Battle-Tested LeBron James-Kevin Love Partnership Reaching New Heights
In the immortal words of Meat Loaf, "Don't be sad, 'cause two out of three ain't bad."
The Cleveland Cavaliers are living, breathing, balling proof of as much. Despite spending the 2015-16 NBA season with two-thirds of their superstar tripod (and one game with just one-third), they've held firm to their firmament above the Eastern Conference this season.
The ever-more-dynamic duo of LeBron James and Kevin Love came through once again to lead the Cavs to a steady 89-77 win over the scrappy Boston Celtics on Tuesday.
Cleveland's healthy cornerstones took turns tormenting the team it swept out of the playoffs this past spring.
Love, in his return to the scene where Kelly Olynyk "unscrewed" his shoulder, came shooting out of the gate. He scored 11 of his 20 points in the first quarter, dished out four of his team-high five assists in the third and hit a pair of quick jumpers in the fourth to give the Cavaliers a double-digit lead for good.
James, meanwhile, did the bulk of his work in between.
When Love struggled in the second (0-of-3 from the field), James came through with eight of his 24 points to keep Cleveland's offense moving. And when Love dished and banged in the third frame, James turned one of his partner's passes into a score and one of his rebounds into a reverse slam.
It was the seventh time in eight tries this season that Cleveland won a game in which James and Love each scored 20 points. That's well ahead of that tandem's pace from 2014-15, when the Cavs went 10-4 in those 20-20 games.
Such is the benefit of those two having prior experience playing with one another—and building chemistry over that time. James and Love play like BFFs now, but they weren't exactly chummy when they initially came together after a blockbuster trade with the Minnesota Timberwolves in August 2014.
Love said on ESPN's Mike & Mike this past March, per Northeast Ohio Media Group's Joe Vardon:
"You know, we're not best friends, we're not hanging out every day, but we see each other every day, whether we're at the practice facility, whether we're on the road or going to a game. I think our relationship is also evolving. I could say the same with each and every coach, coach Blatt, and each and every player on the team. But, that's part of the NBA.
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But where once conflict and poor communication marked a relationship worthy of sports tabloids, now there's peace and prosperity whenever James and Love share the floor. They were among those in the middle of the tumult that engulfed this team through much of its first go-round. And, like the team as a whole, they fit together much better these days, in terms of both style of play and overall happiness.
Cavaliers head coach David Blatt told Sports Illustrated's Chris Mannix:
"All of us went through not an easy year last year, in terms of the adjustment, in terms of the attention, in terms of the tremendous expectations people have for the team and the challenge we have to meet those expectations. We all came back this year a lot more comfortable with our situation and in our own skin.
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That much was clear at TD Garden, where James and Love owned the parquet court, as illustrated by their stats, courtesy of Conrad Kaczmarek:
And, really, that's been clear all season. If not for Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook in Oklahoma City and Stephen Curry and any one of the next three top scorers in Oakland (Klay Thompson, Draymond Green or Harrison Barnes), James and Love would be the highest-scoring teammates in the NBA.
| Durant + Westbrook | OKC | 53.6 |
| Curry + Thompson | GSW | 50.2 |
| Curry + Green | GSW | 46.2 |
| Curry + Barnes | GSW | 45.7 |
| James + Love | CLE | 44.2 |
The Cavs have needed every bit of brilliance those two All-Stars have had to offer. Cleveland's roster has been riddled with injuries from the opening tip in October.
Timofey Mozgov has missed three games with a bum shoulder and has been hobbling around on a surgically repaired knee all season. Mo Williams and J.R. Smith, in what would otherwise be the team's second-string backcourt, have missed a handful of outings each.
As for the presumptive starting backcourt, Kyrie Irving and Iman Shumpert are still out of sorts. The latter, who recently returned from a broken wrist, fell victim to a groin injury in Boston and is expected to miss Cleveland's next outing as a result, per ESPN.com's Dave McMenamin.
Irving, on the other hand, is reportedly ready to make his season debut—and chomping at the bit to do so—but the Cavs are in no rush to have him test his healed knee cap in live action. As McMenamin wrote:
"Making matters less dire, the Cavs have proven they can play .650 ball without Irving. Sure, with him maybe they could be playing .800 ball as they did in the second half of last season. But that temptation to see Cleveland in its full form at this early stage of the season does not outweigh the franchise’s plan to be whole when it matters most.
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In the meantime, Cleveland is whole enough to make hay in the East. At 16-7, the Cavaliers remain kings of their conference, courtesy of a best-in-the-NBA 13 wins (13-6 overall) against the league's improving half.
When the three you have are as gifted as Cleveland's, two at any given time is pretty good. And when the third returns, the Cavs could be downright special.
Josh Martin covers the NBA for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter.
