Kevin Love injures left hand with indefinite hiatus

Kevin Love of the Cleveland Cavaliers.Reuters/Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

Cleveland Cavaliers star forward, Kevin Love, injured his hand in the recent game against the Detroit Pistons last Tuesday, Jan. 30, resulting in a 125–114 loss for the Cavaliers.

Love suffered an injury to his left hand during the first quarter, and was unable to play for the rest of the game. X-rays at the arena later confirmed the injury to be a nondisplaced fracture in his fifth metacarpal. According to a tweet by Entertainment Sports and Programming Network (ESPN) reporter Brian Windhorst, Love is expected not to be able to play for six to eight weeks due to treatment and recovery.

This comes as a hard blow to the currently struggling Cavaliers and fans. "Obviously with everything been going on as of late with our ball club, just trying to figure out how we're going to play every night, different lineups and getting everybody into the flow, we don't need to have Kev go out like that. He's going to be out for quite a while — maybe two months — so it's just tough," star forward LeBron James said after the game.

As reported by ESPN, the Cavaliers have since released a statement saying Love's hiatus has not been finalized. The Cavaliers are currently consulting with multiple experts from the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York, Cleveland Clinic and the Cavaliers' own medical team. They are seeking all opinions available to determine the extent of the injury and all the possible solutions for treatment. The Cavaliers said they will be releasing updates on Love's status accordingly.

Love is a professional basketball player and forward for the Cleveland Cavaliers who won the Nation Basketball Association (NBA) championship with the team in 2016. He is a five-time All-star player and has won gold medals in the men's national team, the Olympics and FIBA International.