Kevin Love on early part of Game 1: Played 'like a chicken with my head cut off'

LeBron James was worried about the lack of playoff experience on the Cleveland Cavaliers.

After all, his two best teammates - Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving - had played a combined zero playoff minutes, and few of the team's primary rotation players have had more than a quick cup of playoff coffee.

For at least a few minutes, his concerns looked warranted. The Cavs were down 8-7 after four minutes and found themselves down 26-22 with 89 seconds to play in the opening quarter. 

Love, in particular, looked bad, going 0-for-2 with a foul and getting the hook in favor of a smaller lineup less than eight minutes into the game. He admits as much.

"I was running around like a chicken with my head cut off the first 5-10 minutes," Love said Tuesday. "We have the stats to show that."

He settled down some from there, finishing with 19 points, 12 rebounds and four assists, even if his 5-of-14 final shooting mark was sub-par. 

There's reason to hope that he'll play a better Game 2 on Tuesday as a result, but it's been a trying year for Love, and that's no certainty. He averaged 16.4 points and 9.7 rebounds, a far cry from his 2013-14 numbers, and shot 43.4 percent from the floor, playing generally poor defense. 

The Boston Celtics aren't the right team to exploit his occasional struggles, but the Cavs will surely want to use round one to get him confident and settled in a playoff atmosphere.