The Warriors Need to Start Worrying About Kevin Love

Three seasons into life as an overdressed third wheel, Kevin Love has finally realized, accepted, and exercised complete and total command over his role with the Cleveland Cavaliers. While he may no longer be the focal point that he was on the Minnesota Timberwolves, Love now looks like the deadliest stretch four NBA basketball has ever seen, someone who can't be given an inch of space beyond the arc and is also strong and savvy enough to bully wings and navigate through or around centers down low.

He draws fouls, sets screens, and whips the occasional 85-foot outlet pass for the most convenient two points you'll ever see. When sharing the floor with LeBron James and Kyrie Irving, he's a walking mismatch, able to take advantage of a dizzy defense that can't keep track of all the pieces they need to stop.

And as Love appears to get more comfortable in his role, that should worry the teams that have to defend him.

"As I mentioned to Ty [Lue, Cleveland's head coach] last week, throughout these playoffs it doesn't matter to me if I'm getting five shots or 25 shots, I just want to win," Love said after his 32-point Game 1. "I know I impact the game, whether it shows up in the stat sheet or not. I think that has allowed me to be comfortable out there on the floor, knowing that my mindset is really there, still being aggressive and making plays, as I mentioned, whether those are showing up or not."

Even though his game-by-game point totals haven't been anything to write home about this postseason, Love's assist rate, at 7.4, hasn't been this low since he was a rookie. In some ways that's a shame—few big men can prop up a complex half-court offense like Love at the elbow. On the other hand, what we're finally seeing is a guy with limitless skills who understands that his job is to put the ball in the basket.

That's good news for the Cavs, because despite Cleveland's humiliating Game 3 loss against the Boston Celtics at Quicken Loans Arena on Sunday night, a three-match against the Golden State Warriors is still more likely than not. And they'll need as much offensive firepower as they can get.

Before we look ahead to the 2017 NBA Finals, a quick peek in the rearview mirror is necessary. One overlooked and critical plot point from last year's Finals came during Game 2, when Love suffered a concussion that forced the Cavaliers to start Richard Jefferson in Game 3. After having dropped the first two games by a combined 48 points that series, Cleveland won by 30 without its third best player.

Love scored 11 points off the bench in a Game 4 loss before Lue re-inserted him into the starting lineup for the rest of the series. He scored 18 points and made just one three in those final three games, but was also +32. Cleveland won it all, and Love's legendary stop against Steph Curry in the closing moments of Game 7 made everyone forget about his lackluster defense and confusing offensive struggles.

It's unlikely history repeats itself, because the Cavaliers won't have a chance to beat the Golden State Warriors four tries in seven games unless Love keeps up the performance he has shown against the Celtics. In three games of the Eastern Conference Finals so far, Love is averaging 27 points and 11.3 rebounds; he's shooting 52.2 percent from the floor, 54.8 percent beyond the arc, and 84.2 percent from the free-throw line. Heading into the series, his usage was 20.2 percent. Against the Celtics, it's 28.4, which is more than 10 points higher than it was in last year's Finals.

"We want the mentality of Kevin from Minnesota, but his usage rate doesn't have to be as high as Minnesota. Obviously we all know that he was a featured guy pretty much every possession going down the floor, and here that's changed a little bit because we have other guys," James said after Game 1. "But his mentality needs to stay the same as Minnesota, and I think as he continues to get even more comfortable, tonight was one of those instances where every time he got the ball, it was a small guarding him or somebody was in the post, he was aggressive. He grabbed every rebound for the most part with him and Tristan in the paint, and he was very aggressive with his shot. He also got to the free-throw line ten times—well, nine. So definitely that mentality from Minnesota is what we all love."

Offensive contributions are key. In half-court situations, Love spaces the floor and helps create gaping holes for Irving and James to batter defenses that are spread thin. Teams that can't match up with a small are forced to put their bigs in a compromising situation on the perimeter, dancing a treacherous tango between the paint and three-point line.

And on defense—the side of the ball that's long stood out as a weakness in Love's game—the four-time All-Star has handled his business.

His rim protection numbers are a tad better than they were during the regular season, with him contesting more shots and holding shooters to a slightly lower field goal percentage at the basket. Opponents are shooting 7.1 percent lower than their average within six feet of the hoop when Love is a nearby defender, per NBA.com. And the Cavaliers have allowed 103.3 points per 100 possessions when he's on the court, as opposed to 107.7 when he sits.

Love also leads the playoffs in total defensive rebounds, has been stout on the block, and, according to Synergy Sports, ranks in the 98th percentile guarding pick-and-roll ball-handlers off a high screen. Depending on who has the ball, he'll either drop back and force a pull-up jumper, or slide out high and squeeze a pass.

But Jeff Teague, Cory Joseph, Marcus Smart, and a hobbled Isaiah Thomas are all much easier and more straightforward assignments than what the Warriors will present. Golden State's offensive attack is virtually unprecedented in how it besieges a defense. While it's easy to remember the one possession where he forced an exhausted Curry to miss an off-balance three, Love remains a potential liability for Cleveland against this Warriors team.

There will be times when Love can hide on David West, JaVale McGee, Matt Barnes, Zaza Pachulia, or any other non-shooter who can't completely torture him in space, but when the Warriors go small with Curry, Klay Thompson, Andre Iguodala, Kevin Durant, and Draymond Green, Lue may choose to go in a different direction. Ducking under screens isn't an option against Curry or Durant, and should Golden State's offense get stuck in mud, they will seek Love out with a ball screen, regardless of who he's on.

This dilemma is probably what led Lue to experiment in Game 1 of the conference finals by starting the second quarter with Love at the five beside Deron Williams, Iman Shumpert, Richard Jefferson, and Kyle Korver—a lineup that played together for just two minutes heading into that series.

The primary logic here is that Love is best suited to attack Golden State's bench, particularly units that don't feature Curry, who has tortured Love in pick-and-roll situations over the past couple seasons, or Durant. Warriors coach Mike Brown likes to rest his two best players at the same time after the first quarter, but he can and will easily switch that strategy up in the Finals.

Those minutes where Love is potentially the best Cavalier on the floor will be significant, if Lue chooses to deploy him with his bench. Golden State has the personnel to run Love off the three-point line, and they do a fine job limiting catch-and-shoot threes in transition, but he's far from a one-dimensional threat, with an effective in-between game and capable pull-up jumper.

Love is an intriguing variable in a series that will pit two unstoppable offenses against each other. Can his ridiculously hot outside shooting keep him on the floor, or will defensive weaknesses bubble to the surface and render him more of a liability for Cleveland?

This is the one of several questions that can't be answered until the Finals are underway. Until then, however, Love should be on the Warriors' radar in a way he never has been before.

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