Cavaliers' Kevin Love wants to play closer to basket on offense
Cleveland Cavaliers forward Kevin Love said he wants to spend more time closer to the basket on offense, Chris Haynes of Cleveland.com reports.
Love, who was traded from the Minnesota Timberwolves to the Cavaliers during the offseason, is adjusting to playing with fellow All-Stars LeBron James and Kyrie Irving. He has often been positioned on the perimeter in first-year head coach David Blatt's offense.
"My entire life I played the game from inside-out," Love said. "So the more touches I can get inside to get myself going, the better. I'm not accustomed to starting out a game shooting a three, so it's just something that I see."
"Yeah, the offense is built that way, but I just have to make a conscious decision to get myself in there," Love said. "There are a lot of times where I just find myself fading to the 3-point line. For me, it's a mentality and that's easy to fix."
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During the preseason, Love averaged 14.4 points and 7.8 rebounds in 24 minutes per game. After shooting 6.6 three-pointers per game last season with the Timberwolves, he averaged 4.4 attempts during the preseason.
As James' teammate with the Miami Heat, Chris Bosh also spent more time playing away from the basket. Earlier this month, Bosh said it would be "extremely difficult" for Love to deal with a reduced role while playing with James. During the first seven years of his career with the Raptors, Bosh only attempted 168 three-pointers. He shot more three-pointers each season he played with James, peaking last season with a career-high 218 attempts.
The Cavaliers open the regular season next Thursday against the New York Knicks at home.
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