Minnesota T-Wolves Blog – Page 59 – NBA Blog

Kevin Love drops 40 and 19 on Bobcats

Kevin Love

Beast Mode

Kevin Love had 40 points and 19 rebounds Wednesday night to lift the Minnesota Timberwolves to an 88-83 victory over the Charlotte Bobcats.

It was Love’s third-highest point total in March, and pushed his scoring average in 15 games in the month to 31.2.

Love has scored at least 20 points in 14 of his last 15 games and has 44 double-doubles on the season, including nine straight games.

Before the game, Bobcats coach Paul Silas said Love without question should be considered an MVP candidate and his opinion didn’t change after he dominated his young big men Bismack Biyombo and Byron Mullens.

“If he continues to do what he’s doing for a good portion of his career he’s going to be one of the best ever,” Silas said. “He’s just tenacious. That ball goes up and he’s there. And he’s strong… The young boys we have are not ready for that. So that makes it difficult.”

As for all of the MVP talk, Love said, “In some ways it’s warranted, but we need to win a lot more games in order to be anywhere close to that.”

— Reported by Steve Reed of the Associated Press

Timberwolves center Nikola Pekovic considering ankle surgery

Timberwolves center Nikola Pekovic, diagnosed with bone spurs in his right ankle, said Sunday, March 25, that he will consider surgery if the condition doesn’t improve.

Pekovic did not play in the Wolves’ 117-100 win over Denver and will not play at Memphis on Tuesday or at Charlotte on Wednesday.

“I really can’t go into next season with this thing,” Pekovic said before Sunday’s game. “It’s been too painful. We’re going to try to figure out some things to do in the next few days.”

Pekovic has missed four of the past five games because of soreness in his left ankle. He said “overcompensating” for the bone spurs in his right ankle led to soreness in the left.

— Reported by Ray Richardson of the St. Paul Pioneer Press

Thunder survive Kevin Love’s 51 points, beat Wolves in 2OT

Russell Westbrook scored 45 points, Kevin Durant added 40 points and a season-high 17 rebounds and the Oklahoma City Thunder overcame a career-high 51 points from Minnesota All-Star Kevin Love to beat the Timberwolves 149-140 in double overtime Friday night.

Westbrook set the tone in the second overtime, stealing the ball on Minnesota’s opening possession and racing to the other end for a layup that resulted in a three-point play.

The Thunder never trailed in the period and put it away with nine straight points after Nick Collison blocked Love’s shot that would have tied it at 140.

Love, who beat Durant in the 3-Point Contest on All-Star weekend, made a career-high seven 3s and also pulled down 14 rebounds while becoming the third player to eclipse 50 points this season…

Love, whose previous career-high was 43 points, was 16 of 27 from the field and went 7 for 11 on 3s, hitting his first five attempts. Barea added a season-high 25 points and a career-best 14 assists and Tolliver chipped in a season-high 23 points.

James Harden scored 25 off the bench and Kendrick Perkins contributed a season-high 12 points despite not playing in the fourth quarter or overtime for Oklahoma City.

— Reported by Jeff Latzke of the Associated Press

Brad Miller to retire at end of season

If anybody was really wondering … Wolves veteran center Brad Miller said before Monday’s game at Golden State that he will retire at the end of the season.

Miller has played just 43 minutes in seven games this season on a knee surgically repaired last May after the Wolves acquired him in a draft-night trade last summer.

The Wolves could have bought out his $5 million contract next season for a fraction of that, which made his return unlikely anyway.

Wolves boss David Kahn said he would like to keep Miller with the organization in some capacity if he’s interested.

— Reported by Jerry Zgoda of the Minneapolis Star Tribune

Ricky Rubio will have knee surgery Wednesday

The Minnesota Timberwolves today announced that guard Ricky Rubio will undergo surgery to reconstruct a torn ACL (anterior cruciate ligament) in his left knee on Wednesday, March 21. The surgery will be performed by Dr. Richard Steadman at The Steadman Clinic in Vail, Colo. The injury occurred with 16 seconds remaining in the Timberwolves game vs. the L.A. Lakers on Friday, March 9.

Rubio, acquired by Minnesota with the fifth overall pick in the 2009 NBA Draft, appeared in 41 games (31 starts) for the Wolves this season, averaging 10.6 points, 4.2 rebounds, 8.2 assists and 2.22 steals. The rookie compiled 12 point/assist double-doubles and dished out 10+ assists on 15 occasions. At the time of his injury, Rubio ranks 3rd in the NBA in steals and 5th in assists.

Lakers almost traded for Michael Beasley

The Lakers were seven minutes from acquiring Minnesota forward Michael Beasley, but Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor blocked an agreed-upon three-team trade right before the deadline that would have sent Fisher to Minnesota, not Houston, according to a person with knowledge of the situation. The trade also would have involved Portland.

