He struggled in the 3-point shootout, but the NBA All-Star Break didn’t slow the roll of a red-hot Kevin Love.
The All-Star power forward was named Western Conference Player of the Week after leading Minnesota to wins over the Pacers and Jazz and doing all he could in a loss to the Portland Trail Blazers. Along the way he averaged 36.7 points, 12.7 rebounds and nearly four assists a game last week.
Love posted a monster triple-double – the first of his career – with 37 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists in the win over Utah. He filed a 42-point, 16-point night against the Pacers and threw up another 31 points against Portland.
It’s the second time this season and second time in his career he’s been named player of the week.
Love’s entire month of February has been sensational. He’s scored at least 30 points in 7 of 9 games while averaging 34.1 points per game. His five consecutive games with at least 30 points is a franchise record, one-game better than what Kevin Garnett accomplished during the 2003-04 season, according to the Star Tribune.
Part of the reason Love’s scoring has increased is because he’s basically living at the free-throw line. He’s averaging 12.8 attempts at the line this month, which is five more attempts than his highest average in any month this season. His 25 made free throws last week was good for second most in the NBA.
