During Friday's win, Love -- like many of his teammates -- took a back seat to James and Irving.
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- During the Cleveland Cavaliers' Game 5 win, one that kept their title hopes alive, the Big Three combined for 84 points, the highest yet this postseason.
That doesn't paint the entire picture. Kyrie Irving and LeBron James scored 82, while Kevin Love, the oft-criticized third wheel, had just two.
"We definitely need him. He's too big of a piece to our puzzle," LeBron James said Wednesday following the Cavaliers' practice at Quicken Loans Arena. "We definitely need Kev to play better. We want him to play better, but we don't want to add no more stress on him or added pressure. We just want him to go out and play, just let it hang out."
When Love re-signed in Cleveland last summer, he knew sacrifice would be necessary. His chances of making All-Star teams and putting up gaudy stats were a thing of the past. It was about finding other ways to make an impact, even if asked to do things outside of his comfort zone.
Going into Game 5 of The Finals, as the Cavs needed a win to send the series back to Cleveland, head coach Tyronn Lue demanded aggressiveness from Kyrie Irving and LeBron James. Lue even put the ball in James' hands more, asking him to pick apart the Warriors' suddenly discombobulated defense.
The plan worked. The Cavs left Oracle Arena with a 15-point win. But as was the case following Cleveland's Game 3 win, a game Love missed because of a concussion, the final piece of the triumvirate's importance became a talking point.
"I think with everything that he gave us, I mean, he helped us win," James said in response. "We needed everybody, all 15 guys. Even the guys that never even touched the floor. We had two guys in suits. We needed everybody's contribution."
During Monday's win, Love -- like many of his teammates -- took a back seat to James and Irving. While the duo was silencing the crowd and filling the city of Cleveland with renewed hope, Love became a witness to a historic evening.
"It just felt like it was one of those nights where you just kind of roll out the ball for them and get out of the way," Love said. "They were spectacular all night, both scoring 41. Kyrie shooting above 70 percent, LeBron really filled up the stat sheet in every way. So it was great to be a part of, and you had to find different ways to affect the game that might not show up on the stat sheet."
Love felt the best approach involved James and Irving carrying the scoring load, especially as the Warriors were playing without two of their best rim protectors, Andrew Bogut (knee) and Draymond Green (suspension).
"When Bogut went down, I think our primary option was for those guys to play downhill and attack the paint and the rim," Love said. "So for me, yeah, it was just kind of -- I know it's funny to say, but run in the corner, let those guys do their thing, and on the defensive end try to apply myself as much as I could."
Love's floor spacing has always been a coveted trait. It showed during the sweep against Atlanta and the final two games to close out the Eastern Conference Finals against the Toronto Raptors. He had made 41 triples in the postseason entering the Finals.
Defense, on the other hand, has never been his calling card. It's usually an adventure, especially when the opponent involves him in pick-and-roll action.
He held his own in Game 5. That's why, despite a lackluster box score -- two points on 1-of-5 shooting, including 0-of-3 from 3-point range to go with three rebounds, one assist, one block and two turnovers in 33 minutes -- he still received kudos.
"Kevin was great," Lue said. "I mean, defensively he did a lot of good things. Offensively we have two guys that did something that hasn't been done in NBA history: Two guys score 40 points in a single game. So there wasn't a lot of room or a lot of shots for a lot of other guys because they had a special moment.
"So it's hard enough to win a game in a regular season and then to win a game in the NBA Finals and guys are focused on Kevin not scoring the basketball. He did a lot of great things. Our rebounding was down because he's on the perimeter. He's guarding perimeter guys. They play five smalls, so he's not going to be able to rebound the ball as well as if he's playing inside against a bigger guy."
There's truth to Lue's words. Love helped create driving lanes for Irving and James and Love's reputation as a low-post scorer and 3-point bomber forced Andre Iguodala, normally a James irritant, to match up with Love at times while the Warriors were trying to go small. There's value there, which can be shown in his plus-18, if you choose to put stock into that stat.
The recent win puts the Cavs two away from an NBA title, but the odds of Cleveland's duo -- Irving and James -- having an encore in Game 6 are slim.
Green, the Defensive Player of the Year runner-up, is back for the Warriors. That means the best approach on offense will be a team-oriented one, perhaps making Love more of a focal point on the offensive end.
"Just need him to be aggressive," James said. "You know, from the defensive side of the floor and the offensive side of the floor, go out and make an impact on the game, no matter if he's not scoring, no matter if at times he feels like he's not getting touches. We all just need to continue to be aggressive. He needs to be aggressive to help us try to send this game back to Golden State. I think he's looking forward to the challenge. I think he's looking forward to the moment."
For the second straight year, the Warriors have a chance to clinch the NBA title in Cleveland. Love wasn't in uniform for the Warriors' coronation last June. He will be this time, even if it hasn't always looked like it during this series.
Love is averaging 7.0 points on 37.1 percent from the field, including 28.6 percent from beyond the arc in four games. His numbers have been trimmed significantly since the regular season.
But Thursday could be his moment, a chance to silence the critics and end the constant chatter about breaking up the Cavs' Big Three.
Without Bogut, the Warriors could downsize from the jump, playing Green at center, where he has had plenty of success. The Cavs have experimented with their own shrunken lineup, and Love's post-up prowess and ability to take advantage of mismatches will become important. He may need to be more than a decoy.
"Every game is different," Love said. "I think every game in the entire playoffs has been different. But they're a team that will probably play a lot of small ball. You'll see Draymond at the five, we're thinking, and (Festus) Ezeli will come in and they'll have a lot of different players sub in and out of their lineup. But we know that the crowd is going to be on our side and we're going to have to play really, really good basketball and play better than we did last game."
That includes Love, who has been an afterthought in his first Finals appearance.
