Tag: DENVER

Love’s big night spoils Mullin’s jersey retirement, leads S&Ds

Kevin Love prepared for his upcoming trip to San Antonio with another monster game to ruin Chris Mullin’s jersey retirement night.

Love muscled for  36 points and 17 rebounds to lead Minnesota to a 97-93 victory over Golden State as the Warriors honored one of their greatest players.

The All-Star Minnesota power forward had several late big plays, hitting a 16-foot jumper with 4 minutes left and then adding a critical tip-in late in the game to help the Timberwolves keep their  dimming postseason hopes alive.

“Down the stretch is where we won the game,” Love told the Associated Press. “We executed, got big stops and made plays.”

It enabled Minnesota to snap a three-game losing streak and pull within 1½ games of Houston for eighth place in the Western Conference playoff race.

Love and the Timberwolves have their chance to spoil another jersey retirement Wednesday night in San Antonio when the Spurs raise Bruce Bowen’s uniform to the rafters. They will be gunning for a  season sweep against the Spurs after beating them twice already this season.

His big game Monday night led Studs and Duds across the NBA.

STUDS

Minnesota F Kevin Love: Muscled for 36 points and 17 rebounds and was a team-best plus-6 in the Timberwolves’ victory at Golden State.

Dallas F Dirk Nowitzki: Erupted for 33 points, 11 rebounds and six assists in only 31 minutes and was a team-best plus-23 in the Mavericks’ victory at Denver.

Cleveland F Tristan Thompson: The rookie from Texas had 27 points and grabbed 12 rebounds (eight offensive) in the Cavaliers’ victory at New Jersey.

Chicago F Carlos Boozer: Went for 24 points, 13 rebounds, four steals, two assists and was plus-19 in the Bulls’ victory at Orlando.

Boston G Rajon Rondo: Produced 10 points, 13 assists, six steals, three rebounds and was plus-3 in the Celtics’ victory at Atlanta.

DUDS

Chicago G C.J. Watson: Went 0 for 8 from the field with two turnovers in the Bulls’ victory at Orlando.

Orlando G Jason Richardson: Struggled through a 1-for-7 shooting effort with two turnovers and was minus-13 in the Magic’s loss to Chicago. 

Atlanta G Joe  Johnson: Went for 25 points in the Hawks’ loss to Boston, but had seven turnovers and was minus-1.

Orlando G Jameer Nelson: Struggled through a 4-for-11 shooting effort with five turnovers and was minus-2 in the Magic’s loss to Chicago.

Denver F Danilo Gallinari: Limited to four points on 1-for-7 shooting with three turnovers and was minus-10 in the Nuggets’ loss to Dallas.

Love goes for 30 and 21 to lead Monday’s S&Ds

Kevin Love’s streak of monster games continued again Sunday night.

Only two days after a career-best 51-point scoring game, Love followed it up with 30 points and 21 rebounds to lead Minnesota’s 117-100 victory over Denver.

“I think we used to call him kind of a poor man’s Larry Bird,” Denver coach George Karl told the Associated Press. “I think you can take `poor man’s’ off that comparison now. His ability to rebound is incredible and his offensive tools and skills are growing.”

 It was Love’s seventh career 30-point, 20-rebound game. During his career, the feat has been accomplished only 11 times by the rest of the league, with Dwight Howard with three the next closest during that span.

And it was  Love’s ninth 30-15 effort this season. Joe Smith is the only other NBA player who has accomplished that feat more than once this season. Smith has done it twice.

“Just another night for him,” Minnesota forward Anthony Tolliver told the AP.

Love’s huge outburst was critical as the Timberwolves attempt to stay relevant in the Western Conference playoff race.

And in the process, his big effort enabled  his team to stay within 2½ games of Houston for the West’s final playoff spot as he led Sunday’s Studs and Duds.

STUDS

Minnesota F Kevin Love: Notched 30 points, 21 rebounds, four assists, three blocks, two steals and was a game-high plus-25 in the Timberwolves’ victory over  Denver.

Oklahoma City F Kevin Durant: Went for 28 points, nine rebounds, eight assists and was plus-13 in the Thunder’s victory over the Heat.

Atlanta G Joe Johnson: Erupted for 37 points, eight rebounds, two assists and was plus-7 in the Hawks’ quadruple-overtime victory over Utah.

Los Angeles Lakers C Andrew Bynum: Went for 30 points and was plus-4 in the Lakers’ loss  to Memphis.

Utah F Al Jefferson: Produced 28 points, 17 rebounds, three blocks and was plus-1 in the Jazz’s wild loss at Atlanta.

