The Cleveland Cavaliers are already down 2-0 to the Golden State Warriors in the NBA Finals, and now the Cavaliers will be without starting power forward Kevin Love in Game 3, due to the head injury he suffered in Sunday's 110-77 Game 2 loss.
Kevin Love ruled out for Game 3 after failing to clear concussion protocol
The Cavaliers power forward didn’t make it through the NBA’s concussion protocol and has to sit out a crucial game.
Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
Love was injured by an inadvertent elbow from Harrison Barnes in the second quarter of Game 2:
Love stayed down for a while as the play went on around him. After finally getting back up, he stayed on the floor and played the remainder of the second quarter and beginning of the third quarter, before taking himself out of the game due to dizziness.
After further tests Love was placed into the league’s concussion protocol and didn’t return to the game. He had only five points and three rebounds in 21 minutes when he left.
Love traveled with the team to Cleveland, but despite the two off days between games, he didn’t pass the necessary tests to get through the concussion protocol.
While Love has struggled on both ends of the court in his first ever finals, this isn't an ideal scenario for the desperate Cavaliers. He's still a valuable threat when he has it going, as well as a good rebounder, and Cleveland will have to replace his production somehow. Channing Frye will see more minutes after barely playing in the first two games of the series due to his own ineffectiveness, and perhaps Timofey Mozgov finally gets dusted off for some meaningful minutes.
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