Love, T'Wolves top Spurs

Basketball Betting Lines

01/27/2012 - Minneapolis, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Suddenly, Kevin Love and the Minnesota Timberwolves have the San Antonio Spurs' number.

Love had 18 points and 16 rebounds Friday night and the Timberwolves scored the final 10 points of the game to beat the Spurs for the second time in a row, 87-79.

The Timberwolves also beat the Spurs on January 2 at home, snapping a 16-game losing streak in the series. Friday was only their third victory in the last 24 meetings between the teams.

Tony Parker had 20 points to lead San Antonio, while Tim Duncan scored nine with 10 rebounds.

The Spurs took a 79-77 lead on Gary Neal's three-pointer with 3:33 remaining, but didn't score again, missing their final seven shots of the game.

"A terrific win for our guys, especially over a veteran team that wins games like that all the time," said Timberwolves coach Rick Adelman. "Hopefully it's a step forward for us."

Love had his 18th double-double of the season by the third quarter, but wasn't the only Timberwolves player to get one.

Rookie point guard Ricky Rubio scored 18 points with 10 assists for his eighth double-double of the season, while Nikola Pekovic had 14 points and 10 rebounds for his first.

Rubio's free throws tied the game at 79 and his jumper put the Timberwolves on top for good, 81-79, with 2:42 remaining. Moments later, he fed Love for a bucket to make it a four-point game.

Which is becoming a common sight for the 9-10 Timberwolves, who can reach .500 for the first time this season with a win over the Lakers at home on Sunday.

Love called Rubio, who entered the NBA with an already sparkling reputation, a "great" player. Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich didn't need to be told that, calling the 6-foot-4 Spaniard a "heck of a passer" with a good ability to read situations on the court.

"He's like a football quarterback," Popovich said.

There were 13 lead changes and five ties during the game. Love complained that the Timberwolves haven't been doing enough defensively early in games, and it showed Friday.

The Spurs shot 52.6 percent in the first quarter and had a 22-21 lead at the buzzer. Both teams shot under 39 percent in the second quarter and San Antonio kept its one-point lead at halftime, 42-41.

Minnesota led by as many as six in the third quarter, tying the game at 64-64 going into the fourth. The Spurs then shot just 27.8 percent over the last 12 minutes.

"We want to just continue to get better," Love said, looking forward to the chance to reach .500 this weekend, "and especially in the fourth quarter when it's close."

Game Notes

The Spurs started a three-game road trip that also includes games in Dallas and Memphis. They are currently in the midst of playing 16 of 21 games on the road and are currently 3-4 during the stretch so far...The Timberwolves were coming off a 105-90 win in Dallas on Wednesday after Love signed his four- year contract extension.

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Big Ten Conference odds

Teams that should be in: Michigan State, Indiana
Work left to do: Illinois, Purdue, Michigan, Iowa

Behind the big two, the pecking order might be in a bit of flux. Has Michigan State passed Indiana after handling the Hoosiers in East Lansing? Where is Illinois in that mix? What looked like a four-big league last week could be morphing into five -- and even six is not unthinkable at this point if everything breaks right.

Should be in:

Michigan State [21-8 (8-6), RPI: 20, SOS: 15] The Spartans made it four-for-four on the homestand, a gigantic accomplishment that leaves them in extremely good shape. MSU is only 1-6 on the road and is at Michigan and at Wisconsin to close things out, meaning the date with the Wolverines on Tuesday looms very, very large. Beating Texas early will hold up well, as will the rout of Bradley and the win over BYU, but will 8-8 be enough? It very well could be, as the computer numbers are good, but why chance it?

Indiana [18-9 (8-6), RPI: 24, SOS: 32] Hmm ... good thing the last two are at Northwestern and home to Penn State, because IU might want to get both to feel completely safe after dropping its third in the last four, fading after halftime at Michigan State. Who knew the best nonconference win would be over Southern Illinois, which is a gift that keeps on giving for the Hoosiers. The win over Wisconsin also looks good on the mantel.

Work left to do:

Illinois [21-9 (9-6), RPI: 31, SOS: 25] A good performance at Penn State leaves the Illini in pretty good shape. Can they go to Iowa and take care of business to really look on their way? That's a huge game, as there is a possible cluster of teams that will end at 9-7. Illinois beat Bradley, but has lost to Xavier. A 9-7 mark and a semifinals trip in Chicago could be enough with the computer profile hanging in there, but it would be better not to mess around, clinching at least a tie for third.

Purdue [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 47, SOS: 28] Couldn't get it done at Iowa, but did win at Northwestern to put 9-7 squarely in sight. Where does that leave the Boilermakers, though? Even if they beat Minnesota and Northwestern at home, that won't help the computer numbers. Nonconference wins over Virginia, DePaul and Oklahoma are solid, but not spectacular. The Boilers very well might need an upset in the B10 quarters to have a legit claim.

Michigan [19-10 (7-7), RPI: 55, SOS: 53] Well, Michigan did what it needed to do, winning at Minnesota to take control of its fate. The Wolverines have Michigan State and an already-wrapped-up-the-league Ohio State at home to close, so the chances are there. Win both and we can talk. There is no marquee win yet in the profile, and the Wolverines were splattered in several games against name opponents. A mediocre computer profile fueled by a lack of road wins isn't helping, either.

Iowa [16-12 (8-6), RPI: 80, SOS: 64] For the sake of being complete, we'll add Iowa, this season's Stanford. It's plausible that the Hawkeyes could get to 10-6 (at Penn State, vs. Illinois left), but where does that leave them after a gruesome nonconference performance where the best win was over ... Toledo? Iowa State? Cornell?? If they get to 10-6, we can start to look at what they need to do in the B10 tourney, although my gut sense is that they would need to make the final and have knocked off Ohio State or Wisconsin on the way to have any real claim.

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