A 105-102 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers was among Timberwolves fans' least concerns Friday night, when the sixth sellout audience of the season streamed out into the good night worried about the health of their team's two stars just when this joy ride is getting fun.

That crowd of 20,164 patrons -- many of them wearing free T-shirts that didn't quite create an intended "white-out," some still loyally sporting Lakers purple and gold -- never saw two-time All-Star Kevin Love, who was scratched from the lineup just before opening tap because of back spasms that apparently have bothered him since he fell in Wednesday's home victory over Portland.

They watched with held breath when teammates helped rookie Ricky Rubio to the locker room at game's end after he sustained what the team would only call a "left knee injury" with 16.4 seconds left, and they won't exhale until Saturday, when Rubio's knee will be further examined.

Rubio didn't talk to reporters after the game, and he was supported by a friend as he left the arena, but he tweeted later that he will have an MRI test on Saturday "to see how is my knee" and reveal if he damaged any ligaments.

Rubio fell to the court clutching his knee in pain after he went to help stop Bryant, planted his foot and his knee appeared to buckle before he collided with Bryant, drawing a foul that sent Bryant to the free-throw line for the go-ahead shots from which the Wolves never recovered.

He held his hands over his eyes seated on the bench while Bryant shot two free throws and the team's athletic trainer examined that knee. He tried to walk a few steps during an ensuing timeout, couldn't go much farther than that and then was helped off the court after the Lakers held on to win.

"I don't even know what he did," said Wolves coach Rick Adelman, who later made a rare, quick trip to the training room to see Rubio after the game.

Without Love at the start and then Rubio at the conclusion, the Wolves lost their 18th consecutive game -- a streak that dates to March 2007 -- to a Lakers team that had just lost back-to-back games at Detroit and Washington.

Love didn't play against the Lakers for the second time in nine days, only this time the Wolves didn't suffer a 19-point blowout loss like they did at Staples Center last week.

"I hope next game he'll be with us," said center Nikola Pekovic, who returned from a two-game absence and delivered a 25-point, 13-rebound double-double against big Andrew Bynum. "That's all I'm going to say."

With rookie Derrick Williams again starting in Love's place, the Wolves led by 14 points in the first quarter, trailed by four with 2:42 left and led again 102-101 when Rubio was called for blocking Bryant's path.

The Lakers superstar got his 34 points Friday -- 14 of them in a third quarter when the Lakers outscored the Wolves 29-20 -- but he went 11-for-26 from the field to get them after Wolves coach Rick Adelman asked Luke Ridnour and then Martell Webster to defend him.

In the end, Adelman and his players lamented the game's final minute, when they protested a goaltending call whistled against Williams with 34.7 seconds left and then did so again when Williams drove for the winning basket and no foul was called with less than 6 seconds left.

Afterward, Adelman was asked if there was contact on Williams' drive before the Wolves were forced to foul and Bryant made his final two free throws of the night.

"Does it matter?" Adelman said. "They'll say they were in great position, I'll say there was contact. They'll say that was goaltending and I'll say I'm not sure about that. But that's the way it is."