Kevin Love had a bold strategy for defending Larry Nance Jr. during the Cavs game on Monday ... by giving his old teammate's ass a smack!!
The odd moment went down with less than three minutes left in the third quarter of Cleveland's MLK Day matchup against the New Orleans Pelicans ... when Nance -- the son of former Cavs and Suns star Larry Nance -- was waiting for Jose Alvarado to inbound the ball.
Nance's reaction is hilarious -- he quickly pleads with refs to do something about the bizarre tactic ... but ultimately, the game continued without a foul.
Of course, it was all in good fun ... as Love and Nance grew close during their time together with the Wine & Gold.
Love and Nance's former Cavs teammate/NBA referee Richard Jefferson even got in on the fun ... posting a TikTok about the incident.
"Hey @kevinlove this is under review for a flagrant," RJ joked. "@larrydn7 you good?"
Nance -- an Ohio native who played for the Cavs from 2018-21 -- finished the game with four points, three rebounds and three assists for NOLA.
The butt-smackin' tactic seemingly worked ... 'cause the Cavs pulled off the 113-103 win over the Pels.