Cavaliers won’t get any sympathy from the Celtics when they return to Boston for Game 7 of the Eastern Conference finals.

Already laboring to reach his eighth straight NBA Finals with a supporting crew made mostly of cast-offs and throw-ins, James lost the only other All-Star on the roster on Saturday (Sunday in Manila) when Kevin Love was declared out for the series finale with a concussion.

Now, in what could be his final game in a Cleveland uniform — again — James will have to do it largely on his own.

In Boston, where the Celtics are perfect so far this postseason.

And in a series where the road team hasn’t really even come close.

“There’s something different about LeBron, period,” Cleveland forward Larry Nance Jr. said after James scored 46 with 11 rebounds and nine assists on Friday night (Saturday in Manila) to send the series to a decisive seventh game. “I think (coach Tyronn Lue) said it best: ‘We’re going into a Game 7 with the baddest dude on the planet on our team.’ I like our chances.”

James is having what could be the best postseason of his career, averaging 33.9 points and just under nine assists and rebounds, with seven 40-point games, two buzzer beaters, and a sweep of top-seeded Toronto. But he’s played in every game this season — Sunday (Monday in Manila) will be his 100th — and it showed in the Game 5 loss to the Celtics.

He admitted to fatigue afterward and then played all but two minutes in Game 6 despite a sore knee from a collision with Nance.

Still, the four-time MVP carried his team even after Love banged heads with Boston’s Jayson Tatum in the first half and left the game.


“I can’t say enough good things about him,” Celtics coach Brad Stevens said. “Every time we watch. Every time you’re standing out there. Every time you watch him on film. Best player in the game.”

James will probably have to do it again in Game 7 to reach the NBA Finals for the eighth straight year, something accomplished only by Bill Russell and some of his Celtics teammates in the 1960s.

Lue said he wasn’t concerned about James’ leg. Or about the team’s history in the TD Garden, where the Cavaliers lost the first three games by an average of 17 points.

“We throw it all out,” Lue said on Saturday. “It’s one game left to go to the NBA Finals.”

The Celtics have had their own injury problems, starting in the first quarter of the season opener — at Cleveland — when top free agent Gordon Hayward went out for the year with a broken leg. Five-time All-Star Kyrie Irving, acquired from the Cavaliers in an offseason roster overhaul, needed knee surgery and was lost in March.

But they caught a break when Tatum was cleared to play on Saturday. Stevens said the team doctors checked on him “and he’s great.”

“So nothing there as far as to be concerned about,” Stevens said.

Well, there’s one thing to be concerned about.

“We know LeBron is different than a lot of other guys, but we’ve got to get the job done,” Celtics guard Terry Rozier said. “That’s no excuse, so we’re looking forward to it.”

For James, it’s an opportunity to extend the season for his hometown team and put off another summer of questions about his future. Eight years ago, he came to Boston for the conference semifinals and had a triple-double — 27 points, 19 rebounds and 10 assists — but shot 8 for 21 with nine turnovers and the Celtics eliminated the Cavs from the playoffs.

As he left the court, James stripped off his Cleveland jersey; then came “The Decision” and the move to Miami.

James is again able to become a free agent this season, with the Lakers, 76ers and Rockets among the most-mentioned destinations. Having led Cleveland to the city’s first major sports title in half a century in 2016, there is less pulling at him to stay home this time.

But another title would ease the pain even more. And with the injury bug hitting the Western Conference finalists — Chris Paul was the latest ruled out for a game — the East champion might not be as big an underdog as expected.

James will be ready.

“You’ve got to be poised. You’ve got to be able to handle a punch or two,” he said. “We know it’s challenging. They’re 10-0 on their home floor, and they’ve been very successful against us, obviously, at home. But if you love challenges, then this is a great opportunity.”

source: philstar.com

Timberwolves reach .500 mark with win over 76ers

PHILADELPHIA — The Minnesota Timberwolves routed the Philadelphia 76ers 126-95 Monday night to once again reach the .500 mark.

