The Cleveland Cavaliers used a smaller lineup during the fourth quarter of their win over the Orlando Magic.
A small lineup of Matthew Dellavedova, Dion Waiters, Mike Miller, LeBron James and Tristan Thompson was being used down the stretch to combat Orlando's small-ball unit.
Kevin Love didn't register a single minute in the fourth and he wasn't injured.
"The way that Orlando was playing, they didn't make a particular substitution and we were just matched up so well defensively, we decided to not to go with it," Blatt said about not putting Love in the game. "Certainly to Kevin's credit, he actually kind of recognized it and supported that."
Love said he did not recall ever sitting out a fourth quarter without being fouled out or injured.
"It's all about the matchup," Love said. "Had it been different, it might have been a tough pill to swallow. Tristan was doing a phenomenal job on [Nikola] Vucevic, forcing him into tough shots and blocking shots. It was really how they matched up. They went small. It wasn't hard for me at all. I was up pretty much every play I could be."
"Kevin Love sacrificed in the fourth quarter. He didn't play and was helping, cheering, slapping hands every time we came to the sidelines," James said of Love's engagement. "We took a step forward in that and I hope everyone seen that. I hope everyone saw it. I know I did. I saw it."