Kevin Love and the Cavaliers finally feel like a perfect match

It was October 2014 when Chris Bosh delivered a message to Kevin Love: sacrificing your game for the better of the team isn’t as easy as it seems.

Bosh watched his All-NBA numbers plummet after joining LeBron James and Dwyane Wade to compete for championships in Miami. And although the team went on to win two of their four consecutive NBA Finals appearances, the Toronto Raptors’ all-time leading scorer admitted he had to change his game to become second or third fiddle on a championship roster.

“Yeah, it’s a lot more difficult taking a step back, because you’re used to doing something a certain way and getting looks a certain way,” Bosh told Bleacher Report’s Ethan Skolnick two years ago. “And then it’s like, well, no, for the benefit of the team, you have to get it here.

“So even if you do like the left block, the volume of the left block is going to be different. Now you have to make those moves count. So with me, it was like a chess game. I’m doing this move and thinking about the next move and trying to stay five moves ahead. You’re not getting it as much. If you got one or two a game, it’s a lot different.”

Fast forward a few years, and Bosh looks like a soothsayer. It took a while, but Love is finally comfortable and dominating in his role.

In his first two years with the Cavaliers, Love hovered around the 16 points per game mark, his lowest averages since his sophomore season in 2009. His shooting percentages fell across the board, and he never looked settled into a Cavaliers offense that powered the team back-to-back Finals appearances. Trade rumors relentlessly surfaced. The sacrifice appeared too great.

But this season, Cleveland is enjoying a Love renaissance.

Both his field goal (46) and three-point (41) percentages are the second-best clips of his career. Love is attempting 15 shots per game — making seven of them — after averaging 12.7 attempts in each of the past two seasons. His 2.6 three-point makes per game is a career-best, as is his 86 percent free-throw mark.

The trade rumors are no more. His teammates are actively looking for him on offense and Love looks like he’s having fun again.

The Cleveland Cavaliers are 18-5 and first in the Eastern Conference. They’re on pace to make yet another Finals appearance much due to LeBron James’ MVP-caliber play, and equally due to Kyrie Irving’s offensive firepower. But Love, who is averaging 22 points and 10.4 rebounds per game, is no longer the third wheel.

If anything, Cleveland’s pyramid is built on a triangle. And while the brunt of its weight falls on James’ shoulders, the foundation will crumble without the firepower Love brings offensively and on the glass.

Bosh warned Love he wouldn’t get his looks the same way he did in Minnesota. He likened it to a one-course meal: “You just get your entree and that’s it. It’s like, wait a minute, I need my appetizer and my dessert and my drink, what are you doing?” he told Skolnick. “And my bread basket. What is going on? I’m hungry!”

And it showed in usage rate. After dominating 28.9 percent of the Timberwolves’ offense while on the floor, Love’s usage slipped (similar to Bosh in his first year in Miami) to just 21.7 percent in his first season with the Cavaliers. He struggled to adapt to his new role, and at times looked lost in Cleveland’s offense. But his involvement in Cleveland’s offense has improved, while the touches have remained constant.

Love averages 36.1 front court touches per game, down just one from his two previous seasons in Cleveland. But he’s averaging .355 points per touch this season, up from his .254 mark over the last two years.

That’s because after two seasons, Love knows where the offense affords him the most creativity — on the left block. And he’s shooting it better from there now than in past seasons.

Love shot 42.6 percent from the left block in his first year with the Cavaliers, but that number fell to just 34.7 percent in the 2015-16 season.

But this season, Love is shooting 54.5 percent from the same place, 13.5 percent higher than the league average.

Even more, he’s catching the ball on the low block and making a move to get to the rim, like he did when he rolled over Memphis on Tuesday.

Love has learned exactly where he’s going to get the ball: on the three-point line, off rebounds and, mostly, on the left side of the floor. And his efficiency from those areas has the Cavaliers rolling.

Love has scored 21 or more points in each of his last five games, including 29 points on 9-for-17 shooting in Cleveland’s Tuesday win over a Memphis Grizzlies team riding a six-game winning streak largely due to its defense.

Love wasn’t just floating around the three-point line. Here, he got the ball baseline on the left side and quickly swiped past Zach Randolph before floating a layup over the help defender.

On another possession, you can see Cleveland going to Love — again, on the low left block — in a late-clock scenario. JaMychal Green is a solid defender, but Cleveland’s stretch four reminded everyone why his post game is severely underrated.

And of course, Love is still knocking down threes. On this play, LeBron had rookie Andrew Harrison in the post with a 40-pound weight advantage. Randolph knew that, so he left his man to help. But in doing so, he left Love wide open for a three-pointer that he’s shooting at the highest clip since he’s attempted at least three per game.

Gone are the days when Love was subject to weekly trade rumors. Gone are the whispers that Cleveland is better off without him. And gone are the days where Love played third fiddle to James and Irving.

Make no mistake: the Cavaliers are LeBron’s team, and Irving is as deadly a scorer the NBA has to offer. But Love has finally got it. Cleveland is watching its power forward re-emerge into the star he was in Minnesota.

In his warning, Bosh said Love would have to make his moves on the left block count, and Love has done just that. And as long as he continues to thrive within the system, the foundation of Cleveland’s pyramid will remain strong.