Which Cavs Need To Step Up In Kevin Love's Absence?
Cleveland can't seem to keep the injury bug away early on in the season. The latest Cavalier dealing with an injury is Kevin Love who suffered a hairline fracture in his thumb in Cleveland's double overtime win against the Hornets on Friday night.
Even though he isn't a starter, Love plays a huge role on the Cavs as the team's six-man. He's the first one off the bench to check into the game when the roster is fully healthy. He's averaging 21.3 minutes a game, 11.3 PTS, and is shooting .409 percent from the arc.
Thankfully, the Cavs are being cautiously optimistic with the amount of time that K-Love is going to actually miss with the injury J.B. Bickerstaff said that "I don't think he'll be out long" and he's officially listed as day-to-day.
Even if Love doesn't miss too much time, he still won't be at 100 percent for some time. These players are going to need to step up in Love's absence and as he works through the injury.
Cedi Osman
With the Cavs losing one of their biggest bench pieces, another bench player is going to need to pick it up. In this case, that's Cedi Osman.
Outside of Love, Cedi is one of the best three-point shooters off the bench. He's shooting 38 percent from three on just over three attempts a game so far this season. He started off the season strong by averaging 11.5 PTS in the month of October but has only averaged 5.7 PTS in November.
Part of this drop in points per game may have to do with his usage percentage dropping as well. last month it was 18.9 percent but this month it's at 14.9. With Love out, there's a good chance we see Cedi's usage go back up along with his points per game.
Robin Lopez
Of course, Love's injury coincides with a knee injury that Dean Wade has been working through which leaves the power forward position thin. Thankfully, the Cavs have Robin Lopez on the roster.
Lopez has played just under 10 minutes a game in the nine games that he's appeared in this season. With the injury to Wade and now Love these minutes are guaranteed to increase.
This is exactly why the Cavs brought Lopez in though. He's a veteran who can fill in pretty much any role whether that be as a reserve or if he needs to run a little bit with the starters.
It's time for him to show his value on the Cavs team.
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