By Jerry Zgoda, Star Tribune (Minneapolis) –
LOS ANGELES — Minnesota Timberwolves forward Kevin Love had a ready-made excuse for Friday’s incredible 101-98 comeback victory over the Clippers at Staples Center on Friday.
He never needed it, not by a long shot.
Or, more precisely, exactly because of a long shot.
Love’s three-pointer from well behind the line won the game at the final buzzer, Wolves rookie Ricky Rubio added to his already growing legend, and Love just might have dotted the I’s and crossed the T’s on that five-year, $78 million-plus contract extension if he really wants it.
Down 15 in the second quarter, trailing by 10 with less than nine minutes left, the Wolves closed with a finishing 22-9 flourish and won on Love’s dramatic final shot — a shot that left the home-crowd fans alternately stunned and holding their phones up to flash photos of Rubio and Love as they left the floor.
Playing on the biggest stage of his young NBA career, Rubio showed the nerves of playing at Staples Center — home of Kobe Bryant and the Lakers as well as Hollywood’s glitterati — by missing his first 10 shots on Friday night.
But when he decided to finally make one … oh, my.
Rubio’s three-pointer from the right corner with 20 seconds left tied the score.
When he forced Clippers guard Chauncey Billups into a missed layup at the other end, the big stage was set for Love.
The guy who so badly wants to prove he can create his own shot and win games when they’re on the line finally came through, six days after he never got the shot he wanted in a game at Atlanta.
This time, Love caught the ball and, stepping back far behind the three-point line, launched a shot that arced high through the air and found little but net.
Believe it or not, the Wolves and the Clippers were must-see television in the NBA even before Love’s final shot and that fascinating finish.
For once, Rubio wasn’t the promoted product.
Neither was Clippers All-Star point guard Chris Paul, who missed another game because of a hurting hamstring.
This time, the cable network went old-school — at least back before Rubio’s arrival in the NBA last month — and pitched the meeting of Love against Blake Griffin in a tussle of contradictory power forwards.
So divisive was this matter — Griffin’s athleticism and high-wire dunk act vs. Love’s fundamentals and relentless production — that even the TNT studio crew got into a contested discussion late Thursday night.
And before Kenny Smith, Charles Barkley and Shaquille O’Neal were finished, big Shaq Diesel vowed to show up next week only in his underwear if Griffin didn’t clearly win the battle.
“Seeing that is really not high on my list,” Love said before Friday’s game. “At least I have an excuse if we don’t come out and play too well. I can always say I was doing everybody a favor.”
He can’t say that anymore.
Big Shaq might end up on the set next week in his skivvies.
Statistically, the battle was something of a wash — Love finished with 17 points and 14 rebounds while Griffin went for 21 and 10 — thanks to the work Wolves center Darko Milicic produced. He muscled Griffin at every turn while Wolves coach Rick Adelman put Love on big DeAndre Jordan and scored 22 points himself that included four big dunks.
But there was no doubt who among Griffin and Love made the lasting impression Friday.
