CLEVELAND – The NBA announced today that Cleveland Cavaliers forward Kevin Love has been named the Eastern Conference Player of the Week for games played Monday, November 21, through Sunday, November 27. This marks the first time Love has won the award as a member of the Cavaliers and third honor of his career (twice with Minnesota in 2013-14).
This past week, Love helped lead the Cavs to an Eastern Conference-best 3-0 record after averaging 30.7 points, 9.7 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 1.3 steals in 29.3 minutes. He also shot .553 (26-47) from the field, .655 (19-29) from the three-point line, and a perfect 21-21 from the free throw line. Among Eastern Conference leaders, Love ranked first in points per game (30.7), first in three-pointers made (19), first in free throws made (21), first in free throw percentage first (1.000, minimum 10 FTA), first in three-point percentage (.655, minimum 10 3FGA) and first in plus/minus (+68). He also tied for 10th in the conference in rebounds per game (9.7).
Love, who registered two double-doubles and scored at least 25 points in all three contests, opened the week with an historical performance in the Cavs’ 137-125 win against Portland on Nov. 23. That night, Love put up 34 points in the first quarter en route to his highest scoring game as a Cavalier with 40 points, eight rebounds and three assists in 32 minutes. Love scored the second-most points in any quarter in NBA history (Klay Thompson, 37 points on 1/23/15), while also setting the NBA record for points in a first quarter (prev. 32 by David Thompson on 4/9/78) and the Cavaliers’ single quarter records for points, field goals made (11) and three-pointers (8). During Cleveland’s 128-90 victory over Dallas on Nov. 25, Love notched a double-double with 27 points on 8-14 (.571) shooting from the field and 7-9 (.778) from beyond the arc, 10 rebounds, a season-high tying four assists and a season-high tying three steals in 28 minutes. He closed out the week by producing his 11th double-double with 25 points, 11 rebounds and a perfect 9-9 mark from the foul line in 28 minutes in a 112-108 win at Philadelphia on Nov. 27.
With their three wins this past week, Cleveland is 13-2 this season, which is their best 15-game start in franchise history. Love has appeared in all 15 games for the Cavs, averaging 22.3 points and 10.7 rebounds (eighth-best in NBA) in 31.7 minutes this season. He is one of only two NBA players to average at least 20.0 points and 10.0 rebounds in 2016-17 (Anthony Davis). Kevin Durant of the Golden State Warriors was named the Western Conference Player of the Week.