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Lue urged Love to play like a 'bad m-----f-----'

Gregory Shamus / Getty Images Sport / Getty

Kevin Love's recent resurgence has coincided with the Cleveland Cavaliers' dominant run throughout the playoffs.

Love helped the Cavaliers to their second straight sweep with a team-high 27 points in Game 4 against the Atlanta Hawks on Sunday. Afterward, he gave head coach Tyronn Lue all the credit for his turnaround.

In March, when Love was mired in a horrible slump, Lue instructed him to be more aggressive, and to demand the ball from LeBron James.

"You're a bad m-----f----- too," Lue told Love, according to Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com. "Play like it."

Love echoed those words at the podium Sunday.

"I mean, Ty has played with, and had to go against, a lot of bad m-----f-----. So to get that, especially from your head coach, it's a lot of confidence," Love said. "And I have been one in this league. (Lue) just wanted me to go out there and show it."

The turnaround couldn't have come at a better time for Cleveland. Over the squad's eight playoff contests, Love's averaging 18.9 points and 12.5 rebounds while shooting 44.4 percent from deep. The team has also posted a sterling net rating of 8.4 with Love on the court.

His emergence has allowed Cleveland to deploy a lethal five-out attack. Lue has paired Love with another sharpshooter in Channing Frye in the frontcourt. That has opened up acres of space for slashers like James and Kyrie Irving to operate, which has in turn created a plethora of drive-and-kick passes for open jumpers.

Related: Cavs' 3-point barrage helps secure another NBA record

That's where Love's aggression comes in. He occasionally looked hesitant during the regular season, opting to pass when he had open looks. But in the playoffs, he's been firing freely. He's attempted 7.9 threes per game (up from 5.7 in the regular season) to punish defenses for helping off him.

Most importantly, with Love prospering, the Big Three in Cleveland is finally living up to its billing. Having looked disjointed over the past two campaigns, Irving, James, and Love are hitting their stride at the perfect time.

"To me, it's not like, who is 1, 2 or 3," Lue said. "Like, you're the Big Three. We're trying to win. It doesn't matter whose team it is. It's Dan Gilbert's team, you know what I'm saying? … You got to come out and you got to be productive every single night and ever since then, it's been great."

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