OAKLAND, Calif. -- If the entire Cavaliers' season is to be viewed through the prism of how much ground they've closed on the Golden State Warriors, then one glaring positive takeaway from the Christmas loss was the play of Kevin Love.

Love scored 31 and grabbed a season-high 18 rebounds in Cleveland's 99-92 loss to the Warriors.

This was the first time in the rivalry that Love played exclusively at center -- where he's been for almost all of this season.

One constant narrative surrounding Love since he came to Cleveland is that, when the opponent is the Warriors and it's the Finals, he's not a good fit. A power forward until now, the thought was Love just couldn't stay with Draymond Green.

To which Love says: "I didn't have a bad Finals last year."

"I got in foul trouble in Game 5, and I didn't shoot well in one of the games, but I had 14 rebounds," Love told cleveland.com. "A game we should've won. I don't think I played bad in last year's Finals. Could we have played better? Of course."

Love's overall statistics in the 2017 Finals were mostly above water. He averaged 16 points and 11.2 boards in the five games, with a plus-minus of minus-7 and a .388 shooting percentage.

As Love said, he shot 1-of-9 in pivotal Game 3 -- a game the Cavs lost by five and needed to avoid falling down 3-0. In the series clincher, Love's two quick fouls sent him in the direction of a six-point, 10-rebound night on 2-of-8 shooting.

The previous season, Love and teammates were crowned champs because of their heroics in Game 7. For Love, he grabbed 14 rebounds and added nine points, and is remembered for staying with Stephen Curry and forcing him into a missed 3 with that last game on the line.

But the 2016 Finals were rough for Love. He averaged just 8.5 points, 6.8 rebounds and shot .263 from 3-point range in 26.3 minutes per game. He was held out of Game 3 with a concussion (the Cavs notched their first win), didn't start Game 4, scored just two points with five rebounds in Game 5 and played 12 minutes in Game 6.

The farther away the Cavs could keep Love away from Green in that series (and Green was suspended for Game 5), the better.

"People look at, oh, 'Kevin had two points and five rebounds in Game 5,'" Love said. "It's like, those guys (LeBron James and Kyrie Irving) both had 41 points each. I had five shots. I wasn't trying to shoot. Could I have rebounded more? Absolutely. But that game, I wasn't having double figure points. It wasn't happening that night."

Fast forward to now, to this season where coach Tyronn Lue moved Love to center and structured the defense so Love can blitz on pick and rolls and the other four players switch. Love's been drilling opposing centers, averaging 20.1 points (his high since joining the Cavs) on .472 shooting (and .416 from 3-point range) with 10.4 rebounds.

Love has said he doesn't want to play center, preferring to go back to power forward and welcome Tristan Thompson back to the starting lineup. But Lue wants Love right where he is.

Because, remember, Cavs' seasons are viewed through the lens of how they match up with the Warriors.

"I love it," James said. "It's been the reason why we've been playing so great ball over the last couple months. So, I hope he wants to stay there. You know Kev, he's talked about wanting to go back to the power forward position but, we're winning and he's been playing big time ball so hopefully he wants to stay at center."

Love didn't shoot well on Monday, going 9-of-25 from the floor. And that includes his 6-of-11 shooting on 3s.

The Warriors started Jordan Bell over Zaza Pachulia at center, but, Love said, as the game wore on Golden State switched Green onto him. Golden State coach Steve Kerr said he didn't start Pachulia (who was cleared to play after missing six games with a shoulder injury) because Love was playing center -- an item to keep in mind for the future.

Whatever the matchup, if Love finishes the shots near the rim he usually makes, the Cavs win. He wasn't a total liability on defense, though the Warriors outscored Cleveland 33-9 on fastbreak points.

So, Love doesn't think he was the problem in the Finals last season. But he acknowledges it's a team that, in a seven-game series, poses certain challenges to him that other teams can't.

Love was willing Monday to say that playing him at center may mitigate some of those issues, to a certain degree.

"Yeah, I think there is something to be said for me playing the 5 and logging most of the minutes there," Love told cleveland.com. "I think we match up better, maybe, but it's just so hard to say without Steph (Curry) being on the floor."

Yes, with the two-time MVP Curry not in the lineup, thus totally changing the complexion of the Warriors, little can be gleaned from this Christmas game when it comes to a potential fourth Cavs-Warriors Finals.

That includes how Love would work at center.

"He takes them to a whole different stratosphere," Love said. "And when you have three great shooters out there and then Draymond gets to roam freely like he does, they will be really tough. Really tough."