A day after parting ways with their coach, the Cleveland Cavaliers could be without their leading scorer for a while.
According to ESPN’s Brian Windhorst and Adrian Wojnarowski, the Cavs are concerned forward Kevin Love could miss more than a month with an injured toe in his left foot. Love has missed the Cavs’ last two games because of soreness in his left foot. Here’s more from Wojnarowski and Windhorst on Love’s injury:
The Cavaliers and Love are consulting with doctors early this week to consider the limited short-term solutions available, but intense pain and the combination of an 0-6 start make it less logical for Love to push through the injury.
Rest would be the solution for the toe injury, which has persisted since the preseason for Love.
Love signed a new four-year, $120 million contract this summer.
The loss of Love, 30, could send the Cavaliers into an even deeper spiral, leaving them without the team’s most reliable offensive player.
Love is averaging 19 points and 13.5 rebounds per game this season and has recorded a double-double in three of the four games he’s played.
Cleveland (0-6) is off to its worst start since losing its first seven games in the 1995-96 season. The team fired coach Tyronn Lue on Sunday. He guided the Cavaliers to an NBA title in 2016 — Cleveland’s first pro sports championship since 1964 — and helped the team to four straight Finals.
On Sunday, Love posted a message to Lue on Instagram that read: “You helped me see the big picture. Life changing experiences and teaching points. Nothing but love and admiration. Know we will work towards something greater together again. THANK YOU.”
To date, Love ranks second on the Cavs in usage rate (25.1 percent), field goal percentage usage rate (24.2 percent) and rebound percentage (36.5 percent).
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
