Kevin Love was not with his Cleveland team-mates when they took the floor for practice on Tuesday morning – and his status for Game 3 against the Warriors on Wednesday remains unclear.
The 27-year-old Love is in the NBA’s concussion protocol after being hit in the back of the head during Game 2 on Sunday night. The Cavaliers took the floor for practice around 11am on Tuesday, but Love did not leave the locker room with the group when the workout began.
Love’s no-show came after Shaquille O’Neal, who played on the last team to overcome a 2-0 deficit in the NBA finals, had some strong words for Cleveland – and for Love in particular.
“Kevin Love’s getting punked by Draymond [Green], he really is,” O’Neal told the Associated Press on Monday night. “I hate to be the one to say it, but he has to step up. You can’t let a guy do the muscle thing in your face and you don’t respond.”
Love, a three-time NBA All-Star, was just nine for 24 from the floor in Game 2 in Oakland, and he’s failed to match Green, who scored 28 points in the Warriors’ 110-77 blowout on Sunday evening.
O’Neal said: “Last year, the storyline was: ‘OK, Golden State, you won a championship, but that’s because Kyrie and Kevin Love weren’t playing.’ Now they’re playing, now you’ve got to play like you know how to play.
There are several steps that the NBA requires a concussed player to complete before he returns to participation, including tests of increased physical exertion such as riding on a stationary bike, then jogging, then agility work and finally non-contact team drills. The Cavaliers did not confirm whether he would be available to play Wednesday.
Game 3 is at 9pm ET on Wednesday at Quicken Loans Arena.
O’Neal’s Miami Heat dropped the first two games in Dallas in 2006, and were in deep trouble in Game 3 before storming back to win four straight. “We didn’t feel like we were down and we knew we were better than that team,” he said. “Our whole message was just one game at a time because they’re up, the pressure’s not on them. Once you start to squeeze, the pressure starts to be on them.”
