The Minnesota Timberwolves returned the favor from last week to the Memphis Grizzlies. The Wolves beat the Grizzlies 102-88.
The Wolves victory snapped a six-game losing streak to the Grizzlies at Target Center. The Wolves were attacking from the early going, they used an uptempo pace to run the Grizzlies right out of the game.
Kevin Love had a triple-double he scored 24 points, grabbed 16 rebounds and dished out 10 assists. It was the third triple-double of the season for Love, who didn’t have a single triple-double coming into the season, according to the Star Tribune.
And never had one previous to this season. RT @ESPNStatsInfo Kevin Love: 3rd career triple-double (2nd in last 4 games)
— Seth Kaplan đź“ş (@Seth_Kaplan) April 3, 2014
He and Gorgui Dieng single-handily controlled the glass for the Minnesota. The Two combined for 35 rebounds, the Grizzlies by comparison had 38.
The Wolves were still without Nikola Pekovic, but Ronny Turiaf returned and made an immediate impact. He finished with 11 points and grabbed seven rebounds.
Kevin Martin was the beneficiary of the Wolves running. Martin scored 21 points, many of those came on fast break chances.
Ricky Rubio had a big third quarter for the Wolves as Minnesota pushed their lead all the way to 16 at the end of the quarter. Rubio went back to the locker room after an injury in the third quarter, but he returned midway through the fourth.
Rubio headed to locker room limping after taking a spill under the basket
— Jon Krawczynski (@JonKrawczynski) April 3, 2014
After their loss in Memphis last week, the Wolves made an effort to keep Zach Randolph out of the game. It worked, he finished with just four points on 1 of 8 shooting.
The Grizzlies (44-31) needed the win to stay in the playoff chase, but it wasn’t to be as the Wolves evened their record 37-37.
The Wolves will play Friday night against LeBron James and the Miami Heat.
