Cleveland Cavaliers forward Kevin Love broke the fifth metacarpal in his left hand, but the All-Star will not need a procedure to repair the injury.
The team announced Love will undergo a non-surgical treatment and rehabilitation process and miss approximately eight weeks while recovering. The Cavs added his status will be updated as appropriate.
Love exited the Jan. 30 matchup against the Detroit Pistons due to the injury. Although the immediate timeline was 6-8 weeks, the official diagnosis had not been released.
His absence comes at a difficult moment for Cleveland, which has dropped 12 of the last 19 games. Plus, Love was the recent target of a not-so-gentle team meeting, though point guard Isaiah Thomas said there’s no bad blood between him and Love.
The Cavs will hope Love — who is averaging 17.9 points and 9.4 rebounds — has no setbacks in his recovery, since the playoffs will begin approximately three weeks after the initial target date for his return.