Kevin Love, Kevin Durant

Cleveland Cavaliers forward Kevin Love dominated on both ends to lead his team to an impressive 115-92 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder.

(AP)

OKLAHOMA CITY - Kevin Love was spending his All-Star break training in Park City, Utah, when he suddenly decided to check out his Instagram account.

He scrolled, and scrolled through his timeline and then he saw it. The NBA's account posted that Al Horford of the Atlanta Hawks would be replacing Chris Bosh of the Miami Heat in the All-Star Game. Bosh had to pull out due to a health scare.

That meant Love was not only snubbed once, not twice, but three times. The first occurred when the coaches didn't vote for him as a reserve; and the second was commissioner Adam Silver inserting Pau Gasol into the game in the place of his injured teammate Jimmy Butler. Silver also made the call to fly Horford in.

And Love didn't turn down an invitation. He was not asked to fly to Toronto. He said he "most certainly would" have left his vacation spot to travel north. After processing what he read on his account, Love said he shrugged his shoulders and continued on about his business.

"I just enjoyed my break but I just thought, 'what the (bleep),' " the power forward said to Cleveland.com about his reaction. "Whatever. Just keep moving."

With Cleveland first in the Eastern Conference standings, having LeBron James as the team's lone representative was a slap in the face. Atlanta is currently the fourth seed and it had two All-Stars. Chicago is in the eighth and final playoff spot, but managed to get two All-Stars.

Last year, Atlanta got four guys in after finishing the first half on top of the conference.

"I know. I know," Love said while nodding his head up and down with a "you're-preaching-to-the-choir" expression on his face.

During Sunday's game between the Cavaliers and Oklahoma City Thunder at Chesapeake Energy Center, Love was the brightest star of the game -- a game that also featured LeBron James, Kyrie Irving, Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant.

His game-high 29 points, his 11 boards and his five assists led the way as the Cavaliers trounced the Thunder, 115-92. His aggression was unmatched. When he got the ball, he didn't hesitate on his move. He went right to work.

OKC's Serge Ibaka and Durant were frustrated all night with the fouls they were picking up while trying to guard Love. At one point, Durant screamed to the official, "Call it the other way too, damn." On a national stage in one of the biggest games of the regular season, Love showed his value. He showed why he should have been an All-Star.

"He gave it on both ends," Cavs coach Tyronn Lue said. "Defensively he was engaged, he was in the right spots contesting shots. He was physical in post-ups and his pick-and-roll defense was great."

He played superbly, but he won't put up numbers like that on a regular basis. He had to step his game up because Kyrie Irving exited in the first quarter with flu-like symptoms. It was all up to Love and LeBron James to carry the load. Had Love laid an egg under these circumstances, on this stage, it just would have been brutal for him. But he performed exceedingly well, proving to some that he still has it.

Love may not post jaw-dropping numbers like he used to, but when it's in order, he still knows how to put the ball in the basket. He should have been an All-Star. OKC can certainly attest to that.

"You know what I think that everybody is so caught up in my numbers being 25 [points] or 10 or 12 [rebounds] in Minnesota and now they're 16 and 10 [here]," Love told cleveland.com. "Naturally being on a team where these are volume guys that handle the ball a lot and they make big plays, miraculous plays, and get us out of holes and score for us. My numbers are going to go down.

"I think people tend to lose sight of that, think 'Ah, why is he not putting up 25 and 15 every night?' That could be part of it, I don't know, but I had mentioned that I thought that being on the first-place team would definitely hold some weight. It didn't."