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2016 NBA Finals -- Cavs need plenty of Love to win Game 6
By Homer D. Sayson
PhilBoxing.com
Fri, 17 Jun 2016
CLEVELAND -- It's usually hard to hide when you're 6-foot-10 tall and 251 pounds large, but amazingly, Kevin Love has managed to disappear in this NBA Finals.
The 27-year old Love, a 3-time All-Star, is averaging a pedestrian 8.7 points and 6 rebounds in four games (he missed Game 3 with a concussion). He is shooting 37.1 percent from the field (13 of 35) and dreadful 28.5 percent from 3-point range (4 of 14).
Obviously, Love is horribly under performing his massive 5-year, $110 million contract, one that pays him $19. 6 million this season alone.
But it's never too late. With the Cleveland Cavaliers still facing elimination and trailing the championship series 3-2, Love needs to rediscover his shooting touch and assume his role as another pillar of his team's Big 3.
Otherwise the Golden State Warriors will cap their historic 73-win season with a back-to-back title while relegating the Cavaliers to another bridesmaid finish for the second straight June.
By winning Game 5 convincingly (112-97) on the road, the Cavs have proven that they can win without Love, who finished with a timid 2 points in Game 5. Playing at home at the Quicken Loans Arena reinforces that notion, but even then, it would be unrealistic to expect LeBron James and Kyrie Irving to once again explode for 41 points apiece.
Needless to say, the pressure is on Love to produce. How he fares in today's Game 6 will weigh heavily on his future here in Cleveland.
GAME 6 ODDS -- With home court and momentum on their side, the Cleveland Cavaliers are -2 favorites to win Game 6 and force a Game 7 at the Oracle Arena on Sunday night (Monday AM in Manila).
When this crucial contest tips off in a few hours, the Warriors won't have center Andrew Bogut in the line-up. The 7-foot Aussie giant has been ruled out for the rest of the Finals with a right knee injury that requires no surgery but needs 6-to-8 weeks to heal.
Photo: KEVIN LOVE will be a huge factor in today's Game 6 of the NBA Finals.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Homer D. Sayson.
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