The Cleveland Cavaliers continued their winning streak against the Indiana Pacers on Sunday and while LeBron James injured his thigh, the injury is not considered to be serious. Kevin Love was key once again for the Cavs in the victory, while players like Mo Williams, Matthew Dellavedova, Richard Jefferson and Tristan Thompson contributed to the win.
The Cavaliers have started off the season strong despite dealing with injuries to Kyrie Irving, Iman Shumpert and JR Smith, as the team has now won six straight after defeating the Pacers. The team won 101-97 with 29 points from LeBron James and the team was able to defeat the Pacers despite Paul George scoring 32 points and adding 11 rebounds. James has been playing very well to start the season and so has Love, who James said would be a "focal point" for the offense this year. Love had 22 points and 19 rebounds in the win and he also added two blocks and three assists.
Love has been one of the key players for the Cavs this season and it looks like he is being used much better by the team than he did last season. Love and James had some tension on the court last season, but all of that is reportedly in the past and now James sees Love as the central figure on offense for the Cavs. Love was strong in the fourth quarter and that is a big difference from last season when Love was often benched late in games for a better defensive lineup. Love is averaging 17 points and 12 rebounds per game this season and he is shooting over 41 percent from the floor.
According to the Akron Beacon-Journal, Love and James had some issues last season because Love came to the team "out of shape" and that he "didn't work out much" over the summer while dealing with trade rumors. That made James look more towards Kyrie Irving on offense and it took a while for Love to really become a part of the offense. Now that Love is signed to a max deal and Irving is out, Love and James appear to have put that all behind them and now it has translated into winning basketball.
James is dealing with a left thigh injury suffered against the Pacers on Sunday, but James said after the game that he "hopes" he can play against the Jazz Tuesday. James said that he feels "very sore" and that he will get treatment heading into the next game for the Cavs. James has not yet missed a game for the Cavs and this season he said one of his goals is to play in all 82 games.
The Cavs are dealing with injuries to JR Smith, Iman Shumpert and Kyrie Irving and that has Mo Williams, Matthew Dellavedova and Richard Jefferson the chance to play more minutes. Tristan Thompson has been contributing behind Kevin Love, while Dellavedova and Williams have stepped up with Irving out. Both players played over 30 minutes in the game against the Pacers along with Thompson and Jefferson and this lineup rotation has been working well for David Blatt and the Cavs so far.
