The Cleveland Cavaliers fell to the Indiana Pacers on Friday night, as power forward Kevin Love scuffled his way to five points on 2-of-8 shooting.
The result was unfamiliar for the Cavs - it snapped a season-long 12-game winning streak - but not for Love. Despite playing on a winning team for the first time in his career, this has arguably been his most trying professional season.
It's the second time in three games Love has been held to five points. Before that, he hadn't had such a low scoring output since April 2012, when he went scoreless in a game after getting injured and playing just eight minutes.
Love has never played with nearly this much talent around him, nor has he played under nearly the same weight of expectations. Both of those realities are proving challenging.
His scoring is down nearly 10 points per game from last season. His assists have been nearly halved. His usage rate is lower than its been since his rookie season, and his rebound and free-throw rates are the lowest of his career. His body language has also left something to be desired.
LeBron James suggested earlier in the week that his teammate was suffering from a lack of confidence. But Love has maintained that he's just doing what's being asked of him.
"I felt last game I got in the post and got myself going and got to the free-throw line," Love told Chris Haynes of the Northeast Ohio Media Group, referring to his 24-point effort against the Los Angeles Clippers a night earlier. "Tonight I was more of a spacer so I wasn't necessarily being asked to score the ball tonight, but I felt LeBron and Kyrie (Irving) and Timo (Mozgov) and those guys did a great job."
Pressed to specify when he is asked to be a scorer, Love was at a loss.
"That's tough to answer," he said. "I don't know. I just kind of go out there and play and affect the game. Right now, I'm trying to find my way."
Love has taken plenty of heat for his inexplicable dip in play this season, and it's arguably been deserved. But when a team has one of its marquee players drifting around with seemingly no idea what his role is supposed to be, it speaks to a broader systemic issue.
Meanwhile, Love's impending free agency is the elephant stomping through the room.
"Oh yeah, definitely frustrating," Love said, when asked if the situation in Cleveland has been wearing on him. "Yeah, I think it's one of the toughest situations I've had to deal with, but at the end of the day, we're winning basketball games. I know tonight was different. At the same time, there's no blueprint for what I should be doing, but I'll try my best to figure it out."
