Hey, 19: Wolves' losing streak to Lakers extends, 97-92

Rick Adelman lamented his team's lack of "urgency" in Friday's 97-92 loss at Staples Center, the Wolves' 19th straight loss to the Lakers dating to March 2007.

Or maybe they were just playing the league's best home team -- now 19-2 -- and a talented bunch that is getting its stuff together with its fifth consecutive victory.

A few quick things from Friday night, with about five minutes of video from Kevin Love, Nikola Pekovic and Anthony Tollliver post-game that should be attached here first thing in the morning:

* Kevin Love indeed did play against the Lakers after missing the last two meetings with the two teams, this time with that sprained thumb that didn't seem to slow him much (other than perhaps 11-for-24 shooting) on his way to a 27-point, 15-rebound night.

That his 32nd 20/10 game this season.

Love and Nikola Pekovic helped neutralize Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol -- and maybe then some -- on a night when the Wolves outrebounded the Lakers 55-47, including 18-11 on the offensive boards.

But it still wasn't enough because...

This time, Adelman went with J.J. Barea, Derrick Williams, Wayne Ellington, Anthony Tolliver and either Love or Pek in a second quarter when the Wolves were within a bucket 64 seconds in and then quickly trailed by 13 after allowing a 15-4 run.

That stretch might have been where Adelman particularly was talking about playing with more urgency, a theme that gets addressed in the game story from Friday's game.

You can find it here.

Part of that might be Michael Beasley's absence for the second straight game.

Without him, that second unit doesn't have much a go-to scorer.

I asked Adelman after the game. He had two seasons:

1. He said straight out that Tolliver listens and does what coaches tell him to do defensively, which Adelman apparently feels makes him somewhat unique.

2. He wanted more length at that small-forward position against the Lakers coming off the bench with Beasley not available because of that injured toe.

Take Tolliver's scoreless night and add starter Wes Johnson's 1-for-4 night for 2 points and the Wolves got just those two measly points out of the game's glamor position.

Hard to win that way, isn't it?

But after that, David Kahn's drafting and acquiring has left the team with a bunch of pieces that should be much better than they are for the number of draft picks and cap space the Wolves had accumulated in recent years.

Those guys just aren't good enough, at least at this point, to offer a whole lot of help.

* Ridnour delivered his third double-double in four games since Rubio went down.

And this time he did it with an 12-point, 11-assist game that included NO -- count 'em (well, actually don't) -- turnovers.

That's the 13th time in Wolves history a player had 10 or more assists and no a single turnover.

And now they got to Sacramento Sunday afternoon against a Kings team that clobbered Boston at home Friday night, the night the freshly blown up Trail Blazers won at Chicago.

Strange, strange season, this one is.

That's all from L.A.