“It was whisker-close,” said the person, who did not want to be identified.

The Lakers responded by quickly sending Fisher to the Rockets, barely beating the noon deadline. They are not expected to re-sign Fisher if he takes a buyout with the Rockets.

Sessions, 25, is a quick penetrator with an unremarkable outside shot. He lost playing time to rookie Kyrie Irving, the top pick in last year’s draft, and was averaging 10.5 points and 5.2 assists but shooting only 39.8%.

— Reported by Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times

Ricky Rubio injury: Torn ACL, out for season

Ricky Rubio

Super-fun passer

Due to the following unfortunate news, NBA assist highlights just got a lot less fun to watch.

The Minnesota Timberwolves today announced that an MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) taken this morning revealed that Wolves guard Ricky Rubio has a torn ACL (Anterior Cruciate Ligament) in his left knee. Rubio, who will have surgery scheduled at a to-be-determined date, will miss the remainder of the 2011-12 NBA season. The injury occurred with 16.4 seconds remaining in last night’s game vs. the L.A. Lakers.

“Obviously, Ricky’s injury is an unfortunate turn of events for him and our team,” said David Kahn, Timberwolves President of Basketball Operations. “I feel bad for Ricky having to miss the rest of this season. But Ricky is a competitor, and I am confident that he will work hard to get back on the court next year and continue his progression as one of the top point guards in our league. We have 25 games left this season, and I look for our team to continue to play hard and fight for a playoff spot.”

In 41 games, 31 starts, Rubio averaged 10.6 points, 8.2 assists (5th in the NBA), 4.2 rebounds and 2.22 steals (3rd in the NBA) in 34.2 minutes per game. Rubio led all NBA rookies in assists, minutes and steals while recording 12 point-assist double-doubles, ranking him third in the NBA. Rubio was named the Western Conference Rookie of the Month for January.

Ricky Rubio may have serious knee injury

Minnesota Timberwolves rookie point guard Ricky Rubio will have an MRI on his left knee Saturday morning amid fears he tore his anterior cruciate ligament, a league source told Yahoo! Sports.

“Possible ACL,” the source briefed on Rubio’s condition said. “We’ll know more after the MRI. … There’s a lot of worry right now.”

Rubio’s knee buckled with 16.4 seconds left in the Timberwolves’ loss to the Los Angeles Lakers Friday night in Minneapolis.

— Reported by Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports

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Kevin Love drops 39 points on Clippers

Another game won, another All-Star power forward dominated, Kevin Love stepped to the postgame television interview and delivered a bold statement.

“This is my time right now,” Love proclaimed.

It’s getting harder and harder to argue with that.

Love had 39 points and 17 rebounds to carry the Minnesota Timberwolves to a 95-94 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers on Monday night.

Darko Milicic had 13 points in a spot start for the injured Nikola Pekovic and Michael Beasley scored all nine of his points in the fourth quarter for the Wolves. But it was Love, the All-Star, 3-point shootout champion and perhaps budding MVP candidate, who put this young improving team on his back and willed them over the .500 mark at 20-19.

He hit a jumper in Kenyon Martin’s face with 1:28 to play, then added what proved to be the game winner by bulling himself to the basket for a little flip shot that has become one of his staples…

Love went 8 for 11 at the line and 5 for 10 from 3-point range and scored nine points on 4-for-6 shooting with four rebounds in the fourth. The versatility and shot-making set him apart from Clippers star Blake Griffin, who had a heck of a game of his own.

Griffin had 26 points and 12 rebounds, but scored just four in the final period. He only took two shots in the period, went 0 for 4 at the line and picked up a costly technical foul when he jawed at referee Ken Mauer after pulling Luke Ridnour to the floor in one of the game’s many collisions near the basket.

— Reported by Jon Krawczynski of the Associated Press

Timberwolves owner thinks playoffs are reachable

Kevin Love

Stomps the competition

At the all-star break, nine teams in the NBA’s tough Western Conference have records better than the Timberwolves, who are 17-17, equaling their victory total of last season. The top eight teams go to the playoffs.

Can the Wolves, at this juncture, dare think about playoffs?

“Interestingly enough, I think (coach Rick Adelman) has put them into a place now that we will be striving to try to get into the playoffs,” Wolves owner Glen Taylor said Thursday. “Even though we’re 10th, we’re just (one game) out of eighth. So that’s certainly all achievable if things go well.

“There’s no reason for them not to try that and work hard for it. It’s going to be tough because there are so many other teams that are so close. But I can’t believe that the guys, now that they’ve seen what they can do in the first half of the season, won’t put that as part of their goal.”

— Reported by the St. Paul Pioneer Press