Kevin Love earned his first technical foul of the 2018-19 season in the Cleveland Cavaliers‘ Wednesday night loss to the Toronto Raptors after shouting out in frustration with 4:07 left in the fourth quarter.
While technicals are often dealt out after players get into physical altercations or if they begin yelling obscenities at other players, fans or refs, Love was granted one for doing nothing else but yelling “come on!”
Following the game, Love couldn’t help but find comedy in the situation.
“Whitest thing I could’ve said,” Love said.
It seems the referees calling the game were a bit quick to pull their whistles. That doesn’t change the fact that Love had quite a bit to be frustrated about.
After spending the summer preparing for the biggest season of his career in recent memory, the All-Star big man struggled to find his groove in the season opener. While he finished the night with a respectable 21 points, seven rebounds, and two assists, Love failed to have much of an impact on the game in the first half as the Cavs fell behind by double digits.
His struggles were perhaps best represented by his field-goal percentage from the game, where he shot just 5-of-18 from the field and 1-of-4 from beyond the three-point line.
Despite Love’s lackluster performance and subsequent Cavs defeat, there is a lot to be excited about based on what fans saw on Wednesday night. Cleveland fell behind early in the game, but it managed to scrape back to bring the score within single digits with several minutes left to go.
Not only that, but it did it against one of the best teams in the Eastern Conference. A team that won 59 games just a season ago and added likely MVP candidate Kawhi Leonard in the offseason.
Beyond that, many of the Cavs’ youngsters managed to put on strong performances. Rookie Collin Sexton showed his intensity and grit and finished the game with nine points in just 18 minutes of play.
Second-year forward Cedi Osman impressed with a double-double performance, ending the night with 17 points and 10 rebounds. If those two players and Love can find a way to gel together this season, the Cavs could certainly surprise some people this season.
For Love, it will take some time for him to get comfortable in his new role on the team. Hopefully, it won’t take too long for his shouts of frustration to turn into shouts of elation.
