NBA Rumors: Kevin Love Permitted To Travel Amidst Head Injury; May Not Join Game 3 Finals
Cleveland Cavaliers forward Kevin Love has been recently cleared to travel with his teammates following a concussion which forced him to leave the court for locker room tests and observations in the third quarter of Game 2 in the Finals. A Cavs spokesman said that Love was with his teammates on their flight back to Cleveland.
"When we came back out in the third quarter, you could see in a timeout he looked kind of woozy. And then he went back on the floor for a second, and then we had to get him off the floor," Cleveland coach Tyronn Lue as quoted in a report by the Inquistr.
It remains to be seen whether Love is available to help unload some of the hefty hardcourt job off LeBron James' and Kyrie Irving's shoulders in Game 3 if he ever returns to play in the remainder of the NBA Finals at all. Meanwhile, official injury report listed him as 'day to day.'
According NBA concussion protocol, Love would have to undergo medical evaluation in the next 24 hours from the time the injury took place. He is also not allowed to get back on the court to play for at least the next 48 hours and must comply all the subsequent steps to ensure he is symptom-free from concussion.
Warriors' player Harrison Barnes accidentally elbowed Love in the back of the head as the former aimed for a rebound in the second quarter. After getting hit, Love quickly fell to the floor and remained down as the game dragged on. Luckily for Love, Draymond Green avoided a hard landing on the Cavs forward as he lunged forward to score a basket before getting fouled.
In his 21-minute play on the court, Love scored five points on two-of-seven shooting. The star forward is playing his first title run after missing the Finals last year due to should injury. In Game 1, he scored 17 points and posted 13 rebounds. If he will be unable to play for the rest of best-of-seven series, the Cavaliers would have no choice but to unload his duties to Channing Frye, SB Nation reported.
The next home turf Game 3 is pivotal for Cavaliers' chance at bouncing back. As per NBA record, no team has ever recovered after being swept away in the first three games. The 110-77 humiliating Game 2 loss seemed to have demoralized a team poised to give the Warriors a serious beating.
"I got myself in a lot of trouble tonight, personally," James said as quoted by LA Times. "I had basically half our turnovers when I came out, and it resulted in them getting some easy baskets. I've just got to be more solid."
