Kevin Love was a full participant in the Cleveland Cavaliers’ practice on Saturday, which marks the first time he’s done so since separating his shoulder in May.
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“It’s been, what, about six months now, so I was pretty anxious to get back out there”, Love said, smiling. Just getting into the rhythm of the plays and getting my legs under me with the contact, it felt good. Russell Westbrook had an incredible streak of never missing games dating back to high school, now his health seems like a major concern.
Love said he was “pretty anxious” about taking the hardwood with no restraints. As far as progressing from one-on-one to three-on-three, I was ready to get back out there in the five-on-five. “As time goes, I’ll get more accustomed to being out there playing, but today was the first step”. Although he’s not yet at his All-Star form, Love said he’s pleased with his progression. Blatt said earlier in the week that it would be “realistic” to pencil Love into the starting lineup on opening night October 27 in Chicago, but Love preached caution. It would keep him out of the playoffs entirely and required surgery.
Irving suffered a broken kneecap in game one of the championship series, and it’s not clear if he’ll be ready to play when the season opens.
“At this point, we’re kind of trying to stay true to our plan here”, Blatt said. Even though he says that he feels good, it’s up to the doctors to make that final call. He is not expected, however, to play Monday at Ohio State or Tuesday at home against the Milwaukee Bucks. “So all I can do is go out there every day and attack my rehab and hopefully I will be able to go out there and help these guys as soon as possible”.
For the second straight week, the Cleveland Cavaliers will play exhibition games on consecutive nights, and LeBron James figures to play in one but not both. “No hard feelings on either side”.
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Christmas went undrafted out of Temple in 2009, but logged 31 games with the Phoenix Suns in 2013-14, averaging 2.3 points. “We wanted to bring in a good player, and Dionte was good”.
