The Cleveland Cavaliers featured Kevin Love early during their win on Saturday over the San Antonio Spurs due to the absence of Tim Duncan.

Love had 14 points in the first 10 minutes of the game and finished with 21 overall.

"Ever since I was young I was one of the big guys," Love said. "At my position I'm not the tallest guy in the world but I've always played inside/out. When I get to the free-throw line or get those post touches it helps me have continuity and feel a little bit of a flow and involved in the offense. That definitely helps me and makes the hoop bigger in a lot of ways just getting those easy touches."

"Yeah, yeah, he's played some good ball over the last year and a half that we've had him," LeBron James said of Love's recent stretch with three straight 20-plus scoring nights. "I think right now he's finally getting comfortable in his role. I think coach (Tyronn) Lue has done a great job clearing the air with what he expects out of all of us, including Kev, and he's a big focal point of our team. When he's playing locked in like this, it's great for us."

Pat Riley denied insinuations that LeBron James tried to have Erik Spoelstra fired as head coach of the Miami Heat during his tenure with the franchise.

"Not from him to me, ever," Riley said Thursday of James, who left the Heat two seasons ago in free agency to return to Cleveland. "So a lot of stuff is following him out the door. Whether it's right or wrong, it's just the nature of it. But as far as that goes, no, he never, ever walked in and said anything."

Riley's comments come on the heels of Israel-based reports earlier this week in which Heat limited ownership partner Raanan Katz suggested James was largely responsible for David Blatt's firing and he tried to do the same with Spoelstra.

The rumors James has dealt with actually remind Riley of his own experiences leaving the Lakers and the Knicks.

"I've been in that situation twice," said Riley. "I left Los Angeles, and a lot of stuff followed me out the door to New York. A lot of stuff followed me down here to Miami. It took almost 10 years to sort of get out of that storyline."

LeBron James insisted he has always supported his head coach and has never undermined any of them.

James has received criticism for having an indirect role in the Cleveland Cavaliers' decision to fire David Blatt as head coach.

“People get it so misconstrued because I’m a smart basketball player and I’ve voiced my opinion about certain things,” James said. “What do you guys want me to do? Turn my brain off because I have a huge basketball IQ? If that’s what they want me to do, I’m not going to do it because I’ve got so much to give to the game.”

Heat limited partner Raanan Katz told an Israeli radio station that James tried to get Erik Spoelstra fired while the two were together in Miami.

James said he never met Katz during his four years there.

“I have no idea who that is,” James said. “I don't even know if a lot of guys that actually played ever met him. I was there for four years and I never met him. … I don't think he was involved in any of the conversations that goes on with the personnel of the team or the coaching staff or anything. But it's easy to say that at this point.”

James insists he's a coachable player.

“If I feel I got something that will help our team, ultimately, I like to give it. It helped me get two titles,” James said. “But I think it does suck that people want to throw my name in dirt for no particular reason, because of speculation or whatever the case may be.

“But you can’t worry about it too much. I got 14 guys here. I got a fan base here and a fan base all over the world that loves what I do and they respect what I do and I can’t worry about a select group of people that want to use their negative energy to take away my positive energy. I can’t allow that to happen.”

Gregg Popovich alluded to the Cleveland Cavaliers' decision to fire David Blatt after the San Antonio Spurs lost to the Golden State Warriors 120-90.

The Warriors blew out the Cavaliers last week by 34 points and their general manager, David Griffin, talked about how the mood in their locker room after games was poor and disconnected. The Cavaliers largely decided to fire Blatt upon that issue.

"I'm just glad my general manager wasn't in the locker room because it might have gotten me fired," said Popovich.

David Griffin has denied having any trade talks involving Kevin Love.

Love's offensive numbers for the Cleveland Cavaliers have dipped since Kyrie Irving returned from injury last month.

"You'd have to go a long way to convince me that we're a better team winning in the Finals without a player like Kevin on our team," Griffin said in an interview on ESPN 850 AM in Cleveland. "We've never once put together an offer involving Kevin, nor have we taken a call on an offer for Kevin."

Love signed a five-year, $112 million deal the past summer and became eligible to be traded on Jan. 15.

The Cavs own three trade exceptions, the largest of which is $10 million, that they could use in a deal. 

"We think very highly of Kevin, and we believe Kevin thinks very highly of this situation," Griffin said. "But I can also tell you that we have been very clear from the beginning that there's no such thing as untouchables.

"You're either all the way in or all the way out in this process, and we believe our guys are all the way in. If it remains that way, then we are going to try and augment the group at the bottom and try to get some additional depth, and that's what we'll do. We're not going to be afraid to do what needs to be done if something more significant comes along."

LeBron James has never played on a team ranked higher than 13th in the NBA in possessions per 48 minutes.

Dating back to James' first season in Miami, in 2010, James' offenses ranked 21st, 15th, 23rd, 27th, and 25th, and this year Cleveland is 28th in the NBA with 94.93 possessions per 48 minutes.

James was asked about the Cavaliers playing at a faster pace under Tyronn Lue.

"I've played at a slow pace and I've played at a fast pace before in my career and I definitely know the difference."

The Golden State Warriors lead the NBA in scoring efficiency and are second in pace.

"This is what coach wants," James said. "This is what coach wants to do and this is what we're going to do. This isn't a LeBron thing. I'm talking out of IQ of the game, but this is what coach wants to do, so this is what we're going to do."

The Cavaliers are fifth in offensive efficiency this season.

"I just think it opens up the floor for a lot of our guys," James said. "Some of the games that we've lost, even though we've had some success, it's come from our pace being very, very slow. I think in order for us to be successful, playing at a higher pace will help us out in the long run."

Tyronn Lue was a journeyman NBA player with an ability to connect with his teammates and even players from opposing teams.

Lue was teammates with the likes of Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, Tracy McGrady, Dirk Nowitzki and Dwight Howard.

"Man, he's a gamer," said James Jones. "Ty lives and breathes this game."

"There's nothing that he hasn't seen," LeBron James said. "He's played for Phil Jackson, he's coached with Doc [Rivers], he's been all over, so he has experience. We put our trust in him now."

Jackson, Rivers and Jerry West became Lue's trusted mentors.

One element the Cleveland Cavaliers' front office believes will always be there for Lue is the effort of the team.

 "They'll never lie down and take it again," the source said, "they're going to fight for this guy."

David Blatt's camp believes that his firing was "1,000 percent LeBron," as one supporter said over the weekend.

The Cleveland Cavaliers and LeBron James have each said that he played no part in the decision.

The Cavaliers hired Blatt in 2014 before they realized how seriously James wanted to return.

James has reportedly preferred a head coach who was formerly an NBA player, something he's only had in Paul Silas during his career. James and Tyronn Lue had also grown to have a healthier working relationship than he had with Blatt.

The Minnesota Timberwolves have no intention of reaching out to David Blatt about joining their coaching staff.

Blatt initially expected to work with Andrew Wiggins with the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Blatt was fired last week by the Cavaliers.

The Cleveland Cavaliers would have heavily considered Tom Thibodeau had they made a coaching change in the offseason.

The Cavaliers instead decided to fire David Blatt midseason and give Tyronn Lue a chance to become head coach believing there was nobody more qualified.

Thibodeau was fired by the Chicago Bulls after their elimination by the Cavaliers in last season's playoffs and he remains available.