Sometimes when it rains, it pours.Recently losing ground in the Eastern Conference standings, the Cleveland Cavaliers have not only had on-court struggles, but have also seemingly had to deal with off-court dysfunction this season.However, it’s never smart to count any LeBron James-led team out. After all, James has appeared in each of the past seven NBA Finals and the Cavaliers have won the Eastern Conference for three-straight years.Heading into Tuesday’s game against the depleted Detroit Pistons (who traded away multiple players in exchange for Blake Griffin, who also didn’t suit up for the game), the Cavaliers were fully expected to dominate and get back on track with their third win in a row after dropping six out of seven previous contests.But, not only did Cleveland embarrassingly lose the game, giving up 124 points, but they also lost one of their star players in the process. It could mean major trouble for a team that has now lost 11 of their last 16 games overall.Midway through the first quarter, Kevin Love attempted to reign in an entry pass in the paint, but failed to bring it in. Detroit’s Anthony Tolliver was involved in the play, and it appears as though Love immediately knew something was wrong when his hand got tangled up with the defense. Take a look at how it went down:
The All-Star instantly grabbed his left hand and exited the court to undergo x-rays in the locker room.
The diagnosis revealed a non-displaced fracture of the fifth metatarsal in his left hand.
This isn’t the first time Love has suffered this type of injury. In fact, it’s happened twice before.
Most importantly, the Cavs will now have to manage without Love for up to two months.
It goes without saying that this injury can have massive short and long-term consequences in Cleveland. Not only is the All-Star an elite scorer, three-point shooter and rebounder, but Cleveland now has no shot of trading him if that was part of the plan. Since LeBron James can test the free agent market in the summer, the injury now not only makes the team significantly worse on the offensive end of the floor, but it also destroys any chance of a blockbuster deal aimed at keeping LeBron in Cleveland next year and beyond. Love has constantly been the scapegoat among his teammates ever since he was traded to the Cavs, so he would have been a logical player to move.
Since Love will be out of action from this point forward, he will miss the upcoming All-Star Game, which will continue to make commissioner Adam Silver a very busy guy. After DeMarcus Cousins tore his Achilles tendon a few days ago, Silver had to replace him with Paul George on Team LeBron. Then, when news broke that John Wall would miss time due to knee surgery, the commissioner named Andre Drummond to Team LeBron as well.
Apparently third time’s a charm and it appears as though Team LeBron might be cursed. Now, it seems as though Silver will have to pick between Philadelphia 76ers rookie Ben Simmons, Charlotte Hornets point guard Kemba Walker and Miami Heat point guard Goran Dragic to take Love’s spot.