KEVIN LOVE

Playoff Jimmy is the moniker that Jimmy Butler has now whether he wants it or not.

Anthony Davis scared Los Angeles Lakers fans by grabbing at his right shoulder and saying he couldn’t move his arm.

Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo landed hard on his backside after a drive to the basket and was ruled out of his team’s Eastern Conference playoff series opener against the Miami Heat with a bruised lower back.

The Miami Heat were the NBA's best 3-point shooting team last season at 38%.

There are six teams in the NBA that look pretty comfortably in playoff position.

Kevin Love wasted no time.

A person with knowledge of the decision says Kevin Love has chosen to sign with the Miami Heat for the remainder of the season once he clears waivers.

Kevin Love and the Cleveland Cavaliers have completed a buyout of his contract.

A person familiar with the situation says Kevin Love has had discussions with the Cleveland Cavaliers about a contract buyout.

Kevin Love spent four seasons as a teammate in Cleveland with LeBron James, who is poised to become the NBA’s all-time leading scorer.

The Orlando Magic were struck down 107-96 during their Friday night match against the Cleveland Cavaliers, bringing their losing streak up to seven games.

D’Angelo Russell had season highs of 30 points and 12 assists, Karl-Anthony Towns scored 29 points, and the Minnesota Timberwolves held off the short-handed Cleveland Cavaliers 129-124.

Darius Garland scored 29 points in his return after missing five games with an ugly eye injury and Donovan Mitchell added 25, leading Cleveland to a 114-113 overtime win over Boston.

Tyler Herro was told before the season began that he wouldn’t be in the Miami Heat starting lineup.

Nikola Jokic is a finalist to win a second straight NBA MVP award, along with two-time winner Giannis Antetokounmpo and Joel Embiid.

Trae Young scored 32 of his 38 points in the second half and the Atlanta Hawks overcame losing center Clint Capela to a knee injury to beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 107-101 in the play-in and earn the Eastern Conference’s No. 8 playoff seed.

Kyrie Irving had 34 points and 12 assists, Kevin Durant added 25 points and 11 assists, and the Brooklyn Nets took the No. 7 seed in the Eastern Conference by beating the Cleveland Cavaliers 115-108 in the play-in opener.

Kevin Love made eight 3-pointers and scored 32 points and the Cleveland Cavaliers took the No. 8 play-in spot — and a matchup against Brooklyn — with a 133-115 win over Milwaukee.

Not since 1998 have the Cleveland Cavaliers made the playoffs without LeBron James.

Darius Garland had 25 points and 12 assists, leading Cleveland to a 107-101 victory over the Orlando Magic in a game in which the Cavaliers lost rookie big man Evan Mobley to a sprained left ankle.

Joel Embiid had 35 points and 17 rebounds, James Harden scored 21 points and added 11 assists and the Philadelphia 76ers edged the Cleveland Cavaliers 118-114.

Karl-Anthony Towns gave big men everywhere something to shoot for.

Cedi Osman scored 22 points and Kevin Love had 19 as the Cleveland Cavaliers rallied from 20 down to beat Indiana 98-85, shortly after agreeing to acquire shooting guard Caris LeVert from the Pacers.

Darius Garland strengthened his All-Star case with 22 points and 12 assists, leading the Cleveland Cavaliers to a 114-107 win over the Brooklyn Nets, who began a stretch without injured superstar Kevin Durant.

Cavaliers guard Ricky Rubio has suffered a season-ending left knee injury.

Jaylen Brown scored 34 points and the Boston Celtics beat depleted Cleveland 111-101 on Wednesday night to end the Cavaliers’ winning streak at six.

Giannis Antetokounmpo came back from a two-game absence and scored 27 points on his 27th birthday to help the Milwaukee Bucks defeat the Cleveland Cavaliers 112-104.

Five-time NBA All-Star Kevin Love is being honored by a Boston foundation for his work on and off the court to take the stigma out of mental health struggles.

Stephen Curry scored 20 of his 40 points in the fourth quarter, hitting three straight 3-pointers, and the NBA-leading Golden State Warriors overcame a 13-point deficit to beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 104-89 on Thursday night.

The NBA has raised the level of urgency regarding getting booster shots against the coronavirus.

Kevin Love has withdrawn from the Olympics because of a calf injury, forcing the U.S. basketball team to replace two players on its roster.

These games don’t count.

Khris Middleton ordinarily wouldn’t be thinking about anything right now other than what the Milwaukee Bucks are trying to accomplish in the NBA playoffs.

Jrue Holiday is planning to try to follow in his wife’s footsteps and win an Olympic gold medal.

The Cavaliers intend to keep Kevin Love around.

Russell Westbrook got his first triple-double since passing Oscar Robertson and becoming the NBA's career leader earlier in the week and Washington beat Cleveland 120-105 to clinch a spot in the East play-in tournament.

Cole Anthony made the tiebreaking layup with 45 seconds left, and the Orlando Magic squandered a 23-point lead before edging the Cleveland Cavaliers 109-104 to snap a six-game losing streak.

Cleveland Cavaliers forward Kevin Love has apologized for his on-court tantrum, saying his behavior was out of line and out of character.

Stephen Curry scored 33 points — topping 30 for a career-best ninth consecutive game — as the Golden State Warriors pulled away for a 119-101 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers.

It was fitting that Kevin Love and Matthew Dellavedova returned to the Cavs at the same time.

