LeBron James, Kevin Love

Cleveland Cavaliers forward Kevin Love (L) and teammate LeBron James will not be sharing the court together at the 2016 All-Star Game.

(John Kuntz, cleveland.com)

TROY, Mich. -- The Cleveland Cavaliers, known for their formidable Big Three, will be represented by a Big One in Toronto for the 2016 NBA All-Star Game.

LeBron James, voted a starter by the fans, was the only player selected from the Eastern Conference's top seed, as Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love were left out.

"It's definitely a kick in the rear end for our team for sure, knowing all the work we put into it, and knowing the two other guys," James said prior to Friday morning's shootaround. "You know, Kyrie's games being limited like that I figured the coaches wouldn't give him the nod, but you know he's an All-Star. And then with Kev, I think Kev has played great basketball for the first half of the season. He could've been awarded, but hopefully those guys use it as motivation for the rest of the season and the team will as well."

It will be the first time since 2010 -- James' last season in Cleveland before joining the Miami Heat for four years -- that James will be making the trip to the mid-season showcase without one of his teammates.

As James said, Irving's chances were squashed when he was nudged out of the starting spot by Toronto point guard Kyle Lowry. Irving has played 18 games and has been inconsistent as he attempts to regain his rhythm following off-season knee surgery. Coaches weren't going to pick him.

But the Cavaliers tried to make the case for Love, understanding he represented the team's best chance for a second player, and campaigning for him since the beginning of the season.

It didn't work. The East coaches didn't feel Love, who is averaging 15.7 points on 41 percent shooting to go with 10.8 rebounds, was deserving, which surprised new head coach Tyronn Lue.

"I just thought, in this league it's always been about winning and winning has always been rewarded," said Lue, who will be coaching the East's All-Star squad. "Being No. 1 in the East and Kevin being one of four guys in the NBA to average a double-double on a winning team, I've just never seen being a first-place team and getting one guy in. I've never seen that before."

The official announcement of reserves came Thursday night, with Atlanta's Paul Millsap, Chicago's Jimmy Butler, Miami's Chris Bosh, Toronto's DeMar DeRozan, Detroit's Andre Drummond, Boston's Isaiah Thomas and Washington's John Wall getting the seven spots.

"I think there's a lot of good players in the East," Love said about not being picked. "I've said that all along, especially at the forward position, too, with the starters. I think it's a good team on both sides."

Still, it's an unpleasant feeling for Love, preventing him from reaching one of his individual goals for a second straight year.

"I think anybody from a human being standpoint and something in their career it's another one of those notches that you say, oh yeah, that's something you want," said Love, who is a three-time All-Star. "Kyrie is no different, LeBron is no different, a lot of guys in this league it's no different. The main thing at the end of the day is winning and we have to continue to do that."

Love's second season with the Cavs got off to a great start. In the month of November, he averaged 19.9 points on 47 percent from the field, including 41 percent from three-point range to go with 11.8 rebounds. Labeled the offensive "focal point," Love was displaying the versatility that again made him one of the league's elite power forwards just a few months after surgery to repair a dislocated left shoulder. He appeared on his way to a fourth All-Star selection.

But his play in the last two months has looked a lot like his maiden voyage with the Cavaliers, dotted with inconsistency.

Love is averaging 13.0 points on 118-of-308 (38.3 percent) from the field, including 40-of-128 (31.2 percent) from three-point range to go with 10.1 rebounds in December and January.

"You knew that everybody getting back there would be a couple things that changed," Love admitted. "Now just finding a way to adapt to Coach Lue's style and go from there."

Coming into this season, the Cavs had plenty of fuel. They were coming off an NBA Finals loss, one suffered while Love and Irving were sidelined with injury. Now they have more motivation, using the snub as a potential catalyst for the second half of the season.

"I don't know if Kyrie or myself need more added motivation, but we'll take anything we can get," Love said.

The whirlwind week started last Friday, with head coach David Blatt getting fired despite 30 wins in the first 41 games. Many, including numerous NBA coaches, criticized Cleveland's decision, which might've played a small part in them leaving Love off the roster.

"I haven't seen any of the coaches speak out on it, so I really haven't noticed it much," James said of the backlash after Blatt was fired. "But, we got to earn our respect. As a team and as a franchise we got to continue to earn our respect. It's just another notion of that."