DUDS

Cleveland F Antawn Jamison: Went 1 for 8 from the field with a turnover and was minus-17 in the Cavaliers’ loss to Phoenix. 

Portland G Jamal Crawford: Clanked through a 1-for-10 shooting effort with a turnover and was minus-8 in the Trail Blazers’ loss to Golden State.

Washington F Trevor Booker: Went 1 of 7 from the field with three turnovers and was minus-14 in the Wizards’ loss at Boston.

Oklahoma City G Russell Westbrook: Clanked through a 4-for-16 shooting effort with four turnovers in the Thunder’s victory over Miami.

Miami’s “Big Three:” LeBron James, Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade combined for 15 turnovers and were a collective minus-41 in the Heat’s loss at Oklahoma City.

Duncan shows plenty spring left in step

By Jeff McDonald

Eighty-six seconds into Wednesday’s game against Minnesota, 35-year-old Tim Duncan slipped a screen near the top of the key, took a perfect pass from Tony Parker and, in a hiccup, dunked on the Timberwolves’ Wesley Johnson.

“Amazing,” Manu Ginobili marveled later. “He didn’t need 20 minutes to warm up.”

For almost as long as Duncan has been on the team, his lack of verticality has been a running joke in the Spurs’ locker room.

As March wears on, however, Duncan has been doing his best to dunk holes in that old “Virgin Islanders Can’t Dunk” meme.

There was his four-dunk game against Denver, which included a poster-ization of Chris “Birdman” Andersen.

There was a three-slam night against Washington, which included a coast-to-coast drive-and-dunk that, fittingly, pushed Duncan past Clyde Drexler on the NBA’s all-time scoring list.

There was the loss to the Los Angeles Clippers, when Duncan matched KIA-hopping Blake Griffin dunk for dunk.

“It’s great to see him that fresh and that good,” Ginobili said. “It makes you feel optimistic.”

In one of the more unexplainable phenomena of the lockout-compressed season, Duncan actually appears to be getting fresher as time moves along.

“Tim’s been really fresh all year long,” coach Gregg Popovich said. “I’m enthused about his health.

“He’s got quickness and more agility than he’s had in a while.”

A few weeks ago, Popovich described the 14-year veteran as “spry” — a word typically reserved for 80-year-old retirees who still make their weekly shuffleboard games.

In Duncan’s case, it fits.

Though playing minutes almost identical to last season, the power forward’s scoring average is up more than a point from last season to 14.3 points per game.

His rebounding average — 8.9 per game — is identical.

Since February began, Duncan is averaging 16.6 points, 10.3 rebounds and nearly two blocks.

“From watching him last year to now, he definitely looks like the old Tim Duncan,” said Stephen Jackson, who last played with Duncan when he was winning consecutive MVPs.

“To get where we want to be, we’re going to need him to play like that.”

Tonight, the Spurs host the reigning NBA champion Dallas Mavericks, marking not only the beginning of their first back-to-back-to-back set of the season, but also the first of five games in six nights.

Duncan is almost certainly due a day of rest soon, as are the 34-year-old Ginobili and 29-year-old Parker, who left Wednesday’s game before halftime with a tight hamstring.

As the Spurs learned with Duncan last season, it only takes one ill-timed twist of the ankle to ruin a season’s worth of fitness.

In the playoffs last year, a hobbled Duncan was left to tangle with Memphis’ twin beasts, Zach Randolph and Marc Gasol, on one leg.

For now, Duncan says he feels fresh, and there’s no reason to disbelieve him.

“I feel good,” said Duncan, who has skipped only two of the Spurs’ 44 games. “I’ve felt good all season long.”

One sign Duncan is feeling, ahem, “spry:” He’s dunking the ball both with authority and regularity.

Duncan has logged 12 dunks in March alone, after recording 17 in an entire 82-game slate. He has totaled 23 this season, with still a ways to go to catch Griffin (127) or Dwight Howard (124), but only one behind backup center Tiago Splitter for the Spurs’ team lead.

Duncan attributes his surge in slams to the Spurs’ guards, who he says are doing a nice job of finding him on the pick-and-roll.

In a sense, his nightly jam session could be a side effect of Parker’s career year handing out assists.

“He’s making all the right decisions,” Duncan said, “and we have great shooters on the perimeter, which opens up the middle for me.

“They have to respect our shooters, they have to respect Tony — and I’m the other guy.”

To be the last team standing, however, the Spurs need Duncan to be more than just some guy. They need him to be the guy he’s been for most of the past two months — fresh, nimble and, yes, spry.

Game by game, dunk by dunk, Duncan is giving the Spurs added reason for hope.

jmcdonald@express-news.net
Twitter: @JMcDonald_SAEN