Kevin Love called his arthroscopic surgery a minor procedure on Friday, and said he believes he'll be back in plenty of time to get his rhythm and legs ready for the playoffs.
Still, the Cavaliers forward sounds as if he'll need the full six weeks to be healthy and ready.
"As far as how I feel now, I feel great. But I'll go through all the protocol," Love said. "I'll be back here on the floor, getting the stitches out, before that getting the swelling down. It's all just part of going through it. But it was very minor so I feel better. I was out walking within a few days. They gave me a cool cane for the first two days. So I feel good."
Love said he first felt the knee bothering him prior to the final game he played in, which was at home against Denver on Feb. 11. He was diagnosed with a loose body in his knee and had arthroscopic surgery to repair it.
He has already started shooting, but he can't yet do any lateral movements. He is hopeful he'll get the stitches out this weekend.
"We got to let those stitches and sutures and everything heal up pretty good. At least for the first two weeks," Love said. "It shouldn't be too long before I'm moving around pretty well."
Love and J.R. Smith should be back on the floor around the same time. General manager David Griffin said Thursday that Smith is on schedule and perhaps even slightly ahead of schedule. That would put both of them back on the court by the end of March and give them both at least a couple of weeks to find their rhythm prior to the start of the postseason.
"I don't know what the (plan is) as far as other guys resting or me resting going forward," Love said, "but I imagine between J.R. and myself, we'll get out there and get our wind and be ready to go."
Coach Tyronn Lue gave Kyrie Irving the day off practice Friday, but LeBron James was a full participant. With 12 of 17 games on the road in what will be a grueling travel month of March, Lue has remained adamant he's going to rest guys next month _ including James, who is likely to get some games off.
The Cavs play three sets of back-to-backs in March, beginning next weekend at Atlanta and Miami.
"We're gonna rest guys coming in March. We're gonna rest guys and the other guys got to step up like we've been doing all season," Lue said. "We'll be ready, but we'll have a decent amount of cushion, I hope, when we rest those guys so it's not a specific game or whatever we're ahead. It's just we've got to be ready to rest guys when it's time to rest."
