There's a lot to like -- OK, a lot to love, about Love

The Timberwolves opened the season on Wednesday night against a Sacramento team with low expectations and with center Brad Miller serving a five-game suspension for a drug violation.

Miller's absence left the Kings' past two No. 1 draft choices trying to stop the Wolves' Al Jefferson on the inside. Spencer Hawes was the 10th overall selection in 2007 and Jason Thompson was the 12th overall in 2008.

Jefferson won't turn 24 until January, but he looked like the league's crustiest big man against the Kings' raw giants in the first half.

Jefferson had 18 points in 16 minutes, the Wolves were leading 56-49 and this had the look of an opening cruise to victory. And then a strange thing happened:

Jefferson scored only three points in the second half and the Wolves had to survive a flurry of final shots from the Kings to get a 98-96 victory.

Sacramento coach Reggie Theus was asked what his big men had done to contain Jefferson in the second half.

"It's not necessarily about him," Theus said. "It's about playing big. We had a plus-12 rebounding advantage in the second half, and that really helped.

"They accomplished what they set out to do -- win the basketball game -- but I thought we outplayed them in the second half."

Theus also offered this opinion: "If Kevin [Martin] has any kind of a game, we beat this team by 10."

This was an alternate view to what many witnesses thought was an impressive debut for the Wolves. Everyone on the home side was particularly giddy about the 18 1/2 minutes played by rookie Kevin Love.

He scored 12 points, with nine rebounds (four offensive) and a pair of assists. And a team official rushed to a reporter shortly after the game to announce the Wolves were a plus-20 during Love's time on the court.

Clearly, the only reason the Wolves were scrambling down the stretch was that coach Randy Wittman made the decision to play Love for a mere 8:20 in the second half.

Love's second-half shift came at the start of the fourth quarter. The lead was 95-86 when Wittman decided he had to hook Love. The reason was the Kings had gone to a small lineup.

As it turned out, the Wolves' small lineup was outplayed, and Wittman was fortunate to get his 97th victory in 289 games as an NBA head coach.

No matter. The Wolves are unbeaten in the Kevin Love Era and there were team officials ready to declare the deal sending that crazed gunner, O.J. Mayo, to Memphis as the greatest NBA heist since Robert Parish and Kevin McHale wound up with the Celtics and Joe Barry Carroll (a k a Joe Barely Cares) went to Golden State.

Theus was asked for his impression of Love -- and, I'll admit, the question was offered as an invitation for him to gush.

"I've seen him play for a long time," Theus said. "I've known him since about the eighth grade. So, I've seen him do different things. He's a rookie. He's got a long way to go. He's got a lot to learn. But he played solid."

Solid?

That's all Theus could throw at Love -- already the favorite to be the NBA's Rookie of the Year -- was a solid? Reggie, you should be ashamed of yourself for not recognizing what was obvious on the other bench.

Asked if Love does a "little of everything," Wittman nodded like a proud papa and said: "He does. That's who Kevin is. Kevin does a little bit of everything."

Love's final basket was a jump hook from inside the lane that pushed the Wolves' lead to 89-84. The veteran of veterans in the auxiliary press box turned and screamed at a portly colleague a few rows away:

"What do you think of Love now?"

What do I think of Love now?

I can only think how lucky we are not to be stuck with Mayo, who debuted with a 5-for-20 (including 0-for-7 on threes) and 10 points in the Grizzlies' 82-71 loss at Houston.

This gets tiring, but once again it's time to bow to the personnel genius of McHale, not to mention the coaching wizardry of Wittman.

Patrick Reusse can be heard weekdays on AM-1500 KSTP at 6:45 and 7:45 a.m. and 4:40 p.m. preusse@startribune.com