NBA Rumors: Cleveland Cavaliers Blame Kevin Love For Raptors' Wins; LeBron James, Kyrie Irving Shocked Over Kyle Lowry, DeMar DeRozan Dominance

By Mitch de Leon
NBA: Playoffs-Toronto Raptors at Cleveland Cavaliers
May 17, 2016; Cleveland, OH, USA; Toronto Raptors center Bismack Biyombo (8) shoots as Cleveland Cavaliers forward Kevin Love (0) defends during the first quarter in game one of the Eastern conference finals of the NBA Playoffs at Quicken Loans Arena.  Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports

The NBA playoffs 2016 of the Cleveland Cavaliers turned into a nightmare when their easy wins over the Toronto Raptors stopped at Game 2 - with Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan becoming unstoppable machines that stunned even an extremely focused LeBron James and Kyrie Irving. As the Golden State Warriors also struggle to keep up with the Oklahoma City Thunder of Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook, there is now a huge possibility that the NBA Finals will commence sans the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Stephen Curry team. Instead, a face off for the trophy between the Toronto Raptors and the Dion Waiters squad might just be what's in store for the future.

However, it looks like the Cleveland Cavaliers might just have found the core of their NBA playoffs 2016 problem - Kevin Love. In the past games, the Matthew Delladova squad witnessed inconsistent plays from the former Minnesota Timberwolves star. While neither the Cleveland Cavaliers coaching staff nor the other players in their roster confirmed the issue, the move of Tyronn Lue reportedly spoke volumes of his opinion regarding Love's performance.

"I think when you penetrate and they collapse the floor, you've got to make the right play, and if the play's a kick out, the guy's got an open shot, he has to take it and he has to knock it down," shared Lue of the plays made by the Cleveland Cavaliers. He added, "We're not really coming down, looking and saying we want to force 3-point shots. That's not what we're trying to do. You could see that in the first two games. We just took what the defense gave us and now the defense gives us a three-point shot, so we got to step up and make them."

Although Love missed a number of shots in the crucial moments of the games, Lue remained adamant on his stance to protect the Cleveland Cavaliers star from further scrutiny. He said of Love's performance, "He's just missed shots. That's part of the game. I mean, you know, he's been playing great all playoffs and at some point you're going to miss some shots."

Meanwhile, it looks like Tristan Thompson might take on a more prominent role in the hardwood court as Love is once again injured. In addition to his knee injury, which might be the reason for his missed shots in Game 4, Love also injured his foot in the recently concluded playoffs game. Will this lead to a Love-less Game 5?

"I think Kyrie [Irving] was shooting towards the end of the third quarter, and I stepped on the official's foot, and it didn't feel too great," shared Love of his foot injury. He added, "More so the knee [than the ankle hurting]. Will be sore tomorrow, but nothing that will prevent me from playing."

Should the Cleveland Cavaliers risk playing Kevin Love in the crucial Game 5 of the NBA playoffs 2016 series against the surging Toronto Raptors? Will he be able to help LeBron James and Kyrie Irving beat Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan? Or will it be more prudent for the Cleveland Cavaliers to rest Kevin Love and play someone else instead?

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