East Notes: Cavs, Kevin Love, Celtics, Pistons, Saddiq Bey

Cavaliers

• Along with a hairline fracture of the thumb, power forward Kevin Love was “under the weather” ahead of Wednesday’s home against the Trail Blazers, per Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com.
• Love was therefore being held out. He has missed two of the last three games. He is averaging 10.6 points and 7.2 rebounds in 16 appearances this season.
• For more on the Cavs, check out the latest Cavs on the Break podcast, and my weekly hit on Sports 4 CLE on Cleveland.com.

Celtics

Mavericks star Luka Doncic has high praise for Celtics wings Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown ahead of their game Wednesday. Doncic went as far as to call them “probably the best duo” in the entire NBA.

“Just watching their game,” Doncic said, via Tim Biontemps of ESPN. “I think a lot of people can see that. I think the way they play. I know people try to separate them but they fit together, they went to the Finals last year, so I think those two are really great players.”

• In case you missed it, Celtics center Robert Williams III appears to be nearing a season debut. We have more on that right here.

Pistons

Rookie center Jalen Duren said it was nice to finally get over he hump after upsetting the Nuggets on the road on Tuesday.

“We’ve been so close,” Duren told reporters. “The last few games have been right there early on. Every game, we’re getting better. Everybody’s playing together. As a team, we’re all kind of growing. It showed tonight. The Nuggets are who they are. They’ve got the reigning MVP, they’ve got their guys back. For us to come out and grab a gritty win, it’s huge for us.”

• The Pistons have received some calls from rival teams on small forward Saddiq Bey, per Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports. But Detroit doesn’t appear inclined to trade him for the time being, Fischer added.