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Kevin Love: Human Nature to Think About If Kyrie Irving Was Still on Cavaliers
June 10, 2018
After the Golden State Warriors swept his team in the NBA Finals, Cleveland Cavaliers star Kevin Love pondered how things might have played out if Kyrie Irving was still on the roster.
Per Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe, Love mentioned Irving while describing everything the Cavs went through during the 2017-18 season:
"I think it's only natural to think about [if Irving was still here]. Especially looking at [JR Smith] and Tristan [Thompson] and LeBron and myself, and the guys that have come and gone from our 2016 team and what we were able to do to overcome a 3-1 deficit [in the Finals], and how we were able to win those games. I think, yeah, that's human nature to think about that kind of thing. But there's been a lot of overhaul on this roster. We've mentioned all year. It's felt like a number of seasons in one. But we've been resilient."
Love's comments came three days after one unnamed Cavaliers veteran told The Athletic's Jason Lloyd there was "no doubt" the Cavs would have won the first three games of the NBA Finals against the Warriors if they still had Irving.
The Warriors then clinched the series with a 108-85 win in Game 4 at Quicken Loans Arena on Friday.
Cleveland had opportunities to win at least two of the first three games. The combination of George Hill's missed free throw and JR Smith's mental lapse after he grabbed an offensive rebound at the end of regulation in Game 1 gave Golden State an opening it took advantage of in overtime.
After the series shifted to Cleveland for Game 3, the Cavs blew a 13-point first-half lead in a 110-102 loss.
Irving was unable to take part in the postseason with the Boston Celtics after undergoing knee surgery in April. The Cavs advanced to the NBA Finals by beating Boston in seven games in the Eastern Conference Finals.