Kevin Love to Miss Entire Playoffs Due to Injury; LeBron James & Cavaliers Affected

It seems that Cleveland Cavalier's forward man, Kevin Love, will be unable to participate in the entire second round of the Eastern Conference Playoffs due to his shoulder injury.

David Griffin, the Cav's manager said Tuesday that Love will not be able to return for the remainder of the postseason due to his shoulder injury, SB Nation reports. He said that it "sickened" him that a "non-basketball play" resulted in Love's injuries. "But beyond that, it's very difficult to watch because it's totally unnatural from a basketball perspective."

"I want to make it clear that's highly unlikely," Griffin addressed the media regarding Love's injury in a statement, according to Cleveland.com.

"The damage to his shoulder is extensive. This is not a situation where we're expecting he will be available for any of this and we're in the process of gathering information in terms of what the exact, right, next steps are and every option is on the table."

Griffin added, "I don't want there to be any expectation on Kevin that he will be back."

Love suffered a dislocated shoulder after entangling with the Celtic's Kelly Olynk when they were going for a rebound. According to Bleacher Report, in addition to a dislocated shoulder, Love also tore his labrum from the bone. This will need a minimum recovery period of four to six weeks and possible surgery if the injury isn't healed until then.

"It's unfortunate," LeBron James said. "I mean obviously he's a big piece to our team. He brings so much to our team offensively and defensively. It's a big blow for us and we've got to have guys step up."

However, James added that they're good and confident. "We're a confident bunch, but we're starting a series off with two of our main guys out and like I said, we have the depth. We have guys who can step up. There's no excuses for our team and we have to prepare ourselves to win."

It would be a very difficult play for the Cavs for the remainder of the season with Love's injury and J.R. Smith's suspension, according to CBS Sports. Head Coach David Blatt will be forced to redesign the team's gameplay and structure. The second round will start on Monday.

"Obviously it (players out) makes it more difficult. There's no getting around that," Blatt said via Cleveland.com. "On the other hand, we haven't made excuses all year and we're not looking for any special consideration or nor do we expect it. It's not coming down the road. We got to get ourselves ready to play playoff basketball and win playoff games and that's where our whole mentality is right now."