Kevin Love was told by his new team mates to stop trying too hard just to fit in. And so he did, and the end result is promising.
Love lead the game for the Cleveland Cavaliers as the team was without key players LeBron James and Kyrie Irving. Love scored 25 points to lead the Cavaliers to a 106-100 exhibition win over the Milwaukee Bucks on Tuesday night.
Aside from Love, Dion Waiters added 23 for the Cavs, who were missing three starters in their first game after facing the Miami Heat in Rio De Janeiro on Saturday.
According to Love "I'm just trying not to fit in so much. I had a talk with the guys on the plane ride over and also in different practices off the floor, and they told me fit out and just be myself. I kind of laughed and smirked at that. ... I want to be Mr. Reliable."
Although James is fine, coach David Blatt wanted to give the superstar a night off as Cleveland began a stretch of three games in four nights.
James will be playing in Cincinnati against the Indiana Pacers.
Irving, on the other hand, rolled his ankle last week in practice before the Cavs flew to Brazil, and Blatt would prefer his All-Star guard gets through a full practice before returning to the floor.
Aside from both of them, the Cavs also were without starting center Tristan Thompson, who has a sore shoulder.
Blatt commented on the performance of Love saying "Obviously, his feeling about being in this great place helped him play a terrific game. I thought Kevin was very good at both ends of the court. It seems that he found his way today in our team."
He adds "I think for any new player in a new system like we have, and a new environment and new team, it's going to take some time, but Kevin, with his great basketball IQ, figured it out very quickly."
While Love said that he is now starting to feel that he is a part of the team. He said "I think it's just picking my spots and, more than anything, just being aggressive. Talking to the coaching staff and the players in this team, they told me what they expect out of me and (what they) need out of me for this team to be successful. So I listen to LeBron and the guys. We are all trying to find a rhythm out there."
