Cavs Notes: Love, Smith, James, Williams, Lue

The Cavaliers are concerned with Kevin Love‘s sore left knee and will pursue a second opinion, according to a report from Joe Vardon of Cleveland.com. Love, who has been ruled out of Cleveland’s match-up with the Timberwolves on Tuesday, underwent an MRI on Sunday. Love missed a pair of games on January 30 and February 1 due to a back issue, but has otherwise produced well of late- averaging 21.4 points with 11.8 rebounds over his last five games.

“Always concerned when guys are going down,” coach Tyronn Lue said of Love’s ailment. “And we’re already limited as it is. Definitely concerned, but gotta see how he feels. Just, get evaluated tomorrow and see how he feels.”

More from Cleveland…

  • J.R. Smith could make an on-court return sooner than expected, according to Chris Haynes and Dave McMenamin of ESPN. While Smith is targeting a mid-March return to the lineup, his timeline could be expedited during the All-Star break. Even if Smith returns in three weeks, the 31-year-old will only have 16 games to prepare for the postseason.
  • A Cavs source told Dave McMenamin of ESPN that Derrick Williams has already done enough to earn a second 10-day contract. One of Williams’ biggest advocates has been LeBron James, who told Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com that he’d like to see Williams stick with the team. “We hope that this is a long-term thing,” James said. “He’s 25-years old. It doesn’t seem like it because we’ve been hearing his name for so long. But he’s 25, he hasn’t even gotten to his potential, to his prime yet. So hopefully this group, this locker room, myself, my leadership — just want to see him grow every day, and it’s a good place for him.”
  • Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com discussed Lue’s new lineup- LeBron James, Kyle Korver, Derrick Williams, Richard Jefferson, and Channing Frye. None of the players in this formation are under 6-foot-7, Fedor writes, while possessing athletic ability and above-average shooting. “Yeah, I did (like it),” Lue said. “And I got to figure out different ways to get LeBron the ball where we want to get it to when we’re running our other actions.” James echoed his coach’s sentiments. “It’s a fantastic lineup, so it worked well for us. We got up the floor, got stops, shared the ball, so it’s a pretty good lineup. It’s something that coach has in his back pocket if he wants to use it again.”
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