Cavaliers forward Jeff Green will get his chance to start in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference finals against the Celtics on Sunday, coach Tyronn Lue told reporters prior to tipoff.
Love, who was placed in the league's concussion protocol on Saturday, suffered a concussion in Cleveland’s Game 6 win Friday when he knocked heads with Celtics rookie Jayson Tatum in the first quarter. Play was stopped as Love had to be helped off the floor.
He was officially ruled out for the deciding game on Saturday as a result of the concussion-like symptoms.
Green replaced Love in Game 6, finishing with 14 points. Sunday will be his first start in a conference finals, but Lue expressed confidence in the 31-year-old.
"I think he attacked the small guys, the switches, and took his time, did a good job attacking, rebounded the ball well," Lue said, per Cleveland.com. "I just think defensively being able to switch and guard multiple positions, that's huge for us. He was able to switch a lot more, we were able to do a lot of different stuff defensively."
Green appeared in 78 regular-season games, averaging 10.8 points and 3.2 rebounds in 23.4 minutes per game.
Game 7 is scheduled for 8:30 p.m. ET in Boston.
