Kevin Love is 14-0 in the playoffs.
Maybe if the Cleveland Cavaliers' power forward had known this postseason business was going to be such a snap, he might have hurried up and gotten to it sooner. Then again, if NBA teams had known how well Love would do once he dipped his toe into postseason waters, they might have done more to help him get here before he had logged 439 games in seven regular seasons.
Love's perfect playoff mark spans last spring and this. He was 4-0 a year ago, playing in the sweep of the Boston before suffering a season-ending shoulder dislocation in the first quarter of that series' finale. Now Love, along with his teammates, is 10-0 this spring after the Cavs' sweeps of Detroit and Atlanta and their 2-0 edge over Toronto in the Eastern Conference finals.
Only two players in NBA history, according to the Elias Sports Bureau, ever appeared in more consecutive victories from the start of their playoff careers. Forward Mark Madsen strung together a 16-0 record in the Los Angeles Lakers' 2001 and 2002 playoffs, and big man Scott Williams appeared in 15 victories for the Chicago Bulls in 1991 and 1992 before playing in a loss.
Both those guys were reserves who didn't play every night for their teams, so their streaks were a little more coach-dependent and flukey. Love's only asterisk is that he was hurt when Cleveland got taken to six games in the conference semifinals (Chicago) and The Finals (Golden State).
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