Now the Timberwolves (17-17) want something more.

“We need to get over that hump,” forward Kevin Love said after a 26-point performance. “It’s something we need to get past.”

Minnesota has not been above the break-even mark since Nov. 23, when the T-wolves beat Houston to move to 8-7. Monday marked the eighth time they have been right at .500 since then. On each of the previous seven occasions, they have lost their next game.

Center Nikola Pekovic added 16 points and 14 rebounds for the T-wolves, who in snapping Philadelphia’s season-high four-game winning streak scored their most points of the season. They also sank a season-high 16 3-pointers on 26 attempts (61.5 percent).

Love, who shot 7-for-12 in all, went 4-for-7 from the arc. Guard Kevin Martin, who finished with 18 points, drilled three 3-pointers, as did guard/forward Corey Brewer and guard J.J. Barea. Brewer and Barea finished with 15 and 13 points, respectively.

Minnesota coach Rick Adelman called it “a really solid win” for his club, which has beaten Philadelphia five straight times.

“I just liked the way we played, and our attitude, too,” he said.

Forward Thaddeus Young, just named Eastern Conference Player of the Week, had 20 points to pace Philadelphia (12-22), which was coming off a six-game road trip. But coach Brett Brown was not eager to blame the loss on fatigue.

“I do think that there is a physical side of what you saw tonight,” he said, “but the mental side of it upsets me far more. I feel that, I see that, far more than I do a fatigue factor.”

The Sixers turned the ball over 23 times, after averaging just 13.5 during their winning streak. Those miscues led to 30 Minnesota points. The Timberwolves also owned a 53-40 rebounding advantage.

“That’s not us,” Brown said of his team’s effort. “That’s not who we are. That’s not a reflection of the improvement that we have made, and it’s no reflection of them as competitors.”

The game was tied nine times in the first 17 minutes, the last time at 46-46 on a basket by Sixers guard Michael Carter-Williams with 7:06 left in the first half. But the Timberwolves ended the second quarter on a 24-8 spree to take a 70-54 lead at the break. Pekovic registered eight of his points in that stretch, and finished the half with 10.

Brewer led Minnesota with 15 in the half, and Young topped the Sixers with 15.

The T-wolves then limited the Sixers to 8-for-23 shooting while outscoring them 35-20 in the third quarter, a period that saw Love score 16 of his points.

NOTES: F Kevin Love has scored 20 points or more in 14 consecutive games, the longest streak by a T-wolves player since Kevin Garnett eclipsed the 20-point mark in 16 straight in 2003. … Sixers F Thaddeus Young became the second Sixer to be named Eastern Conference Player of the Week this season, after averaging 25 points and nearly eight rebounds in three victories between Dec. 30 and Jan. 5. Coach Brett Brown called Young “a gentleman” and said he boasts an “elite” skill set. “He’s a good person,” Brown said, “who puts in a lot of time and is now exploring different skills at 25 years old.” … G Michael-Carter Williams had been honored earlier. It is the first time since the ’01-02 season two Philadelphia players have been named Player of the Week in the same season. Allen Iverson and Eric Snow did it that year. … Young also averaged 26.4 points over his previous seven games, a hot streak that came immediately after his name surfaced in trade rumors. “It’s always motivation, any time somebody says anything negative or tries to put a block in front of you,” he said. “My mindset is to always crush that block or go through it.” … The Timberwolves’ game against the San Antonio Spurs, originally scheduled for Dec. 4 in Mexico City, has been rescheduled for Tuesday, April 8 at 7 p.m. CT at Target Center in Minneapolis. … The Sixers were without G Tony Wroten (flulike symptoms). … Minnesota C Ronny Turiaf returned after missing the previous 31 games with a fractured right elbow. … T-wolves F Luc Richard Mbah a Moute sat out his second straight with a strained groin.

source: interaksyon.com