Timberwolves 87, Spurs 79
Kevin Love scored 18 points to lead the Minnesota Timberwolves to an 87-79 win over the visiting San Antonio Spurs on Friday.
Minnesota has won back-to-back games over the Spurs after losing 16 in a row to San Antonio, which fell to 2-7 on the road.
Love scored a running hook shot to put Minnesota ahead by six with 37 seconds remaining. He grabbed 16 rebounds for his 17th straight double-double.
The Timberwolves’ youthful point guard-power forward combo of Ricky Rubio and Love topped the Spurs’ veteran duo of Tony Parker and Tim Duncan – the NBA’s longest tenured teammates at 722 games.
Rubio finished with 18 points and 10 assists, including a slick, no-look bounce pass through traffic to find Love on a backdoor play in the third quarter.
Duncan struggled, shooting just 2 for 12 from the floor and finished with nine points and 10 rebounds. Parker kept the Spurs close in the fourth, dropping seven of his team-high 20 points in the final frame.
Matt Bonner, a game after hitting five 3-pointers in the win over Atlanta, remained hot from outside, knocking down three shots from beyond the arc to finish with 13 points off the bench for the Spurs. Backup center Tiago Splitter chipped in with 12 points.
Minnesota got a surprise effort from center Nikola Pekovic, who scored 14 points and reeled in 10 boards.
The Timberwolves returned small forward Michael Beasley after he missed 11 games with a mid-foot sprain. He scored seven points in his return. Guard Martell Webster also made his season debut after missing the start of the season after undergoing back surgery, and had three points in the win.