With Minnesota off to a hot start, Love earns our player of the week honors.
What’s love got to do with it? When it comes to winning… everything.
This week’s player of the week honor goes to the former UCLA Bruin himself, Kevin Love.
The 6-foot-10, 243 lb power forward led the Minnesota Timberwolves to a 3-1 record over the past seven days. During that span, Love dropped an average of 26.5 points a night, but that’s not all “Doctor” Love had in store for the fans.
The first of Minnesota’s three wins came against the Orlando Magic last Wednesday 120-115, but the victory could have easily gone to Orlando if Love had not shown a little magic of his own — have to “Love” those puns.
With time slipping through their fingers, down by three points in the fourth quarter, the Timberwolves turned to Love to deliver the game-tying shot, and he did. Off of an inbound pass from Ricky Rubio, Love freed himself of his defender got a clean look at the basket and evened the game at 103 with one of his three long balls on the night.
He ended up with 31 points, 17 rebounds and four assists in 41 minutes of play. You can say that’s not too shabby.
But he didn’t stop.
Two nights later, Love went off for a second double-double when he racked up 24 points and 12 rebounds in a 100-81 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder. Those 24 points came off a 7-12 shooting night in which he went 3-5 from behind the arc.
Going 2-0 is fun, but do you know what’s better than 2-0? A 3-0 record.
Yet another two nights later, Love walked into Madison Square Garden and put up his third double-double in as many games. He torched the New York Knicks for 31 points and kept them off the glass by snatching 15 rebounds. Despite being 2-8 from behind three, Love converted 12-15 from the charity stripe. Minnesota, as a team, shot 29-38 from the foul line. Being that Minnesota barely beat the Knicks 109-100, Love’s free throws proved to be the difference.
On Monday, Love couldn’t find the touch from deep. He went 0-7 from three and 1-1 from the free throw line. Yes, he had 17 points and 13 rebounds for yet another double-double, but a 93-92 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers is all that matters to Minnesota.
Tonight the Timberwolves will get a challenge when they tip off against the Golden State Warriors. For Love, he’ll have a taste of his own medicine when he faces off against another versatile big man in David Lee, who can go pound for pound with any power forward in the NBA.
Having said that, Lee is averaging eight boards a game. Love on the other hand is cleaning glass on a nightly basis, averaging 14.6 a game. The interesting factor to look out for is how Lee will guard Love on the perimeter. Love shoots 35 percent from behind the three-point line for his career. Lee will have to avoid the hedge on screens and get a hand in Love’s face if he wants to keep Love off the scoreboard.
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