By Jerry Zgoda, Star Tribune (Minneapolis) –
SALT LAKE CITY — Minnesota Timberwolves coach Rick Adelman knows he needs to preserve star forward Kevin Love’s legs, his mind and his shooting touch during this lockout-shortened 66-game season in which games come so fast and furious, as they did once again with Saturday’s 108-98 loss at Utah.
He knows he needs to do so to save Love’s body and to find playing time for No. 2 overall pick Derrick Williams at the same power forward spot that Love plays.
There’s just one problem: He feels this nagging little need to win.
“I’m just funny that way,” he said.
The two issues collided once again in Salt Lake City on Saturday, when the Wolves, for the second time in a week, peered at reaching .500 this late in the season — an entire 16 games — for the first time since 2006-07 and again watched the opportunity slip away.
They also watched their three-game winning streak — their longest in two seasons — end one night after Love’s deep, buzzer-beating three-pointer defeated the Clippers in Los Angeles in a jubilant moment played over and over on ESPN’s “SportsCenter” for hours afterward.
Adelman worried about an emotional hangover and tired legs after the Wolves arrived at their Salt Lake City hotel at 3:30 a.m. Saturday, and he predicted they would get blown out by the tough, physical and surprisingly successful Jazz if they weren’t mature enough to match them physically and emotionally from the start.
They survived the game’s opening just fine, building a 26-22 lead after the first quarter.
They even survived a third quarter in which the Jazz opened with a 20-8 burst and took a 14-point lead.
What they couldn’t overcome was a fourth quarter in which Adelman tried to get Love some much-needed rest. In those four minutes, the Jazz turned a tied score into a six-point lead from which the Wolves never recovered.
“I haven’t gotten to the point where I feel comfortable taking him out in the second half,” Adelman said. “We lose six, eight, 10 points and suddenly the game’s over with. I’ve tried to get other guys on the court. That’s a trust. Those guys have to do it night after night. Then you’ll feel a lot better about taking him out.”
Adelman was able to get Williams 28 minutes on Saturday — the rookie’s most since Jan. 8 — because starting center Darko Milicic hurt his hip and played just 16 minutes.
Love played 36 minutes Friday and 34 minutes Saturday after he had played 40 or more minutes in seven of the previous eight games. That kind of minutes and this relentless schedule appear to be having their effect: He followed Friday’s 5-for-16 shooting night by making five of 21 shots, including one of seven three-pointers.
He also made four of seven free throws and even when he returned to start the fourth quarter, neither he nor Ricky Rubio could find the energy to save the Wolves this time.
“Tonight was a tough shooting night, even from the line,” said Love, who is shooting 29 percent (17-for-57) from the field in his past three games. “It was just tough. Most of my shots are right there. There’s going to be a point in time where I’m going to go on a hell of a run. I know I am. I feel so great shooting the ball. It’s just one of those nights. It wasn’t anything they did. It was myself. I took myself out of my own game just by missing shots.”
