Kevin Love ‘out’ for Game 3 vs. Warriors

Published on Wednesday, 6/8/16, at 1:56 p.m. Eastern.

Cleveland forward Kevin Love has not been cleared by the team’s medical staff and has been informed that he won’t be able to play in tonight’s Game 3 of the NBA Finals vs. Golden St. due to the concussion he sustained in a Game 2 loss to the Warriors at Oracle Arena in Oakland.

Love had five points, three rebounds, one steal and one turnover before getting injured in Sunday’s contest. He played 20-plus minutes, making only 2-of-7 shots from the field and 1-of-4 from downtown in the 110-77 loss.

For the 104-89 loss in Game 1, Love had 17 points, 13 rebounds, four turnovers, two assists and one steal. During 16 postseason games this year, Love has averaged 16.5 points, 9.4 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game. The UCLA product has made only 38.9 percent of his shots from the field, but he’s hit 43.6 percent from 3-point range and converted 88.1 percent of attempts from the free-throw line.

Love missed all of the Finals last year with a shoulder injury sustained against Boston in the first round. Look for Channing Frye to take on an increased role in Love’s absence. Frye scored 27 points in Game 3 at Atlanta in the Eastern Conference semifinals.

As of early this afternoon, most books had the Cavs listed as one-point home favorites with a total of 205 points.

Going into Game 3, Sportsbook.ag has the Warriors as -850 ‘chalk’ for the updated series price. For gamblers confident the Cavs can rally and overcome this deficit, a monster +600 payout can be earned (risk $100 to win $600).

Sportsbook’s updated odds to win Finals MVP honors look like this:

Draymond Green -125 (risk $125 to win $100)
Steph Curry +175
LeBron James 7/1
Andre Iguodala 8/1
Kyrie Irving 25/1
Shaun Livingston 35/1
Kevin Love 75/1
Harrison Barnes 250/1
J.R. Smith 250/1