Kevin Love Reminds Cavaliers How Important He Is to Cleveland's Title Hopes

Until the Cleveland Cavaliers' 116-78 shellacking of the Toronto Raptors in Game 5, the Eastern Conference Finals hadn't been particularly kind to Kevin Love. 

He was useful during the two series-opening victories, though his combined 33 points didn't shine too brightly, falling on the backburners as the Cavs steamrolled their way to 10 straight playoff wins. But when the contests shifted to the Air Canada Centre, he all but disappeared. 

In Game 3, Love recorded just three points, four rebounds and two assists while shooting 1-of-9 from the field. He followed that up with another stinker—10 points and seven rebounds on a 4-of-14 showing—and couldn't even get on the court during the fourth quarter. Again. 

"To try to put Kevin back in with four minutes to go in the fourth quarter in a hostile game, hostile environment, it's not fair to him," Cleveland head coach Tyronn Lue said after the game, per Cleveland.com's Chris Fedor. "Channing [Frye] gave us a great lift off the bench, and we just rolled with it."

To be fair, Love had slightly injured his knee after tripping over a referee. But the concern over his uninspired play still reached a fever pitch, as it was far easier to assume his shoddy defense and missing shot had rendered him virtually unusable during crunch time.

Dunk attempts like this didn't help: 

Before the postseason, it would've been reasonable to assume a slightly injured Love was still more valuable to the Cavaliers than Frye. But that wasn't the case in Toronto, and the result was a set of Raptors victories leveling the series at two games apiece—a development flat-out inconceivable when Cleveland was 10-0 and looking invincible. 

In Game 5, that needed to change. This wasn't just about Cleveland wrestling back the lead in the NBA's penultimate round, but also imbuing itself with confidence before heading back into hostile territory for Game 6. Beyond that, the Cavs had to begin rolling again before facing whichever juggernaut the Western Conference would inevitably turn out.

As Bleacher Report's Greg Swartz so artfully explained, it did indeed change: 

Love didn't play in the fourth quarter yet again, but his Wednesday night absence was for an entirely different reason.

He and the rest of his teammates were so dominant his presence was unnecessary during the final few minutes, which saw the benchwarmers help the already massive lead swell to over 40 points.

During his 24 minutes, the power forward exploded for 25 points, two rebounds, two assists, one steal and two blocks while shooting 8-of-10 from the field, 3-of-4 from beyond the arc and 6-of-6 from the charity stripe. And still, it wasn't the gaudy numbers that were impressive, so much as the dizzying array of skills he showcased during the blowout. 

Love has always been an outlet-pass master, but that part of his game sometimes seems suppressed when everything else isn't working. Not so in Game 5, as you can tell from this bullet of a feed to a streaking LeBron James:

He also showed confidence in his full range of offensive abilities within the half-court set. Whether he was spotting up on the perimeter and hitting a contested triple or drawing Luis Scola into awkward position with a pump before driving toward the hoop, he was in complete control of the proceedings. 

His abilities didn't diminish in transition, either:

Even on defense, he looked locked in, eager to prove he was a two-way player at this important stage of the NBA calendar. 

In Games 3 and 4, the Cavaliers were outscored by a combined 10 points while he was on the floor. Per NBA.com, they did the outscoring this time around, embarrassing their foes to the tune of a plus-31 margin while Love was strutting his vastly improved stuff. Afterward, Lue had changed his tone rather significantly: 

There's still no telling whether this is a sustainable development. He could easily regress when the Cavaliers try to close out the series in Toronto. He could also play well while helping Cleveland advance to its second straight NBA Finals, only to crumble on the biggest stage of his basketball career. 

Nonetheless, this can't be construed as anything other than an unmitigated positive.

Love began to rediscover confidence in his own abilities—confidence that had been nonexistent over the past few outings. He realized just how effective he could be when he wasn't content settling for ill-advised triples and instead attacked the hoop with aplomb. He saw what could happen when he exerted effort on the point-preventing end. 

Above all else, he remembered just how vital a piece he could be. 

Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports

Throughout the season, the Cavs performed at a higher level when the starting power forward was on the floor. With him riding the bench, they outscored the opposition by just 3.2 points per 100 possessions, but that net rating skyrocketed to 8.7 when he played.

Even during the playoffs, Cleveland has topped its foes by an extra 8.4 points per 100 possessions with him on the hardwood. 

James is rolling through the postseason, often serving as a one-man wrecking crew who fills up the box score nightly. Kyrie Irving has played like he wants his own shot at Finals MVP, even locking down on the defensive end when needed. Tristan Thompson has dominated the offensive glass, creating countless second chances. 

The sharpshooters are (mostly) hitting their shots. The role players are filling their roles. Lue is thriving during his first opportunity to coach playoff basketball. 

When everyone is humming, the Cavaliers can look the part of a championship outfit. But unless Love can build upon this performance and reintegrate himself into Cleveland's schemes, actually becoming champions will be a much tougher task. 

Finally, the power forward displayed clear-cut signs that could still happen. 

Adam Fromal covers the NBA for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter @fromal09.

Unless otherwise indicated, all stats are from Basketball-Reference.com, Adam's own databases or NBAMath.com.