Report: Kevin Love seeking more medical opinions; expected to miss at least 2 weeks
The Cleveland Cavaliers better get ready to make some adjustments.
After suffering a dislocated left shoulder in the Cavs' series-clinching win over the Boston Celtics on Sunday, power forward Kevin Love is slated to undergo an MRI on Monday.
Love's status won't be certain until the results of that MRI are revealed, but the sense within the organization is that he'll be sidelined for at least two weeks, according to ESPN's Brian Windhorst.
However, the public may be left waiting for some time for an official update on Love's status. Sources told Windhorst on Monday that Love is delaying announcing his prognosis and timetable for recovery as he seeks opinions from other medical professionals.
Meanwhile, TNT's David Aldridge reports that the Cavaliers are still hopeful that Love's shoulder is "not too bad."
It's unclear what that means, but two weeks is a fairly optimistic recovery period for an injury of this nature, so it's likely that projected timeline still holds.
Love, for all the scrutiny that followed him throughout his first season in Cleveland, is a vital ingredient to the team's dominant offense, which was 7.4 points per 100 possessions better with him on the floor during the regular season and has been 18.5 points per 100 better with him in the playoffs.
In the first postseason appearance of his career, Love has averaged 14.3 points, seven rebounds and 2.5 assists, while shooting 42.9 percent from 3-point range. There's no real way to replace his ability to stretch the floor from the forward position and finding a way around that issue will take some creativity from David Blatt and company.
The fact they just completed a sweep will help eat into that potential timetable, but, even then, Love would likely miss the entire second round, at the least.
With a likely opponent in the Chicago Bulls that's slowly hitting its stride, the Cavaliers' expected romp to the NBA Finals is looking a lot less certain.