Cleveland Cavaliers: Kevin Love Out For Game 7 In Boston With Concussion

The Cleveland Cavaliers will be without Kevin Love for Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals in Boston on Sunday night. The All-Star forward has officially been ruled out to play in the huge game after suffering a head injury in the early moments of Game 6 in Cleveland.

According to a May 26 report by ESPN, Kevin Love will not suit up on Sunday night to help the Cavs make their fourth straight trip to the NBA Finals. Love had a rough collision with Celtics player Jayson Tatum in the first quarter of Friday’s night’s Game 6 that sent him back to the locker room and is now keeping him out of the biggest game of the year for the team.

After Friday night’s game, it was not known the condition of Kevin Love, or if he would play. Cleveland Cavaliers coach, Ty Lue stated in a press conference that Love had been placed in the NBA’s concussion protocol before backtracking to reveal that he was still being evaluated by team doctors.

As Cleveland Cavaliers fans already know, Kevin Love has been injury prone over the past few years. Kevin sat out of the 2015 NBA Finals with a shoulder injury and missed a game of the 2016 Finals with a concussion, although the team went on to beat the Golden State Warriors after being down 3-1. This year, Love sat out with a concussion again in March, and also suffered a broken left hand which kept him sidelined for multiple weeks.

The loss of Kevin Love for Game 7 is huge for the Cavaliers, who expect him to be the team’s second leading scorer behind LeBron James. However, Love didn’t play the majority of Game 6, and thanks to players such as Larry Nance Jr., George Hill, Kyle Korver, and others stepping up, the team got a win to force Game 7 back in Boston, where they have not won a game during the series.

During Friday night’s game, LeBron James fans held their breath when The King went down with a leg injury after bumping into his own teammate, Larry Nance Jr. in the fourth quarter. However, James got up and limped a bit before walking off the injury and continuing to help his team dominate the game. Without Love on the court, LeBron was forced to play 46 minutes, in which he scored 46 points, had 9 assists, 11 rebounds, 1 block, and three steals. Coach Lue says LeBron will play in Game 7.

The Cleveland Cavaliers will take on the Boston Celtics in Game 7 without Kevin Love on Sunday night at 8:30 p.m. on ABC.