Tyronn Lue Says Cavs Knew About Kevin Love's Knee Injury Before Loss vs. Thunder

Cleveland Cavaliers head coach Tyronn Lue provided more information about Kevin Love's knee injury that required surgery Tuesday and will keep the All-Star forward out for six weeks. 

Prior to Wednesday's game against the Indiana Pacers at Quicken Loans Arena, Lue told reporters Love played through knee soreness against the Oklahoma City Thunder on the second night of a back-to-back.

"It was already [hurt]; loose bodies were already in there, so he just played through it, and then after it got to a certain point, he got the MRI, and he found out it was loose bodies floating around," Lue said, per Joe Vardon of Cleveland.com. 

Lue contemplated resting Love, LeBron James and Kyrie Irving against the Thunder before deciding to use all three in what turned out to be a 118-109 loss for the Cavs at Chesapeake Energy Arena. 

"Nothing changed," Lue told reporters before the game, per ESPN's Dave McMenamin. "It's just I said I wanted to see how the guys felt, and they feel pretty good. We're playing some pretty good basketball right now, and they just want to keep it rolling. So all three guys say they feel pretty good, and we got a good thing going, so why not keep it going?"

Love played a combined 66 minutes against the Pacers and Thunder, shooting just 8-of-23 overall (1-of-8 from three-point range). On Saturday, he played 34 minutes against the Denver Nuggets and had 16 points and nine rebounds in a 125-109 victory. 

Lue added he didn't have any second thoughts about using Love against the Thunder when his knee was hurting because he "was already heading for surgery." He ended by saying his players "are going to get their proper rest going forward."

The Cavaliers have had a trying season in their quest to defend the NBA championship. They still sit atop the Eastern Conference standings with a 38-16 record entering play Wednesday, despite JR Smith's only playing in 21 games and now with Love's setback. 

James and Irving lead the team in minutes played by a wide margin with 37.6 and 35.2 per game, respectively. Love is the only other player averaging more than 30 minutes per contest (31.9). 

This isn't the way the Cavs would have scripted their season, but they are still in a prime position to have the best record in the Eastern Conference once again and make a deep playoff run. They just need to get Love and Smith back before the regular season ends.