Kevin Love sat on the sidelines for the majority of the Cavaliers’ run to the 2015 NBA Finals after separating his shoulder on May 4 against the Boston Celtics in the first round of the playoffs. Love’s return for the 2015-16 season opener has been somewhat in the air thus far, but a good sign is that he will be playing in the Cavs preseason game this Sunday in Toronto.
From Cavs head coach David Blatt, via Chris Haynes of Cleveland.com:
“He went through a full practice today, including live work,” Blatt said. “He’s ready to go. [He] will play Sunday.”
“It’s still going to be a work in progress in terms of getting his rhythm, getting him comfortable and getting game conditioning. That’s a reality,” Blatt said. “But it’s also reality that he’ll be out there and competing and what he can give us will be very, very welcomed and important. But he’s not going to be 100 percent right away and we recognize that, but everything we can get from him is valuable and important.”
Cleveland opens the season against the Bulls on Oct. 27. Their final preseason game is on Monday against the Mavericks at home, which gives Love just two chances at real game action before regular season action. As far as ensuring Love’s availability for opening night, David Blatt was straightforward:
“It would be nice, but it’s not critical,” Blatt said.
Being that Love and Cavs point guard Kyrie Irving, two of the three most talented players on the team, were set back by injuries last postseason, the main priority will be maintenance this season.