USA Basketball is a step closer to choosing the team that will play in this summer’s rescheduled Tokyo Olympics, releasing the names Thursday of 57 players who are part of the pool to fill the squad. It’s also already drawing major interest from some NBA stars who have yet to taste Olympic gold. USA Basketball will pare the list to a 12-person Olympic team by early summer. Jordan, who now plays for Brooklyn, is also a newcomer to the pool even though he was on the 2016 Olympic team. “But for USA Basketball to receive the commitment of so many outstanding players remains an indicator of the great honor of representing your country means to these men.”

Denver Nuggets' Jamal Murray (27) drives to the basket against Cleveland Cavaliers' Cedi Osman (16) during the second half of an NBA basketball game, Friday, Feb. 19, 2021, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Tony Dejak)CLEVELAND – Not himself of late, Jamal Murray got a lecture from Nuggets coach Michael Malone about being more aggressive and not passing up open shots. Following the game, Murray was unaware that he had done something unique. “With the exception of Murray, we took some steps in the right direction,” Cavs coach J.B. Bickerstaff said. They made their first 12 shots, opened a 22-point lead in the second half and then let Murray close out the Cavs.

Denver Nuggets forward Paul Millsap, left, fights for position for a rebound with Cleveland Cavaliers center Andre Drummond in the second half of an NBA basketball game Wednesday, Feb. 10, 2021, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)CLEVELAND – Andre Drummond is on the trade block — and the bench. Coach J.B. Bickerstaff said the decision to sit Drummond, one of the NBA's leading rebounders at 13.5 per game, was difficult. Drummond will continue to stay on the sideline while the team tries to find a trade partner. But with the NBA's focus on shooting 3-pointers, a player like Drummond — a prototypical center — can be viewed as a liability.

Minnesota Timberwolves' Josh Okogie, left, drives around Cleveland Cavaliers' Larry Nance Jr. (22) in the first half of an NBA basketball game Sunday, Jan. 31, 2021, in Minneapolis. Cleveland will be without versatile forward Larry Nance for six weeks after he broke his left hand during Saturday's loss to the Milwaukee Bucks. They won only 19 games in 2020 but have been one of the league's biggest surprises so far this season. AdNance is averaging 9.3 points and 6.8 rebounds and 3.2 assists in 19 games. Earlier this week, Cleveland was outscored 60-12 on 3-pointers by the Los Angeles Clippers.

Los Angeles Lakers' LeBron James (23) shoots over Cleveland Cavaliers' Dylan Windler (9) in the first half of an NBA basketball game, Monday, Jan. 25, 2021, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Tony Dejak)CLEVELAND – Back home, LeBron James kept the Lakers perfect on the road. When James was short with a 3-pointer at the end of the third quarter, the unidentified Cavs executive celebrated. It was only James' second trip back to Cleveland since he left the Cavs for the second time as a free agent after the 2018 season. “It's more of a somber-tone-type-of-day.”The Lakers are spending the night in Cleveland before flying to Philadelphia — Bryant's hometown — on Tuesday.

The NBA is urging teams to make increased commitments toward providing mental health resources to players and staff, releasing updated guidelines Wednesday to reflect the challenge of playing amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. The NBA has mandated that teams offer access to mental health professionals in recent seasons — a program the league calls Mind Health was launched nearly three years ago — but that obviously predates the pandemic and how countless aspects of day-to-day life has changed in recent months. Those are a few of the ways the NBA has changed amid the virus. “All this is a little bit like the Twilight Zone,” Miami coach Erik Spoelstra said when asked about the mental strain of playing amid a pandemic. “The usage of mental health tools and support platforms has increased as have the modalities to assist those in need.

Gordon broke out of a shooting slump Monday night, hitting six of nine 3-pointers on the way to a season-high 24 points as the Magic beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 103-83. Gordon scored 13 points in the third as the Magic broke open a close game. Khem Birch added 12 points and 12 rebounds, while rookie guard Cole Anthony added nine points, five rebounds and four assists. Cedi Osman scored 13 of his 18 points in the first half and added seven rebounds and seven assists. Magic: Orlando hosts Cleveland again on Wednesday.

Cleveland Cavaliers' Kevin Love, right, passes against Philadelphia 76ers' Ben Simmons in the first half of an NBA basketball game, Sunday, Dec. 27, 2020, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Tony Dejak)CLEVELAND – Cavaliers forward Kevin Love could miss more than a month with a right calf injury he aggravated Sunday night in a game against Philadelphia. The 32-year-old’s injury is a setback for the Cavs, who are off to their first 3-0 start since 2016. The five-time All-Star made his season debut and played 38 minutes in the Cavaliers' double-overtime win at Detroit on Saturday. Love is in his seventh season with Cleveland, which is counting on him to lead a young team showing early signs of growth this season.

The teams that didn't qualify for the restart of the NBA season at Walt Disney World could begin voluntary workouts Wednesday, Sept. 23, to start preparing for their next game whenever that is. Karl Anthony-Towns got to work in Minnesota and his old coach started to mold his new team in New York. After six months without one, it felt so good for some NBA teams to practice again that even Allen Iverson might've enjoyed it. “It gives us some sense of continuity, some sense of togetherness,” said Love, who didn’t want to miss the voluntary workouts. Coaches who didn't know what to expect were pleasantly surprised by the level of play they saw.

Love received the Arthur Ashe Award for Courage at the ESPY Awards on Sunday, June 21, 2020, for sparking a national conversation about mental health. The focus of Sunday night's show on ESPN was hope and inspiration in the time of coronavirus. Two years ago, he wrote an online essay detailing his struggles with mental health, including having a panic attack during a game. As a result, other athletes and fans began sharing details of their own mental health challenges and sharing resources on how to get help. During the COVID-19 crisis, he's shared tips on how to cope with the stress and isolation caused by the pandemic.