Cleveland Cavaliers coach David Blatt could potentially be facing some fitness headaches ahead of the playoffs after both Kevin Love and Iman Shumpert picked up problems.
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The Cavs narrowly avoided an embarrassing upset on Sunday night against the Philadelphia 76ers, with LeBron James stepping up with 20 points and 11 rebounds to seal an 87-86 win.
However, both Love and Shumpert were forced to leave the game with back and left ankle issues respectively, forcing Blatt into making in-game adjustments and personnel changes.
Fortunately, the Cavs coach had positive news after the game as it was revealed that neither player had suffered a serious problem.
“Kev took an elbow to the back and he was experiencing some real discomfort, so we took him out,” Blatt said, according to ESPN.
“We didn’t want to push it. Hopefully, he’ll be OK. And Iman jammed his ankle. You saw he took sort of a funny step before he attempted to dunk that ball and he jammed his ankle. Also, I think he wanted to come back in there, but we held him out for precautionary reasons. I believe he’ll be OK.”
Love added that his back felt good after treatment, and he will now certainly benefit from the fact that Cleveland have two days off before resuming practice ahead of their next game against the Miami Heat on Thursday.
That encounter could well be an interesting preview ahead of the playoffs, with the standings as they are pitting James against his former team in the first round.
Dwyane Wade showed on Sunday that he still has plenty left in the tank after dropping 40 points on the Detroit Pistons, and Miami certainly have the edge over LeBron and the Cavs as they lead the season series 2-1 after winning the last encounter earlier this month.
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