Kevin Love scores career-high and a double-double to boot

Kevin Love makes sissy girl out of some ugly dude I hate, pic courtesy of nba.com

(sorry, video upload failed. trying to fix.)

UCLA one-and-done Kevin Love 08 nicks the Knicks with a career high and a double-double to boot -- 25 pts, 11 rbds -- off the bench two Sundays ago Jan 31 in Minneapolis. Love also had 4 assists (I wonder how many of them were the "length-of-the-court" kind?) and a steal.

Fellow Bruin and Timberwolf, Ryan Hollins 03-06 started at center and had an impressive line as well, 16 pts, 3 rbds, 3 blks.

Hollins, Love and the Timberwolves win at home against the New York Knicky-wickys, 112-91.

Recap

Bench propels Timberwolves past Knicks

By Jim Beilby, for NBA.com
Posted Sunday January 31, 2010 10:40PM

MINNEAPOLIS (NBA.com exclusive) -- The Minnesota Timberwolves notched back-to-back victories for only the second time this season, defeating the New York Knicks 112-91 on Sunday night.

New York was playing the second half of a back-to-back and needed its bench to play well. The bench, however, was outscored 51-8.

"Once we went to the bench, it seemed like the energy came out of us," Knicks coach Mike D'Antoni said. "We didn't get a whole lot of points from the bench. That gave them hope and they hurt us inside and on the boards. [Al] Jefferson and [Kevin] Love beat us up and we never regained our rhythm."

Minnesota outscored the Knicks 48-36 in the paint and outrebounded them 65-39.

"[Love and Jefferson] are good," D'Antoni said. "If you don't double real quick and rotate real good like we did in New York (five nights ago), then they can beat you up. And they beat us up."

Jefferson scored 16 of his 22 points in the second half and Love led Minnesota's bench with a season-high 25 points on 9-for-18 shooting. While Love has started most of the games for which he has been healthy this year, the recent play of Ryan Hollins has made Love the go-to man off the bench.

"They have some strong guys inside," David Lee said. "Al Jefferson, of course, is a beast down there. And Hollins has had a good couple last games. His length gave us some trouble. Then they come off the bench with Kevin Love, who would be a starter on two-thirds of the teams in this league."

On Friday night against the Clippers, Hollins match his career high with 20 points. Sunday, he gave Minnesota three blocks and 16 points on 6-for-8 shooting.

After missing six games with a respiratory infection in early January, Hollins' play has improved steadily.

"We see him developing in a lot of ways," Minnesota coach Kurt Rambis said. "He's just a very raw player. He has a lot of good basketball qualities, but he's still learning the game. This is his third year in the NBA, but this is probably the first year in which he has got meaningful minutes. So this is basically his rookie year."

It took less than six minutes for New York to build a 15-point lead, but less than a quarter to give that lead -- and more -- away. Minnesota outscored New York 28-11 over 11 minutes late in the first and early in the second quarter and held a three-point lead at half 49-46.

But that run paled in comparison to the 34-8 run Minnesota made over 10 minutes late in the third and early in the fourth.

Wilson Chandler scored 27 for New York in the losing effort. The Knicks have lost nine of their last 12 games and five of their last six on the road.